Saturday, September 8th, 2012
We had the brilliant idea of hiking up and down Specimen Ridge, then turning around and going down and up Uncle Tom's Trail. The day went well, but we were exhausted by the end of the day, and I had shin splints
something awful that evening.
I should mention at this point that Dad had hurt his knee several weeks prior to our trip, but he still hiked Specimen Ridge and the 656 steps of Uncle Tom's Trail, and half-way up a Teton the next day.
This is just one flight of stairs. There's one flight at a right angle above this, and another at the bottom. Going down is easy, but you don't want to go fast. It would be easy to get going too fast, and tumble right over the rail!
We could see several places where the stairs had been dented from boulders falling down the mountainside. No sir, that wasn't scary at all!
The more I look at it, the more I realize that this picture is tipped!
The Yellowstone River!
This one looks like some of the postcards in the welcome centers.
And I'm quite certain that there is a drawing of this scene somewhere, done back 'round the time of Yellowstone's
first extensive exploration.
Rainbow!
And the Lower Falls themselves! Look closely and you can see people just to the right of the Falls.
Proof that we went all the way down!
Unfortunately, what goes down must come up!
On the way up the stairs, my father challenged me to a race. I, being my father's daughter and highly competitive, took him up on the challenge and beat him soundly! (Or would have, if he hadn't cheated.)
You see, down at the 328th step, Dad said he could beat me back to the parking lot, and took off running. I passed him with little difficulty, and continued on about 25 steps when he stopped for a breather. We continued in that fashion and our odd way of ascending the trail was noted by all around us.
Once we left the stairs and were just jogging up the trail, I almost ran headlong into a tour guide
and her row of sightseers.
"I must say, this is the first time I have ever seen anyone running up this trail!"
I was also slowed for several seconds by a German gentleman who grabbed my wrist and gave Dad a 15 second lead. Even that did not deter me, as I sped on and passed him. We then slowed and Dad said he "ceded the race."
AKA, I give up, you win... right?
I graciously slowed my pace so my *coughagingcough* father could keep up, and before I knew it, he sprinted the last few yards, touched the pavement of the parking lot, and claimed victory!
Now, I don't pretend to be an authority on the subject, but that seems like cheating to me!
What is your verdict, dear readers?
~Kiwi~
(And no, my father isn't all that old. I just had to say that to get a rise out of him. ;)
