Wildflowers of Wolf Creek, Alpine, Wyoming

This will be the last post from Idaho.  The Wolf Creek trail head was a short ride over the state line into Wyoming.  It was about 25 miles from the RV.  This hike up Wolf Creek, which empties into the Snake River, we observed the greatest variety of wildflowers this season.  On our ride home we made a stop at the Lunch Counter, which is an observation area, overlooking the Snake River, for white water rafters.  It was quite a show.

Gari stops to smell the wildflowers.

Gari pauses to review the trailhead bulletin board before we depart down Wolf Creek Trail.

The entrance to Wolf Creek.

We are no authority on wild flower species, but we sure think they are beautiful.  We appreciate being able to walk through such a beautiful natural garden without so much as lifting a finger to cultivate it.

Just a splash of purple in the left corner among the white blooms.

Narrow pedals on these Daisy looking flowers.

We thought these were Cattails at first glance, but no...  They had a little Saturn ring of yellow around the bud.

Wolf Creek pushes debris downstream.

Red and green moss near and in the water.

Gari makes her way through the tall lush grasses.

Lots of berries up here today.... keeping a lookout for munching bears.

An intricate array of tiny blooms on this white flower.

A bee collects the pollen from the Saturn ring on this bud.

 We like the purple flowers.

This downed tree trunk had a large rock encased in it.

Miniature waterfall on Wolf Creek.

Dark berries... still no bears, yay!

Gari gets a canyon wall shot behind the yellow flowers.

This might be that canyon wall shot.

These looked like wild raspberries, but we were certain that they were not.

Pretty purple thistle bloom.

 A bouquet of variety.

These blooms look like they came from the Tree of Souls in the Avatar movie.

 Thin pedaled Daisy flowers.

This stump looked like a bear to us.

Delicate perfection.

On the way back to the RV we made a stop to watch the white water rafters come down the Snake River. A view upstream on the Snake River looking at the Lunch Counter.  There is a Class III rapid at the Lunch Counter seen below by the large rock on the right side of the river.

 Gari surveys downstream on the Snake River from her rock perch.

Steve stands at the Lunch Counter observation overlook on the Snake River by the Class III rapid below.

One raft after another provides endless entertainment at the Lunch Counter.  This crew experiences a moment of terror passing through the rapid.

This crew looks like they are riding a roller coaster at Coney Island.

The crew expressions are priceless on this raft.

Did we lose the captain?

Knee caps and elbows fly as this raft is launched over the rapid!

This inflatable kayak rider decides to hold onto the kayak and stop paddling...

... not a great idea!

Indian Creek Hike

This was an interesting hike in that we expected to walk out of Idaho and into Wyoming along this trail.  This was a short hike of probably only 2.5 miles out and return on the same trail.  We haven't found too many loop trails in this area.  These trails go on for 10, 20 miles or more then connect with other trails.  8-10 miles is our limit for a one day hike, any more and it's really just too much for both of us.

We parked at the trail head, and it is noted that the kayaks are on the back of the truck just in case, because you just never know.

Indian Creek Trail - Palisades, Idaho

Steve leads the way from the trail head.

It wasn't log before we saw a small buck on the hill, with velvet still on his new antlers.

Pretty purple daisy flowers in the sunlight.

Steve stands by Indian Creek which ran along side of the trail.

We saw the striking yellow flowers that Cheryl said were related to the Dandelion Family right next to one of those giant Dandelion puff balls.  Cheryl knows her plants!

We came to a spot where the trail crossed the creek.  The water here was wide enough and deep enough that we weren't getting across without getting wet up to our knees.  We thought that we would not get to cross the state line into Wyoming after all....

But wait, Steve had an idea.  He walked upstream a little way through the brush and found a much more narrow spot in the creek where he was able to leap across.  On the other side he found a nearby fallen tree log.  With a little bit of pulling and hauling he was able to place the log across the narrow spot in the creek.

 Almost there...

A bit precarious, but it got us across...

And we were able to continue on the trail on the east side of the creek.

Gari stands next to a rocky outcropping we spotted along the canyon wall.  We love the rocky outcroppings!

According to Gari's hand-held Garmin GPS, Steve believes that he is now in Wyoming.  Obviously he is excited by this event.  You would think he has never been to Wyoming before...

About 500 feet farther along the trail we came to this gate.  It was marked Idaho - Wyoming State Line.  Perhaps Steve's celebration was a moment too soon.

Gari's reaction to walking into Wyoming is taken in stride per usual.

Another shot of the beautiful Indian Creek canyon wall.

Below, Gari marks the end of this hike as the trail once again crosses Indian Creek.  We decided this was a good turning point and headed back to the truck.

As we crossed back into Idaho, our good citizen Gari closed the gate behind us as the posted sign requested.