HOW WE SAW THE PARK. 



423 



geysers in action and secured some very 

 fine views of them. After a very enjoyable 

 forenoon we left for the Grand canyon, 

 which we reached in time for an early sup- 

 per. In the evening we went to the hotel, 

 where we were courteously allowed to use 

 the dark room to refill our plate holders, 

 in anticipation of some fine views next day. 

 We spent a day visiting points of interest 

 and in climbing the rocky sides of the can- 



yon. A week can be profitably spent at this 

 stage of the park tour, as there are many 

 places to be seen, well worthy of seeing, 

 which are not included in the regular park 

 trip. 



We followed the road along the banks of 

 the Yellowstone the entire distance to the 

 Yellowstone lake. At noon we lunched 

 near the Mud Geyser, which is probably 

 the most repulsive phenomenon within the 

 confines of the park, and although it is 

 perfectly safe to stand on the extreme edge 

 of the crater there are very few footprints 

 nearer than 3 feet from the brink. Shortly 

 after resuming our journey, we saw a herd 

 of elk, within 100 yards of the road. They 

 apparently took no notice of us, but on 

 our stopping the carriage, with the inten- 

 tion of obtaining a picture, they were away 

 like a flash. Ducks and geese are very 

 plentiful in the sloughs and creeks along 

 the river, but as the penalty for shooting 

 in the Park is very heavy, we were satis- 

 fied (?) with looking at them, and reflecting 

 that probably after all, they might be old 

 birds, and very tough. 



We camped that afternoon in a beautiful 

 grove on the shore of Yellowstone lake, 

 and as we did not care to take the cus- 

 tomary steamboat excursion to the islands, 

 we made an early start next day on the 45 

 mile drive over the Continental Divide to 

 the Upper Geyser basin. 



We reached the Thumb Hotel on the 

 other side of the lake, and stopped only 

 long enough for lunch and to see the 

 " Paint Pots " before starting on our 10 

 mile pull to the top of the divide. We ar- 

 rived at the Geysers about sundown and 

 camped midway between the Upper and 



Fountain Geyser Basins, on the banks of 

 the Firehole river. We stayed at this place 

 4 days and saw the eruptions of some of the 

 famous geysers, among others the Giant, 

 Giantess, Beehive, Great Fountain, Splen- 

 did and Old Faithful; some of those named 

 only playing at long intervals. 



On the morning of the 26th we struck 

 camp, and bade adieu to the land of won- 

 ders, reaching the Western boundary of the 

 Park, at Riverside, about 3 o'clock, and 

 camping for the night at a place about 12 

 miles outside the Park. Just before reach- 

 ing our camping grounds we flushed a 

 covey of grouse. To unseal our guns was 

 the work of an instant. In a few minutes 

 we had birds for a pot-pie, and never have 

 I eaten a dinner that I relished more, we 

 having been without game of any kind for 

 more than 2 weeks. 



Our next stop was at Henry's lake in 

 Idaho, where we remained for a day's duck 

 shooting, but being unable to procure boats 

 in which to reach the best hunting ground 

 our success was not as great as expected, 

 and we had to content ourselves with a total 

 of 7 ducks and one goose. 



Next day we crossed into Montana and 

 camped near Lyon, on the Madison river. 

 Finding the fishing excellent at this place 

 we all turned out and before dark had 

 caught whitefish, grayling and trout enough 

 to last, when cured, until we reached home. 

 We had no difficulty in getting all the fish 

 required for our table during the trip. 



The remainder of the trip from Lyon is 

 through the beautiful Madison valley, along 



NORRIS GEYSER BASIN. 



which numerous sheep camps and fine 

 ranches are located. Reaching the town of 

 Ennis early in the day we pitched camp for 

 a 2 days' stay, making a side trip to Vir- 

 ginia City, 15 miles distant. This town was 

 one of the first mining camps located in 

 Montana, and was at one time the Capital 

 of the State. Her" is situated the great 

 placer mining camp of Alder Gulch, which 

 is said to have produced more gold than any 



