YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK 8-10-11

We wanted to hike two trails in the Fishing Bridge area this morning and our one hike asks that we check at the ranger station for bear activity.  We learned we could hike with a ranger at 10 AM, so we hiked Pelican Creek Nature Trail first and then met the ranger, Dandelion, yep, that's her name, from Queens, New York City.  We and about 40 others hiked Storm Point, a 2.3 mile hike by Indian Pond which we learned was a geyser blow-out that had filled with water and on to Yellowstone Lake.  Actually, it's autumn here at Yellowstone.  Summer lasts about three weeks.  The 136 sq mile lake does freeze in the winter, but not completely because of the geothermal features of the area.  The ice was gone off the lake by June 10th.  Yellowstone usually gets about 300 inches of snow each year.  This year they got 900 inches.  On July 14th the water was nine feet above it's normal level.  On our hike we saw all three of the park's trees - Spruce, Fir and Pine.  There are two types of fish in Yellowstone - or maybe in the lake.  Cutthroat Trout, the native fish, and Lake Trout, the invasive fish.