Day 14 - Touring

Waking up today had us thinking…are we gonna do it? Do what? Hike 5.2 miles to the top of Mt. Washburn, a 10,243 foot mountain. The reward was mostly psychic: being able to make it and say we did. The long and winding road up was challenging, what with a strong late morning sun and pesty horse flies up to about 9,000 feet. The summit experience was cool, with views of several mountain ranges and states. The wildflowers show their stuff for the three summer months, and they make the most of it … beautiful. We thought several times on the way up and down the mountain that the display of flowers and pines mixed together were better that any earthly landscape architect could come up with (apologies to the Sisters of St. Joseph for ending a sentence with a preposition).

We started feeling our calves and knees on the way back down. At the end of the day, our reward was spaghetti and meat sauce, and

we slept like babies (woke up every 3 hours crying —— just kidding).

Last day in Yellowstone tomorrow, so we’ll revisit the Canyon Area to do a little more exploring before leaving this Wyoming paradise.