When we arrived people people told us that a nice frozen waterfall was hidden in the small bunch of conifers visible in the lower left of this photo. We look at these trees every day from the kitchen window and decided to ski over to have a look at the waterfall. The first time we tried was during the cold spell when we first arrived. By the time we found a way to cross the many braids of the Lamar river the sun was starting to set and we had to head back to the ranch without getting to the falls. I had a day off without Dave and tried to get to the falls again. This time the weather was nice and warm. So warm that the stream crossings on the route I chose would have required swimming. So much for trial two. Finally, on the third try I chose a circuitous enough route that I managed to get across the river in a few spots where it had frozen.
When I finally made it to the clump of trees the waterfall was just barely visible.
After making my way through the downed trees guarding the entrance to the falls, I was rewarded with total quiet except for the musical sound of running water under the ice in an almost church like setting with columns of ice like draperies at the altar.
We are friends of Dave's folks who are thoroughly enjoying your blog. Like most, we've only been to Yellowstone in the summer. On a January vacation to Bismark, ND a few years back though, we visited the Audubon National Wildlife Refuge 65 miles north of Bismark so we've experienced some of the beauty of deep winter in the north...and certainly shocked the rangers at that visitors center who don't see many tourists that time of year!
ReplyDeleteBev, we are glad you are enjoying the blog. Vacationing in North Dakota in January is probably pretty unusual.
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