Yellowstone is Youuuuge!

Wow, we have put almost 300 miles on the car and have only seen about a third of Yellowstone National Park. We have back-tracked over some areas that we already saw and some parts where we drove but did not stop because it was late in the day, but still, this place is huge!

On our third venture into the park Ellyn and I took Myra with us. Dave had some business to take care of. We thought we might meet up with him later but that did not work out. We drove up to the Norris Geyser Basin and walked on of the shorter paths through the basin. It was quite something. The varying colors in the pools are remarkable, mainly because they are all different temperatures and so have different organisms living in them. There are also steam vents that just constantly hiss and periodic geysers, one of which Ellyn predicted would erupt while we were near by. It had started bubbling and Geoff just had enough time to point his camera at it before it started going. It only lasted a few seconds.

Along the way we came upon a herd of female Bison with their youngsters. This was, of course, at the end of a long backup of cars.

Our next stop was back to Old Faithful to see another eruption. This one actually went off +10 minutes after the predicted time, and was preceded by 4 false starts before it finally went but the eruption lasted nearly twice as long as the first one we saw. Geoff got video and Ellyn took stills on her phone. It was great.

We then visited the Midway Geyser Basin (Old Faithful is in the Lower Basin) and tried to see some of the largest of the hot pools but the sun was in the wrong place and the wind was blowing the steam right into our faces, so good pictures were at a premium. However, Geoff did get some nice ones of the water overflow from the pools pouring into the river.

This marked the end of our stay in West Yellowstone and we moved to the Northern Entrance into the park from Gardiner, Montana. To get there, we drove through the park. The first part was fine and we had traveled those roads before so we knew they would be OK. When we went past Norris Junction, we discovered construction going on to widen the road. We agree this is necessary because the road was very narrow after this and Geoff and Dave had some white-knuckle times keeping the rigs between the lines and off the sharp drop off on the shoulder and out of the oncoming traffic. Then, when we passed Mammoth Hot Springs, the road dropped sharply into the valley where Gardiner is, with some sharp turns as well. We did see some nice views though.

Unlike West Yellowstone, which is quite commercialized, Gardiner is more Old West. Sure, they have some souvenir stores and several companies that take rafting trips down the Yellowstone River (which our friends Dave and Myra are doing the day we leave), but a lot of it is locals and little businesses and old buildings. And it is right on the border of the park. There is a great gate marking the entrance into the park called “Roosevelt Gate”. It is also more desert-like here than the West Entrance. There is lots of sage brush, and the Elk are coming right into town looking for the green grass they force to grow here.

So the nearest part interesting part of Yellowstone NP is Mammoth Hot Springs. Our first evening in Gardiner, Dave, Myra and I went back into the park and up through Mammoth near sunset to see if we could spot some wildlife. We were able to find a Coyote climbing on the hot spring terraces and we also saw a Red Fox running across the road in front of us. We also saw lots of Elk, both in Mammoth and in fields outside of town.

The next day, we drove toward Tower Junction and Roosevelt Lodge where we were scheduled to go on Cowboy Cookout. Ellyn and I rode a wagon to the cookout, but Dave and Myra opted to take the one hour horse ride. Ellyn and I had gone on a horse ride when we first came to Yellowstone 39 years ago, so we had learned our lesson. As it was, everyone had a wonderful time. But before the cookout, we went to the Lamar Valley, where there are many of the big Bison herds in Yellowstone, perhaps in the world.

We got to see some new wildlife too. There were some Red Tailed Hawks circling over a field and riding the crazy winds we have been getting in Northern Yellowstone. Also, when we stopped once to take in a beautiful cliff structure we spotted Prong Horned Sheep on some pretty steep cliffs.

The Cowboy Cookout was fun and the food was good but the wait for that food was a little long. They should have more than just two lines for 200 people. But there was cowboy music, stories around the campfire, and wildlife to see both coming and going.

Our last day in Yellowstone (sob) was a short one. We basically just toured Mammoth Hot Springs. The springs are not our favorite part of the geologic features of Yellowstone because they are pretty static (although they do actually change a lot over a relatively short period), and they are not as colorful as other features around the caldera area. However, we got out and Geoff took a slew of pictures. Afterwards we had lunch and then went back for a relaxing afternoon in the campground.

Our last dinner together was great and we will be getting up tomorrow to head out for Portland Oregon and a whole new adventure and Dave and Myra will be staying here for a day and then heading back East on their own adventure. We will see each other again in the Fall in Florida.