We had heard there were long lines entering the park so we decided to enter through the North East Entrance which is not as heavily traveled. But first, we had to travel the steep and winding roads of Bear Tooth Highway. Fists clenched thru the white knuckled drive we had some of the most amazing views! The grade was steep and certainly tested our brakes! We also had to be aware of free range cattle that were along the roadside along with the huge Black Crows! There were warning signs about the birds which I thought read Black Clowns! This ended up being a joke for us the entire stay. Anyway, I was thankful to finally see the entrance to the park!
We entered thru the quaint town of Silver Gate in Montana with its western decor filled with saloons and shops. Once past the town we entered Wyoming and were greeted by a fairly large herd of Bison! They were alongside the road and up in the hills. Beautiful massive creatures. We kept our distance.
A mother bison and her calf cross the river
We secured a campsite in Canyon Village which is centrally located in the massive park. We decided to explore the north end first and then work our way south. First stop Mammoth Hot Springs which features ever-changing travertine terraces and historic Fort Yellowstone where the role the US Army played an important part in protecting the park in its first decades. We climbed the wooded pathways to the top of the hot spring. We are told during the winter months, Bison and Elk gather here to enjoy the warm waters.
We traveled south from there to Norris Geyser Basin which is the park's hottest and most dynamic geyser basin. It includes Steamboat which is the world's tallest geyser. There is a boardwalk to circumvents the many geysers and many warnings are posted about not leaving the trail as the ground is fragile and animals and visitors who have left the path have fallen thru to their demise. As you walk the area, you can feel the rumbling of the boiling water below your feet. The geyser pictured below spewed its mineral filled waters 350 feet in the air damaging the paint on cars in the parking lot 3 weeks prior to our visit!
The waters of some of these basins reach temperatures of 212 degrees!
As evening was approaching, we headed to our campsite with excitement! We were so pleased to have secured a site in one of the most popular campgrounds in yellowstone! There are no hook ups which was fine with us. It was wonderful to sleep under the stars in the middle of the park!
The next morning, we woke up to 44 degrees which we found refreshing after leaving the heat of the Bad lands. We hopped on our bikes and road down to the village where we filled our bellies with a cowboy breakfast. Guy luckily secured a campsite at Grant Village in the South end of the park, so we closed up camp and headed that way excited to explore on the way down. First stop Canyon Falls. The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone! It was a popular site but we were lucky again to find a parking spot for Gwen our 37 foot RV. We hopped on our bikes and explored the area a bit before taking the hiking trail down the canyon. Views were amazing! However, once again, I was affected by the heat and could not continue the hike. Years ago, I had heat exhaustion in Arizona and it has somehow affected my heat tolerance to this day. We were disappointed but knew there was still so much to see by car.
We continued South in the park to Fishing Village and Yellowstone Lake where we could find a spot near the water to cool off. And that we did!! We spent the afternoon on the banks of the massive lake.
The fires on the West Coast have made for some hazy days and limited views unfortunatley
Oliver and I combed the lakes edge in search of driftwood which was in abundance.
We spoke with a ranger who informed us that views from the East Entrance were breathtaking so we decided to head there after lunch. Again, the views were obscured from the smoke. We did however, see acre upon acre of desigrated land from the wood boring beetles.
Oliver has been insistent on seeing Old Faithful so that was our next stop. As you can ascertain, we fill as much as we can in a day! This later proved to be ill fated. Old Faithful erupts on average every 90 minutes. As luck would have it, we arrived 10 minutes before!
As the crowds dispersed we made our way to the visitor center for dinner. Due to Covid restrictions, no inside dining can take place. We grabbed our to go meals and sat on the porch to eat. As evening approached, we decided to hop back on our bikes and explore the many geysers in the area along the wooden paths. Some were erupting, some were spewing while others just boiled. It was fascinating to walk among them.
If you look closely, you can see bones of animals that have fallen through to their death.
By now, it was past dusk and we still had at least an hour drive to the campsite on the southern end of the park. Guy was a trooper and got us there safely, however pulling into the check in site at the campground, he mis calculated a turn and hit another RV. No damage to theirs, but it ripped the awning off of ours. Park police were called and we had to wait to fill out a report. To make matters worse, we couldn't fit into our assigned campsite and ended up parked in the registration lot for the night. After some duct tape and a few screws, the awning felt secured. Again, as luck would have it....or blessing from above, which I prefer, a service shop was next to the campground, so in the morning we could have it looked over. We also had an oil change done and tires checked. I refused to let this put a damper on our spirits, although Guy was pretty upset with the mishap. Our original plan was to head home via the north entrance and head into Billings for an oil change, but since we got this done at the park we were free to head south.....to....the....GRAND TETONS!!
Comments
Post a Comment