Mack's Inn....er.....Island Park

So our crazy month of July ended with a week long trip to Island Park. Brett's family typically has a little vacation up here every other year, but due to work and less lodging than in the past, we had the whole condo to ourselves. Even though the idea of just the two of us was tempting, we figured a few friends would be nice to help keep us company. It worked out pretty nice because we ended up having the place to ourselves for a few days before everyone else came up. We did some nice off roading, hiked to a few geocaches, went golfing, enjoyed a little swimming, played a little ping pong, and did a lot of nothing.

Our Tooele friends, Scott and Brianna, were able to come with their two kids. We also had Dy's sister, Michelle, and old roommate, Shan, with their husbands, Andrew and Jed. It was a great mix. We enjoyed a few nice ATV rides, spent a day in Yellowstone, floated the river, fed some BIG fish, did some more golfing, and stopped by Mesa Falls. We even have the pictures to prove it.

Brett & Dy excited about their geocache finds. If you haven't done it before, you should try it out. It is a fun way to hike and explore some different scenery. It is basically high-tech treasure hunting.

Playing around on the golf course.

Enjoying a nice ATV ride into Montana with Scott and Brianna.

What a view from the top of Two Top looking into Montana near West Yellowstone! We were suppose to remind Brianna it was pretty cold up there (see the snow in the background) even in the middle of July.

We got a little dirty from the ride back especially. The trail we planned to take across Elk Meadows was closed. Rather than backtracking over the top of the mountain again, we had the brilliant idea to look for a trail off of the highway. After 9+ miles of riding down the semi-busy highway with kids crying, wives cursing, and the boys looking out for the "Twig Pigs," we finally were off the highway. Although not the safest route, it was quite funny, much faster, and does give a pretty good story to tell. (I am sure the future grandkids will get tired of it)

Yellowstone

Some nice falls just outside of Mammoth.

What is it Dy and Grant see?

Oh, that.

We all made quite the hike down 324 stairs for this beautiful view of Lower Falls. Even though it was worth the hike, it isn't something we recommend doing daily.

Of course we did Old Faithful, especially since we had a few Yellowstone virgins with us.

Some of us took one more trip back into the park for the evening with the hopes of seeing more wildlife. We saw about five wolves, several elk (even within about 20 yards), the buffalo crossing the road, eagles, deer, pelicans, geese, but no bears. However, Scott & Brianna stuck around for one more day to see some grizzlies in Lamar Valley at the northeast corner of the park.

The bison are everywhere in Hayden Valley.

On the way home we stopped by Mesa Falls near Ashton.

Overall, it was a great trip. We still have to share pictures from some of the others and maybe post a few more pics as well. Can't wait for another two years to return.