Author: Easin' Along

After spending nine days in West Yellowstone, we were ready to explore a different part of Montana. We couldn’t have picked a better base camp than Big Sky. The Inn on the Gallatin would be home for the next seven days. We met Deann, the owner, as soon as we arrived and liked her immediately. She guided us into our campsite–a perfect spot overlooking the Gallatin River from a deck running alongside our trailer. For the remainder of our stay, we watched her work tirelessly to maintain the Inn on the Gallatin in pristine condition as well as doing everything possible to enhance the experience of her guests.

There is a lot to do in the Big Sky area, including whitewater rafting. Helen signed us up for a half-day rafting trip. The guides suggested strongly that we not take a camera on the float so, I reluctantly left mine in the truck…right decision. I fell out of the raft near the end of the journey. Cliff, our guide and a huge fellow, pulled me (6′ 4″, 220 lbs.) back in with little effort, but I was soaked. I purchased the picture at the top from Montana Whitewater.

We took two hikes while in Big Sky, first to Rat Lake, and then to Ousel Falls a few days later. Both walks were moderate in hiking vernacular and about two and a half miles each. The wildflowers on the trail to Rat Lake were incredible, and we spent a lot of time taking pictures. The path to Ousel Falls was a bit more challenging and included some steep parts, but the impressive scenery was more than enough to make us put the hills out of our mind.

While in Big Sky, we met up with Debbie and Rick, two transplants from Tennessee. Debbie is the sister of one of our good friends, and her husband, Rick, is a former high school principal who moved to Montana after retirement out of a love of the great outdoors. We met at our campsite and Rick invited me to fish with him on the following Sunday. He didn’t have to ask twice. He even gave me some flies to use that he tied himself.

We fished on the Gallatin River about eight miles from camp. Rick is an expert fly fisherman and worked very patiently with me to teach me how to fish this stretch of the river. I caught three Rainbow trout, and Rick caught about six, two of which he cleaned and gave to us for a trout dinner. The meal was delicious, and I cannot remember having a better day in a trout stream. Thanks, Rick, I owe you!

I can’t sign off without telling readers about the cafe at the Inn on the Gallatin. Deann and Steve serve breakfast on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday mornings until 11:00. The selections are exquisite, and it wasn’t easy to land on just one. I chose the Country Omelet, eggs cooked with peppers, onion, mushrooms, and smothered in sausage gravy. It was awesome. Helen had Eggs Benedict served with spinach and tomatoes–equally good. As a bonus, hot donut holes accompanied our meal. They were as light and as delicious as the beignets served at Cafe du Monde, one of my favorite New Orleans restaurants. We were so impressed by the Inn on the Gallatin that we booked a return visit next year for ten days.

I hope readers will look through the pictures I have posted on the Picture Gallery (click here). Some of the sights we encountered are just too good to let sit on a hard drive. Our time in Big Sky will stay with us forever and, I get warm and fuzzy knowing that, in a year, we’ll be Easin’ Along back here for more.

Please join us next week when we’ll come to you from Ennis, Montana. Life is good!

“However orderly your excursions or aimless, again and again amid the calmest, stillest scenery you will be brought to a standstill hushed and awe-stricken before phenomena wholly new to you. Boiling springs and huge deep pools of purest green and azure water, thousands of them, are plashing and heaving in these high, cool mountains as if a fierce furnace fire were burning beneath each one of them; and a hundred geysers, white torrents of boiling water and steam, like inverted waterfalls, are ever and anon rushing up out of the hot, black underworld.” – John Muir on Yellowstone National Park (1901)

Once again, I’m at a loss for words. The sheer beauty of Yellowstone National Park takes your breath away while rounding every bend on every road. This National Park, established in 1872, spans 2.2 million acres and is one of the greatest gifts Americans have given to ourselves. Simply put, Yellowstone is a national treasure. Fortunately, this treasure was preserved almost as soon as it was discovered. 

Helen and I left Jackson, Wyoming, after a delightful time with our kids and grandkids, and moved to West Yellowstone, Montana for a nine-day visit. Out of the nine days, we spent seven exploring Yellowstone. I kick myself for taking two days off–there is too much to see there.

As the headline for this post suggests, there are sights, sounds, and wildlife in Yellowstone that an average person, like me, would not see anywhere else. Fascinating geologic formations, thermal pools of every color and hue, and scenic waterfalls are everywhere. Gigantic geysers, bubbling mud pots, steaming hot springs, and hissing steam vents (fumaroles), bubble, crackle, and erupt throughout the day to entertain the young and the old, giving off constant oohs and aahs while capturing pictures on smartphones.

Wildlife abounds in Yellowstone. On our way to a trailhead for some hiking, we came across a gray wolf having brunch on an elk carcass. We met a huge bison, standing thirty feet from us on another hike. Elk herds dot the roadsides with their young, and the regal and majestic Grizzly bear is an incredible sight to behold for anyone fortunate enough to see (at a distance).

Our visits included trips to the West Thumb Basin, Gibbon Falls, Mammoth Hot Springs, Old Faithful and the Upper Geyser Basin and Fountain Paintpot. My favorite trips were to the Artist Paintpot, a hike to Storm Point on Yellowstone Lake, and the Riverside Geyser in the Upper Geyser Basin, which erupted for 22 minutes, sending steam 75 feet into the air. This geyser was well worth the two-mile walk required to watch the show.

I have posted some of my favorite pictures here, but I have so many, I created a Picture Gallery (click here) that includes some of the scenes I want to share with Easin’ Along readers. I hope you will take a moment to visit the Gallery. I also posted a short (and shaky) video of our gray wolf encounter on the Easin’ Along YouTube page and hope you’ll visit that as well. Wolf sightings are rare, and we consider ourselves fortunate to capture a glimpse of this big fellow. He had to weigh over 125 pounds and looked very healthy.

Enjoy the pictures–we certainly enjoyed the park. Please come back next week and we’ll share our visit to the lovely village of Big Sky, Montana. I’ve said it before, retirement is a great gig, and we’re Easin’ Along on a retirement adventure to remember forever.