Yellowstone Just Before Winter

Yellowstone National Park

One of the best times of year to visit Yellowstone National Park is Fall. Just before Winter, there is so much activity going on in the park. The bears are feeding heavily trying to prepare for 6 months in their dens. The Elk and Bison are beginning to migrate towards the lower elevations where they will find better Winter feeding opportunities. The park service is closing roads and certain areas within the park that will be harder hit by the soon to fall snow.

Geyser Basin

Geysers Near The Old Faithful Area

Old Faithful Geyser

This is the most famous and definitely the most photographed of all the geysers in the park. Old Faithful has been going off for hundreds of years, virtually every hour.  

          

Chattanooga Stump Jump

Well I did 20 miles instead of the 31 that I planned to do, but, I had an awesome time in Chattanooga. My hat is off to the folks who put on the Chattanooga Stump Jump 50K. They really did a wonderful job and I personally had a great time. The course was excellent. I highly recommend it to any trail runner. I promise, you will love it, but, do your preparation before you get to the race. The course is extremely challenging and will extract it's pound of flesh if you go unprepared.

View of Suck Creek, Approximately 5 Miles Into The Run

Mushroom Rock, Approximately 4.1 Miles Into The Run

The race is held in October which is the perfect time of year to run it. The temperatures were a bit chilly at race start time, but, quickly warmed up to a comfortable 70 degrees by midday. My training for this run will be more extensive next year. I was prepared for the climbing, but, wasn't ready to deal with the extremely technical downhills. The rock garden was also an interesting challenge. It amounted to half a mile of bouldering. Pretty cool, but, diffently a challenge at 16 miles into the run.