Specimen Creek (Yellowstone National Park) (Day 8)

The eighth day of my trip began similar to the rest - breakfast with a side of maps and trail guides for good measure.  We hadn't decided on where we wanted to hike so Mom and Dad were pouring over the maps trying to make a decision.  Mom did not want to do a lot of climbing (elevation wise that is) and I really had no opinion.  I just wanted to be on the trail and hiking and it didn't really matter to me where we went.  We finally decided on Specimen Creek trail in Yellowstone.  The trail head was approximately halfway between Big Sky and West Yellowstone.  This trail is one of the many in Yellowstone that link to multiple other trails so there is no real end to the trail.  We decided that we would hike in for approximately 3 hours and hike back out.

The trail was absolutely beautiful running along Specimen Creek pretty much the entire way in.  Approximately 2 miles in from the trail head, we came upon the first Wilderness Campsite.  It was this great site right along a meadow that would make the perfect camping spot with our future kids.  It would be the perfect place to see moose, elk and other wildlife as well as a great spot for star gazing.

As stated above, we hiked in for about 3 hours, found a spot to sit and ate our lunches.  We then headed back out to the trail head.  No wildlife seen on this hike except for a few grouse of some kind but some fantastic landscapes (most of the pictures below are courtesy of my Mom).

We then headed down to West Yellowstone for some biking souvenirs and then back to Big Sky.  We ended up seeing some wildlife at the condo that night - Todd (the fox) and Mr. Beaver decided to stop by and say hello.  Both have become staples of the Lakeside Condominiums community.