Yellowstone Day 4...A Tale of Two Trout

Today was a fishy day...I mentioned last nights dinner being delicious but failed to mention that it was locally caught lake trout...It gave me great energy on a 6am four mile run across an old railroad bed next to the Gardner River with my new pals Lisa, Kim, Matt and Ranger Jess.  Later at the studio I was Gyotaku printing with some similar trout that Ranger Matt had recently caught in the Gardner River.  Gyotaku printing involves inking up a fish and printing it on paper...It is an old Japanese method of recording a catch and I have done it before with my students and rubber fish but never with real fish...It was slimy, stinky, and AWESOME!

After lunch we headed into the park.  We drove down to Yellowstone Lake and spoke to Ranger Pat about the two trout problem in the lake.  A few years ago, a tourist decided it would be a good idea to introduce a new type of trout to the lake.  Since then, this trout..the Lake Trout, has been decimating the Cut Throat trout which it the indigenous species...For the past few years Yellowstone has been gill netting, then destroying Lake Trout to try to bring the numbers down so the Cut Throat can survive.   

We had a picnic dinner at the Lake Lodge Hotel which is a huge beautiful hotel on the lake and then drove north to the LeHardy Rapids to see the Lake Trout trying to swim back up the river after spawning...

Our last stop was at the amazing Grand Canyon of Yellowstone...Huge Waterfall...breathtaking views...I would say one of the most beautiful places on earth.

Tomorrow we are getting up before dawn to try to see the wolves and their pups...