A Morning in Yellowstone's High Country

Some hikes become more demanding with every mile. This one began with cold creek crossings and quickly turned into a day of swampy ground, endless deadfall, steep ridges, and quiet mountain valleys. Along the way I found old grizzly tracks, a single wild geranium blooming among the fallen timber, and a welcome place to rest beneath a lone tree overlooking the mountains.
This hike also became the setting for a story called The Two Hikers, a reflection on the difference between walking through the wilderness for its challenges and walking through it with gratitude and wonder.
Thanks for coming along on another day in Yellowstone's backcountry.
Yellowstone Solitude: True Wilderness Encounters by Stan Mills