With temperatures rising well into the 40s and the melt well underway, we decided to go out again the next day (Friday, the 27th), renting another two-up, and heading onto the trails west of West Yellowstone, including our favorite in the area, Two Top mountain. Unbeknownst to us at the time, two of Island Park's three groomers were out of action--they're responsible for grooming many of these trails--and so it was a generally bumpy day, although we reached our goals and made a discovery or two along the way.
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| En route through the winter wonderland to Two Top, Vicki driving |
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| Street scene |
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Looking toward the summits of Two Top, the higher one a bump
to the right |
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| Ghost trees |
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After Two Top, we thought we'd head further west to Big Spring, Mack's
Inn, Island Park...but the trails were so awful we decided instead to stay
in Montana and do the long Black Canyon trail...eventually, we did it twice
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At the higher elevations, snow on the trees is common, but here we
began noticing a different and new to us phenomenon: ice on the trees |
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With the higher temperatures, the snow melts, then re-freezes over
night...we theorize |
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| All these on the lightly-used Black Canyon trail |
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| Looking north |
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| Coffee break |
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| Sawtell Peak, in Idaho |
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Again on Two Top, clouds have parted, and we get a good view of
the Tetons |
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