Saturday 9-12-26 Morning Hike, Showers & Camping

 

Grant Campground

We woke up to a brisk 29 degrees and the high was 68 degrees. 

I crawled out of bed at 7:15 and made a pancake for breakfast. After breakfast we got read to go for a hike. There's not much hiking here. They have one trail it goes to the Visitor Center and Grant Village. We did this yesterday and today we did it again. We hiked for 3.5 miles. We walked down to Yellowstone Lake and hiked the shore instead of the trail because we wanted to be in the sun. It was a little nippy. It was very sandy but it was in the sun. At the beginning of the hike we stirred up a flock of Canadian geese, they were the biggest geese I ever saw. We weren't sure if we could walk the shore all the way to the Visitor Center, not only did we make it to the visitor center but all the way to the restaurant and boat ramp. As we were hiking we saw a group of ten people kayaking on the lake and another couple behind them. The lake was very flat and they sounded like they were having a great time. We waved at them and they waved back. A couple of the kayaks in the group were double occupants and the other eight were single occupants. The couple were both single occupants. When we got the the boat dock and restaurant we sat on a beautiful stone wall to get the sand out of our shoes. The sand was a volcanic sand not the sand you see on the ocean beach. Before we got to the dock we hiked by the Visitor Center and Lakeview Pavilion. We hiked by the Lakeview Restaurant and it had a great view of the lake. The boat ramp is in a protected area and you have to drive your boat around big post to get on the lake. There were a couple of National Park boats in the boat ramp area. It was well built and beautiful. The restaurant was a beautiful building, it wasn't open when were there. In the parking lot at the boat ramp there were a few kayaking tours guide companies getting setup for the day. Then we hiked the road to Grant Village and walked through the gift shop and grocery store. We didn't buy anything. Then we hiked to the Visitor Center and took a bathroom break. Today we didn't go in. We picked the trail back to the campground. We hiked over the suspension bridge to get to the other side the river. It was about a mile back to the campground. A nice thing about this trail when it gets to the campground it has a sign with the loop letter. We took the loop H short trail up to the actual loop. We had a great hike.

Canadian Geese walking on the sand

 

Group of kayakers going for a morning adventure

Visitor Center 

Grant's Restaurant with a lakeview

Lake House Restaurant

When we got back to the Minnie we relaxed until it was time for lunch. It was still cold in the Minnie so we setup out chairs and read. Larry took his chair to the site next to ours because it had more sun. For lunch we had soup. After lunch we relaxed and read until it was time to go take a shower. We rode the motorcycle over to the showers. We could have walked but it was about a mile away. 

The showers are open 8:00 am to 9:00 pm. The showers were closed between 1:30 to 3:00 for cleaning. If you stay in the campground you get two free showers per site, per night. Otherwise it cost $5.45 plus tax, there is a laundry at the same place. It's a coin laundry. Grant has 12 men's showers, 12 women's showers and three family showers. Before going to the shower house you have to see the cashier in the laundry. It's a great facility and showers are great. The heads spray perfect and the water was adjustable for what temperature you want. There was a lot of hooks for your clothes and your clothes and shoes don't get wet.

When we got back Larry loaded the motorcycle back on the carrier. After dinner he put the cover on the motorcycle and strapped it down. I bagged the chairs. 

Then I went for a 45 minutes walk around the campground for 2.5 miles. I walked six loops, which were F, G, H, I, J and K. While walking K loop a gentleman said he saw a female elk. Another gentleman with him was very excited and had a big smile on his face. I told them she must live in this campground because I saw her last night. I had a super evening walk.

 

Elk

Larry finished his book and I continued reading The Latecomer by Jean Hanff Korelitz. I ended up doing 14,500 steps.