Hiking Along Rescue Creek Trail

Friday, March 30, Mike and I hiked on and around the Rescue Creek Trail.  I was tired from all the arrangements that I made for Betty’s Memorial Service and wanted to do something different and get out of the house.  It wasn’t the best day in the world to hike, but we managed alright.  I’m glad I brought my rain gear!

I had company come to the house that morning.  Jean and I had breakfast with Carl and Diana before they headed off to Colorado.  I left the house a little late for the hike, but we still had plenty of time that day to get a lot accomplished.

We took the Rescue Creek Trail from the road through the flat area.  At the end of it was a hill where a bachelor herd of bighorn sheep was resting.  They didn’t really care about us and typically ignored us or just watched us.

Bighorn rams watch us from above.

On the other side of that hill was another flat area that was obviously a creek drainage.  There were more than 30 pronghorn plus several bison in the area.  The bison didn’t like our presence, so they moved off shortly after we arrived.  Some of the pronghorn stayed and rested, ignoring Mike and I, but the majority went away from our location.

Bison graze at the edge of the drainage.

Pronghorn warily watch us as we hike.

While we were in this area, we had to put on our rain gear.  We only had a light rain, but it was enough that it started making mud and could have gotten us miserable without rain gear.

We wanted to scout out the area a bit so we hiked to the top of a butte that was near Yellowstone River.  The butte was mostly made of travertine, so I was glad that it was a cooler day; it would have been a prime location for rattlesnakes.  We were careful where we walked because there were fissures in the rocks where people could easily get stuck, or fall with a boulder if they walked in the wrong place.  From our vantage point we could clearly see where Rescue Creek Trail continued and where the Yellowstone River trail was.  We could also see the Bear Creek Bridge.

If you look closely, you might be able to see the Yellowstone River Trail.

A travertine boulder on the edge of the butte

Bear Creek Bridge

We decided to explore the origin of the creek drainage and had lunch at the base of the trees in that area.  It was quite a peaceful lunch.  After eating, we hiked along the hill where the bighorn sheep were earlier.  That hill had plenty of petrified wood, white in color.  As well there was also quartz and other kinds of rocks there.

The creek source of the drainage area

There were lots of interesting rocks here.

While we were on the hill, we saw the rams coming up toward us!  I thought that was pretty neat.  They didn’t mind our proximity at all, and walked past us, further up the hill.  From there, we hiked back along Rescue Creek Trail and explored close to the moraine by Yellowstone River. [The video below has language in it.]

In all we hiked about six miles.  I had a good time and got good and muddy.  It was a nice conclusion to the busy few weeks that I’ve had.