S E P U L C H E R   M O U N T A I N

Yellowstone National Park
Northwestern Wyoming

Me at the top. A grizzly happened to be walking by so I asked him to take my picture. I'm happy to say he didn't get one of his long claws in the picture while taking the shot. He must have a lot of practice at picture taking given the popularity of the hiking trail. Well done Mr Grizzly.

Okay, I'll come clean. Actually, there's no bear, it is Dave & Jana who take my picture, a young couple from Regina in Saskatchewan, Canada, who are passing through Yellowstone on their way to Utah. Operating on very little sleep because of their late night arrival, they decide to go on a hike anyway. I really admire their spirit of adventure.

All three of us simultaneously scratch our collective heads, wondering where the trail has gone. The trail is configured in a loop and according to the trail information we have, we need to head down the mountain's southern face, then turn due east for a steep, downward descent.

We all agree to stick together and as we make our way down the mountainside in search of the lost trail, we encounter this vertebra. Could it be a past hiker who was in the same situation that we all find ourselves in today? Hmmm, this makes me wonder.

As we make our way down in search of the trail, every once in a while we see a faint remnant of a trail, which perhaps is only in our imaginations for many false leads are encountered and discarded. After a while of this trial-and-error we decide to just blaze our way down the mountainside in the hope of eventually picking up the trail that we all had come up on.