Nymphing

In my family, Yellowstone National Park is a ritual. If the park were a person, it would be a family member. It's gotten to the point where we need to start going on week-long backpacking trips just to see something different and new. And sometimes I truly believe that my parents moved from Carlsbad to Billings just so my dad could have this park practically in his backyard.

Since my parents visit Yellowstone so frequently, they have discovered some hidden secrets: thermal pools and geysers without fences and wooden boardwalks and hoards of people. We visited one such place the afternoon that we arrived.

Thermal features, especially those crystalline pools, fascinate me. Part of me really wants to take a dip or dive to to try and see the bottom of these deep caverns. Wooden boardwalks and fences make this dip a bit more difficult, but without those barriers, it takes restraint and common sense.

All restraint is lost when it comes to my family on a trail. Meet the trail nymph. I don't remember the origins of this ritual, but I believe it all began with my mom. She'll probably call me about the above photo, but it truly is the best portrayal of what hiking is like with my family. My dad marches along ahead, pretending that he sees and hears nothing behind him, while the rest of us prance and leap and dance behind him.

It's just one of the many things he has had to endure over the years due to living with all females.