Yellowstone 3rd day

We started the day at 37 degrees.  My only comment is people here would completely freak out if they had a hot night.

We decided to drive in and hike a short trail. On our way, in we passed several lone bull Buffalo along the highway. They were all off to the sides so no traffic jam.

The air was a bit smokey today. We found out later that several fires had been started by lightning in Oregon and Idaho and that smoke added to what had been coming up from the California fires made the air a bit worse.

Our trail was the Elephant Back Mountain Trail. The trail is 4.1 miles with an elevation gain and loss of 800 feet. It was pretty steep at times but overall a nice hike. We were disappointed that the view from the top was limited by the smoke. Otherwise it should have been a very impressive overlook of the lake.

On the hike, we did see several squirrels and chipmunks that seemed to not be afraid of us at all and some birds. We heard woodpeckers but only one was easy to see. He is a Hairy Woodpecker native to this area. He was busy looking for insects.

We decided to stop at the Lake General store for a couple of hamburgers and to use the available cell service. On our way back, new signs were posted about a fire that started south between West Thumb basin and Old Faithful. They had closed that road as well.

Time to head back to the RV for the night.

In the campsite next to us, the man has a custom trailer.  Pretty interesting. Spoke to him later, he always wanted to sail but had horrible seasickness. So he decided to build a custom camper with a ship's bell, gauges and a port hole. He was an interesting guy.