Top photo: Paul heads down a long steep ridge leading to the valley floor. Had we continued along this path, we would have ended up near the Lamar River Bridge. You can see a broad bend in the Lamar River, with the sweeping meanders of Slough Creek, in the valley below. If you look closely, you can spot the bridge over the Lamar River and a bit of the dirt road that leads to the Slough Creek campground. Note also the oxbow lakes that were formed when one of the meanders of Slough Creek got cut off during spring floods of the past. In time, they'll fill in, adding to the rich soil of the river bottom. New ones will continue to be made however, so long as Yellowstone remains protected from development.

The bottom photo shows the view from a low hill just east of Slough Creek, on the north side of Lamar Valley. The confluence with Lamar River is near the left (south) side of the photo. The stretch of Slough Creek between the confluence and the campground is heavily fished, but still supports a fine population of trout.