The children are so captivated by the horses and hikes at Ring Lake Ranch that a few major-league wonders have not made the "log" yet.  I simply MUST tell you quickly about one of our last days in Yellowstone National Park.  After we had become bitten by the wolf-watching bug, we began to loiter around the northeast corner of the park--particularly the Lamar River Valley.  We pulled off at a tiny rest area (okay, at a potty house), and the trailhead sign said, "Trout Lake."  I remembered a campground neighbor telling me that their family had hiked to Trout Lake, and that the trout were spawning.  It appeared to be a very short hike--under 2 miles roundtrip--and though it was suppertime, I rounded up the crowd and off we went.

On the trail, we passed a lone hiker who looked at us, shook his head, and said, "You are about to see the most amazing thing in the entire world.  When you get to the lake, go to the right."  So, after a short (but vertical) hike, we took the trail to the right, curved around the beautiful little lake, and found ourselves on the shore.  5 feet away in the water was a downed tree.  On the tree were 6 adult otters and 2 otter pups.  Mom Otter would dive in, call the pups, swim over to the little footbridge, launch a furious chase, and come up with a 12" trout, which she'd bring to the pups and they'd all munch away.  There were sibling spats, games of tag, jealous fisher-folk, and general amazement.  If you're ever riding through the Lamar Valley, . . . .