Fairy Falls and the Fantastic Four

The book says that those who have finished the challenge of hiking four of Waterton and Glacier Nation Parks' most beautiful and demanding day hikes : Crypt Lake and Carthew-Alderson trails in Waterton, and Siyeh Pass and the Garden Wall in Glacier, have serious bragging rights. Sponsored by the Waterton Park Inns and Resorts, the formal way to sign up for the challenge is a Pearl's Cafe in Waterton townsite. Every day we were in Waterton we passed Pearl's, but, unfortunately, they were closed for the season. Even though we couldn't sign up formally, we are still claiming bragging rights because we hiked the Fantastic Four, and then some.

Here's our documentation:

The Garden Wall - September 12, 2015

Siyeh Pass - September 16, 2015 (We were unable to cross over the snow-clogged pass and make the short descent to the road, but 9 days later we...

hiked up Piegan Pass, which shares the same trail for the first half of the climb, and continued on from the Going-to-the-Sun Road to the Many Glaciers Hotel - better than just Siyeh Pass!

Carthew-Alserson - October 7, 2015

Crypt Lake - October 10, 2015 - and all the fun we had associated with Crypt Lake...

hanging on for dear life across a sheer cliff..,

duck-walking through a tunnel, and...

swinging onto a ladder to reach and cross another sheer cliff.

 Since we had not planned, earlier in the summer, to visit Yellowstone National Park, we had not acquired trail guide books for the park, so this morning we headed into the park to visit the Old Faithful Visitor Center, which is still open. Yellowstone Park is notorious for travel delays within the park due to road construction and animal viewing and this morning we experienced both. For over an hour we sat in backed-up traffic, first for a bit of road construction, and then, immediately after, because...

this herd of bison had decided to use the road to migrate along the Firehole River.

Not only did traffic have to wait for the herd to clear the road, park visitors wanted to take pictures of these magnificent creatures. At least it was a nice day and the scenery was enjoyable.

Upon reaching the Old Faithful area we first visited the Visitor Center. We got a sense of just how international are the visitors who travel here - the informational signs have to accommodate all cultures.

While we were in the Visitor Center an announcement was made that "Castle Geyser is unexpectedly erupting" and we were invited to walk the 15 minute trail outside the Visitor Center to view the eruption. An eruption consists of about 15 minutes of spouting water followed by 30 minutes of steam. This is a view of the eruption from the boardwalk on the southwest side, and...

this is the eruption from the northeast. The massive cone of Castle Geyser is a sign of old age. Eruption after eruption, probably for thousands of years, scalding water has deposited this silica mineral formation. By contrast, Old faithful's fledgling cone (see below) may be only a few hundred years old.

Steam and water vapor showering the cone and base.

On the way back to the Visitor Center we walked by the Old Faithful Inn where I worked the summer of 1963. Unfortunately, the Inn was closed for the season so we were unable to revel in the awe inspiring lobby and massive, four-sided, stone fireplace. So many memories for me!

We just got back to the Visitor Center when Old Faithful was "scheduled" to erupt. We walked across the street and were able to view this most famous of geysers. (I guess you can't really see the cone, but there's not much there.)

After purchasing our trail guides, we drove to the Fairy Falls trailhead, ate our lunch, and began the short hike to the falls. First we crossed the Firehole River - notice the water from the hot springs draining into the river.

The trail took us past the Midway Geyser Basin and...

within an hour we were at the falls. Fairy Creek shoots out over the edge of the Madison Plateau and plunges 197 feet into a peaceful pool beneath. 

Selfie at the falls.

As I was putting the phone back in my pocket, after taking the selfie, it took this picture. Hiking boots, can of bear spray in Frederick's side pocket, and my hiking poles, the left one is bent.

Hike statistics:

Length - 5 miles

Elevation gain - basically flat ( 20 floors on the Fitbit)

Duration - 1 hour, 56 minutes