Osprey Falls

Today Erica and I hiked to Osprey Falls. We started at the Bunsen Peak Trailhead and walked on a double wide dirt road towards the falls spur trail. At the beginning of the hike, we saw a large bird waddling on the trail in front of us. As we approached he walked over to a nearby pond and started swimming. About a mile into the hike, we saw a calm pond and soon afterwards the trail started following alongside an amazing canyon. 

After four miles of hiking, we came to the Osprey Falls spur trail, which switchbacked 1.4 miles into the canyon we had just seen. The switchbacks were steep and numerous and they allowed us to quickly descend into the canyon. Soon we reached the falls, which were absolutely enormous and beautiful. The falls were so big and powerful that we were soaked with the mist standing 40 yards in front of them. We enjoyed the falls for a while and then started heading back up the steep switchbacks of the spur trail. 

Osprey Falls was down at the bottom of this canyon

The trail descends into the canyon

Osprey Falls

We worked hard on the way up, but managed to get up the canyon quickly. When we reached the end of the spur trail, we continued on the double wide trail we had been on before, which led us back to our dorm. The rest of the trail was wooded with bright green grass growing in between the trees. There were lots of beautiful wildflowers growing along the trail. After a mile or so, we got a great view of the terraces, Mammoth, Gardiner, and the dorms. Within a half mile from the dorms, we hiked into a flat green field with an elk feeding and a view of the mountains in the background. 

Mammoth and the terraces in the distance

A pretty stream along the trail

Elk near the dorms

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