More Yellowstone

 

9/23-24/25:  

Two beautiful days in Yellowstone NP.  Cool crisp mornings, warm afternoons and not a cloud in the sky for two days.  As I write this on the morning of 9/25, there are still no clouds in the sky.  We got into the park at 9:00 and 8:00 respectively.  

The morning of 9/23 was cold and frost held in the shadows until 11 or so, in higher elevations.  We headed down the west side of the park towards Old Faithful.  The geothermal features were putting up so much steam in the cold air, it was beautiful.  We hiked artist paintpots and a few other short hikes.  Grand Prismatic was packed with people, too many to enter on the way south.  

We pushed down to Old Faithful and surprisingly it wasn’t packed.  The viewing area may have expanded since we were last here.  We only had to wait about 25 minutes before the eruption.  I forgot how impressive it is.  People again cheered and clapped like they were at a concert, not as much as I remember from the last visit though.  

Going back north, the area around Grand Prismatic was packed again.  We witnessed cars double and triple parked in some areas.  Based on the amount of people and the length of lines to get into some of the parking lots, we passed.  We saw lots of deer, elk and buffalo…also known as Tatanka.  We stopped for a quick picnic along a stream at a designated rest area.  

Back at the campground we played some games and sat in the sun.  Leftovers for dinner and we watched a movie.  

The next morning was cool and crisp as well.  We rolled through the gates around 8 and made our way in.  There was a herd of elk right at the gate.  We headed for Tower to the east and really enjoyed the drive.  This area of the park was closed when we were here in 14’.  We ran into a Sheep Jam and a few other tight spots where people were looking at animals, but there was no room to see what it was.  

We stopped at Tower Falls for a quick break and to stretch our legs.  Tower Falls is beautiful and there was a black bear eating berries on the hillside.  We pressed on towards Canyon and Yellowstone Lake.  We took a little hike at Canyon and decided to come back in the afternoon, hopeful it wouldn’t be as crowded.  

We made our way down to the lake, I forgot how big it is.  We started by walking around the lodge and then drove over to the hotel.  We checked out the interior and decided to have a Huck Margarita on the porch.  After our Marg we headed back north.  We had lunch at Nez Perce Ford, it’s a beautiful spot on a deep hole in the river.  

Canyon was still busy, but the lighting was great.  I may have taken a 1,000 pictures.  I forgot how impressive it is.  Deep, narrow and really colorful.  I stayed up top instead of hiking down to the lower viewpoints.  

Before getting back to the construction at Tower Junction, we saw people pulled over at a pull out and there were a ton of people outside their cars.  I spotted the Grizzly they were looking at.  He was  uphill eating berries and moving towards the tree line.  By the time I got out and situated, he had moved on.  

We saw the small herd of Bighorn sheep again on the way back along with a cinnamon colored black bear eating berries.  We saw a good amount of elk and a ton of Tatanka again.  

Back at the trailer we sat in the shade and enjoyed the afternoon.  I made Rueben’s on the Blackstone and I think they were a 9/10.  As the sun went down, the temps dropped quickly and we watched a movie and the last episode of Terminal List Dark Wolf.  

I let the dogs out at 11ish and the stars were amazing.  I went out first to check out the night settings in the iPhone.  I got some cool shots.  With the dogs out, I could hear something by the creek/beaver dam.  When I went to get the dogs back in, Maggie was moving slow.  Then there was some loud splashing and I just about threw her into the rig.  I’m sure it was just a couple of Beavers, but your mind will play tricks on you.