Wildflowers in bloom

We just celebrated another 4th of July weekend in Island Park.  As the kids get older,  I know that traditions and schedules will begin to conflict with life.   So I try to enjoy these beautiful days.   Driving up Sawtelle mountain,  we found entire meadows covered in wildflowers.   When the kids were little we took pictures of them in the same meadows.   We did the same today, but they were each trying to capture the images on their own phones and cameras so they make their own memories.   Fun to watch.   I hope this place with moose and osprey and flowers and geysers will always be an important part of their lives.

Letterboxing in Island Park

We just returned from a quick trip to Island Park and YNP.  It is time I shared one of my favorite activities...letterboxing.  It is the older cousin of geocaching, but you don't need GPS technology to play.  You can find boxes all over the world, and discover great places as a result of your hikes.  I use letterboxing.org to find boxes, and this trip we found one in Box Canyon, right at Island Park.  Once you find a hidden box, you put your "stamp" and name in their logbook, and put their stamp in your own log book.  We have a special stamp that we use, and I am always delighted when we actually find the box.  This time, we also found an osprey nest with babies and a protective mom, as well as a wild rasberry patch.  The view was beautiful as well.  So wherever you are, try letterboxing for yourself.  It is a really fun activity!

Cool fish ladder below the little dam at Buffalo River Hydroelectric Project