We don’t know how long the Indian Pond Trail in Yellowstone was, but we are pretty sure it was our longest hike thus far on this trip (We later found out that it is called the Storm Point trail and is about 2 miles long).  Cody was super tough on this hike.  We started this hike at 3:45 and ended by 5.  He didn’t cry at all or even ask to get picked up. Cody and Brooke ran the first ten minutes of this hike.  I couldn’t believe they still had any energy left for the rest of the hike.  Indian Pond is not just a normal pond. It is more evidence of geothermal activity.  The sign stated that the ancient geyser had experienced “hydrothermal blowout.” Instead of releasing steam gradually the ground water flashed to steam so violently that it blasted out hundreds of feet of overlying rock that still lines the pond.

Cody asked to play in the sand a few times.  He found a “hiking stick” not far from here and was very happy with attempting to use his semi-circle stick to hike.

The kids and I played in the sand for a little bit while Scott hiked ahead and met another family.

The kids have been refusing to pose for pictures, so I grabbed them so they couldn’t run.  Then they posed for the next pictures on their own.

We stumbled upon another family taking the same type of photo with their kids’ hands.  We don’t know if those marks were made by a bear, but they were pretty convincing. 

This is the closest Cody came to complaining, but he didn’t.  He just sat down and did an old man pose. 

This hike took us first through the meadow, then to the beach, through a forest, and then back to the meadow.   Two seconds later he was jumping on the end of the log trying to catapult himself.

We had an amazing treat at the end of our very long hike.  As we came up the hill out of the woods buffalo roamed right in front of us.  There were a few families that were watching in awe and wondering how much space we should give the buffalo before we started hiking again.  Two boys ages thirteen and eleven started chatting away with me.  The dad apologized profusely, but I let him know I was a teacher and that I rather enjoy trying to juggle several kid conversations at once.  In fact it was an unexpected treat to be able to chat with them and share the buffalo experience.

The kids really enjoyed the buffalo surprise. Cody whispered, “I didn’t know there were buffalo here Momma!”  Brooke wanted to be the first to start hiking again after the buffalo passed.  The other families were more than happy to let us be the first family to go. We watched a family get attacked by a buffalo in a Yellowstone video yesterday all because they got too close.  It didn’t help that the buffalo were making grunting noises that resembled someone who was really hungry and had just rolled out of bed on the wrong side.  Just as the boys we were walking with started to get nervous the buffalo started to roll in the sand down by the lake.  They looked like over-sized dogs rolling and then shaking the dirt off.

Then we headed to the east entrance/ exit of Yellowstone.  We stopped in Cody, Wyoming for some gas and a picture of Cody next to his sign.  We had fun noting everything in the town named after Cody.  The town even had a rodeo. Next stop: Devil’s Tower.