Day 9: June 15, 2013

Another incredible day that has left us incredibly tired. To begin the day we took a hike...about six miles! We took the Howard Eaton trail around a lake and saw some of the most beautiful scenery. At one point we literally stumbled upon a wolf. A big, beautiful white furred animal that scoped us out and then skirted the path that we were on. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera ready(wrong lens) and we didn't get a good shot of him staring at us while we stared at him.

White wolf on hiking trail (middle of picture)

Later we saw a grizzly bear while driving to see some waterfalls. We were the recommended distance but he wasn't interested in all the tourists with cameras anyway. It was really cool to watch him scratch himself on trees and dig in the dirt.

We also saw a huge bull elk. He entertained the crowd as he scratched his belly and chewed on the grass. He was both funny and gorgeous!

We drove to the first of two waterfalls (known as the Upper Falls). It was beautiful with an antique looking bridge in the background but it paled in comparison to the second waterfall (known as...you guessed it...the Lower Falls!). The first was easy access and made for some great photos. The second was not so easily accessed. We had to walk down sharply sloped switchbacks and God only knows how many steps to get to this waterfall but it was worth every single step. It was breath-taking! Keep in mind, however, that going down all those steps and inclines meant that we had to come back up them...all this after our six mile hike! There were moments in the climb back up when I truly wondered if I would make it. My heart was pounding and it was hard to breathe...but, again, the sight was worth the pain!

There was one moment of panic today. My camera started giving me a message that my memory card was damaged. All our pictures from this trip are on that card. It literally made me feel sick to think that we had lost our pictures. Eventually we bought another card and put it in the camera and it appeared to work just fine except that the camera was operating very slowly. That really scared me!! I thought my new camera was somehow damaged. I had changed the battery earlier in the day so aftter checking my original SD card in the computer and seeing that all the pictures were there and accessible, I changed the battery again and my camera was magically working great again. What a relief to know we still had all our pictures and nothing is wrong with the camera!

After leaving the waterfalls we headed back to our RV park. We stopped at the General Store and bought food and souvenirs and came back to the RV for dinner, a movie, a shower and the blessed promise of a comfy bed and a good night's sleep.SO. VERY. TIRED!