Yellowstone Round two.

The original idea for this day was to visit the Mesa Falls in Idaho (near Ashton ID), then go in to Yellowstone from Idaho and hike to Bechler Falls (it is about 1 1/2 miles from the parking area).and then have a long day on Thursday going down to Jackson Hole Wyoming and the Teton National Park. We got an early start so ultimately decided to go on to Driggs Idaho as Renee said there was a collection of WW2 vintage aircraft (and a good place for lunch), and we could then loop around through Jackson and come back through the Wyoming Yellowstone entrance and out of the Montana entrance (or exit if you prefer). So we would have been in the park from all three states that it resides in.
It was a long day but totally worth it as it allowed us to spend Thursday at Canyon, another great area of Yellowstone.
The Mesa Falls are on a loop road off Highway 20 that goes from West Yellowstone to Ashton and on to Idaho Falls. You come first to the Upper Falls and they are not particularly well marked, or rather there is only one sign, and if you miss that you have to turn around. Fortunatly Renee had been before and knew what to expect. 
The Upper Falls are about 144 ft high and there is an excellent walkway to get to the best viewing sight and while it is a climb it is easy with good footing.
The falls are very impressive and throw off some mist that helps create rainbows. Very pretty. 


 The far wall is covered in grasses 

and moss from the constant moisture and way high in one of the trees is an eagle' eyrie. There is a set of binoculars at the Visitor Center that is fixed and focused on it. We were there around 9 am and there were some other people there but not many. 

The view down river from the Upper Falls

We headed on around the loop to the Lower Falls, which were much further away. They are "only" 65 ft high but seem to go through a more constricted gap and are (in my mind) equally impressive.

Lower Mesa Falls. Viewed from about 1/2 mile away.

The ever present GOCA hat at Lower Mesa Falls

We moved on to Warm River where the road crosses a bridge and there are a concentration of fish (various variety of trout). A family came along suitably armed with bread and it was obvoius that the fish were used to this and performed accordingly!.
There was a small house right by the river and a bigger fancier lodge across the street. rather liked the small house and it's location nestled in to the hillside.

Nice little house on the Warm River

A little way down the road you take a curve and suddenly burst out into a huge valley of very productive farmland and a complete contrast to the last few hours. This area is known (at least to the cognoscenti or those that read the signs) as a major area for growing seed potatoes.
As I go back 40 years or more to my classes in crop management I recall that crop rotation was important and you did one year of wheat, one of barley and one of a root crop like potatoes
I think this originated as a way to prevent the spread of disease and to not overtax the soil. I am equally sure that things have changed but that this quite green farming method is still in use today. That is what the evidence suggests.
We headed to the only entrance to Yellowstone from Idaho. It is about 10 miles up a fairly rough gravel road (not rough by Zambian standards!) to the Cave Falls. There were about 6 or 7 cars there and I think some people would have been off hiking some of the many trails as there were not that many people at the Falls. 
The last time Renee was at the falls there was a cave that you could enter, but the entrance had collapsed at some point in the past couple of months. 
Our plan was to hike to Bechler Falls, as Renee had not been and it was only 1.4 miles away (and described as an easy level walk). 

There were (again) several cars at the trail head and a sign indicating that it was possible to walk all the way to Old Faithful some 30+ miles away. We were not going that far!

Renee at Cave Falls

It was a very pleasant walk and a rudimentary trail with lots of trip hazards. We saw one guy fly fishing in the river just below the confluence of the Bechler and Falls rivers and another person (probably his partner) fast asleep in the woods!!

Can you spot the sleeper?

There was in fact a gentle upslope and the trail moved away from the river after about a mile or so. We followed up the Bechler river trail and eventually could hardly hear the river for 5 minutes or so and then heard a very different sound (no, not a bear!, but the sound of the falls rather than the river running) Right around the corner were the falls and very beautiful they were and well worth the hike. 

Renee Looking the part of wildlife photographer!

Bechler Falls

Down river from Bechler Falls

There was another fly fisherman (he was from West Virginia) who claimed he was not having much luck fishing with crickets and thought the cricket was too big for the fish!!

I think we got back to the car around noon and decided to extend the trip to Jackson WY at that point after a stop in Driggs Idaho.
I will do the Driggs and Jackson Hole portion as a separate post as this one is already long!!
I am only a week behind at this point, but will get caught up gradually.