Saturday, May 30, 2009

Monument Geyser Basin

Yesterday afternoon, we noticed a very large and very adorable bunny nibbling on grass outside the dorm. I named him whiskers (or whiskie for short) and the name has stuck. 

Whiskers

Last night was an NPS employee's birthday, so he held a bonfire outside the dorm to celebrate. Everyone from the dorm was there, as well as some locals and NPS employees who live elsewhere in Mammoth. The bonfire was really fun. I met a lot of really nice people and enjoyed hanging out with my dormmates. 

Today I went hiking with a group of people from the dorm. We went to Monument Geyser Basin, just South of Madison. Unlike the other geyser basins I have been to so far, this one was off the boardwalk and completely on trail. The path began gradually, following alongside a calm river. 


After about half a mile, the trail began climbing steeply through burned forest. The weather had been threatening all afternoon, and just over a mile into the hike, it started to rain and hail. The hail definitely hurt, even through my rain jacket. Luckily, the rain and hail stopped just as we came to a scenic overlook of a large canyon. 

The trail starts to climb steeply

Me at the scenic overlook, just after the hail stopped

The geyser basin was just a few minutes away from the scenic overlook, and it was really pretty. There was one especially interesting formation in the basin, which is a tall, thin smoking geyser. 




Monument Geyser

A nice mountain view from the geyser basin

Our hiking group - Nick, Erica, Emily, Maeve, Andrew, Me, Chris


View Places Hiked in a larger map

4 comments:

  1. Awww the bunny is soooooooo cute!!! I love the scenic area too, it is sooo beautiful!

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  2. Started this hike in 1989.. the year after the fires with our four year old.. .she got near the top then refused to budge. My husband and eldest daughter continued on and enjoyed the view. We were so close, and haven't been physically able to climb since
    Thank you for your photos.....
    What joy !!!

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  3. How did you and I miss that geyser basin when I was out there? I would have loved that hike and the views.

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  4. Molly,
    It looks like your summer is to be spent in an idyllic setting! Now, if the G-men would get their act together and let you start your internship! All here miss you. Hope you are enjoying your time there!
    Steven Strickland

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