FISHES OF THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 11 



feet high. Below these falls the stream flows through a highly 

 picturesque canyon, joining Gardiner River above Mammoth Hot 

 Springs. 



Lupine Creek is a small tributary of Lava Creek, entering it above 

 the falls. Near its junction with Lava Ci'eek this creek has a cascade 

 about 100 feet liigh called Wraith Falls. Notwithstanding the bar- 

 rier oflFered by the falls, Dr. Jordan said that it was reported on good 

 authority that small trout had been taken in Lava Creek above the 

 falls. His attention was called to a possible means of access from 

 Blacktail Deer Creek to Lava CVeek in times of high water. In Lava 

 and Lupine Creeks the only trout is the native redthroat. Below the 

 falls native redtlu'oat and Loch Leven trouts occur in Lava Creek. 



Gardiner River, or Middle Fork, rises on the east slope of the 

 Gallatin Mountains in the northwestern part of the park. It flows 

 eastward, southward, then abruptly northward, bending around 

 Bunsen Peak and forming a deep canyon, toward the head of which 

 are Osprey Falls. Gardiner Canyon is some 800 to 1,000 feet deep, 

 with vertical walls of lava, basalt, etc., and in grandeur is surpassed 

 only by the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. Osprey Falls are 

 about 150 feet high and nearly vertical. The principal headwaters 

 of the Gardiner are Fawn, Panther, and Indian Ci'eeks, which, with 

 their branches, unite near Seven-mile Bridge. Winter and Straight 

 Creeks unite into one stream and join Obsidian Creek to form Willow 

 Park Creek, which also joins the Middle Fork near Seven-mile Bridge. 

 Obsidian Creek originates in or near Twin Lakes, according to Jordan, 

 and some of its branches in other small lakes, notably Lake of the 

 Woods, which flows into Beaver Lake. At first the creek is very 

 small, and its course for 2 or 8 miles is full of hot springs, solfataras, 

 boiling mudholcs, aiul various similar heated areas. Lower down 

 cold springs enter the stream, and at Beaver Lake the water is clear 

 and cold. Beaver Lake is a shallow, grassy pond, about a mile long, 

 formed in the stream by the beavers. Eastern Jorook trout are re- 

 ported as plentiful, but the rainbow trout, also planted there, have 

 never been heard of. Below this lake the creek receives the clear, 

 cold waters of Winter Creek and Straight Creek. 



W^inter Creek is a large stream which heads in Christmas Tree Park 

 at the foot of Mount Holmes. Straight Creek flows through dense 

 woods, open grass-grown meadows, and nairow canyons. It is a 

 very pretty stream, with many riffles and deep holes behind pros- 

 trate logs, and wide, shallow, gravelly reaches. In the course of 

 Straight Creek is Grizzly Lake. It is a gem, with steep, wooded 

 banks, clear, cold water, with shelving bottom and quite deep center. 

 After their junction the waters of these creeks, under the name of 

 Willow Park Creek, flow through Willow Park, a large mountain 

 meadow, at the foot of which it meets the waters of Indian Creek and 

 the others which have been mentioned, forming the Middle Fork of 

 Gardiner River. Indian Creek is a clear, cold stream similar to the 

 Gardiner. 



All of th(^ aforementioned creeks, previously barren, now teem with 

 eastern brook trout, the only trout o(;curring in them. Jordan re- 

 ported that Obsidian Creek with Winter Creek was one of the best 

 eastern brook trout streams in the park. Its summer temperature 

 is about 50^ F. Its bottom is composed of laval gravel, lined with 



