We love having friends and relatives visit us and we always offer to guide them to the places we love. So, when Kim asked if we would meet them in Star Valley, we asked them what they wanted to do.
Among other things they mentioned flyfishing, but it was not meant to be, Our river, the Salt River, is having a fish kill due to the low water. It’s caused by a parasite that is in the mud and it’s the first time it has happened here, (The first fish to die were the Mountain Whitefish). We only had a day, so we asked them if they would like to hike to the Periodic Springs. It’s near Afton, Wyoming, about twenty miles away.
Driving up the narrowing gravel road we reached the parking lot. From there it’s about one mile to a small footbridge that crosses the stream and leads to the trail to the place where the spring discharges from an opening in the Madison Limestone.
Halfway up the trail a cave opening discharges about 1.8 million gallons of water a day. Aton placed a large pipe in the water, cemented over it and that’s where the town gets its water supply, (a landslide/mudslide covered everything a few years ago but it has since been repaired).
From there you continue up the steep valley until you see water gushing from the side of the mountain. A short but in some places steep trail takes anyone who dares to the place where the water emerges.
The trail looked like it was in good shape and so I decided to make one last climb to the opening. Tom and Renita decided to stay at the bottom and take pictures while Kim and Kyla easily hiked after me.
Before long the trail narrowed and I used my hands to grasp rocks, turning it into a third class climb, (my balance is not great and looking back I saw the ladies were easily hiking past the place where I felt exposed.
As we reached the point where the spring emerged from the cliff side I was disappointed that the opening had been covered with rocks. Probably to keep anyone or anything from crawling into the opening.
The spring water flow stopped for a bit and eventually resumed. At the bottom of the hill, we had passed a large Forest Service Sign that explained why the flow starts and stops. It’s a cold water geyser!
When the flow finally resumed and we returned down the trail. It was far easier going down, at least for me and we quickly met Tom and Renita at the bottom.
It was a great way to spend the day, and I pointed out several trails up the mountain, (I am past the point of ever attempting the steep grades! Returning to our Park Model, we showed them our rock shop and many of the rocks and fossils we have collected over the years! No one fell asleep!
Thanks again for visiting us! We enjoyed having you along for the hike!
Clear skies
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