Last Day at Yellowstone

  Thursday night would be our last night in Yellowstone and we definitely celebrated. Like I knew it would, the week was over with in no time. We spent about 2 months planning and buying the gear we needed and the time just flew by once we got there. But that's the way it is. There's a lot to see in a place that spans just over 2 million acres.

   On our way out, we got to see the Grand Tetons. I'd have to agree with their name! Just driving past them and taking photos from the car window was awesome.

Grand Tetons, Wyoming

Grand Tetons, Wyoming

Grand Tetons, Wyoming

Pinedale, Wyoming

Nebraska Sky

     I have to admit the drive back was not as fun as the drive to Yellowstone. We were exhausted and the last place we wanted to be for 2 1/2 days was on the road. But we made it back home to two very affectionate cats and a real bed! Despite the long drive, the trip was totally worth it. Our main expense was gas. The Yellowstone entrance pass was only $25 per car and our campground was about $20 a night. We packed way too much food so we didn't have to go grocery shopping when we got back. Bonus! And the money we spent on gear we won't have to spend again (hopefully). All in all, an amazing and wonderful trip. We only saw a fraction of what's in Yellowstone which means one thing...second trip back next year!

Yellowstone: Artist Paint Pots & Full Moons

   After our trip to Lamar Valley, we stopped off at the Artist Paint Pots (located between Norris and Madison campground). It was one of those stops we had been meaning to make because we had absolutely no idea what a "paint pot" was. A short hike into the area showed us a small collection of hot springs, mudpots and geysers. The hike itself is about 1 mile along a boardwalk (with no incline!). It was a really enjoyable walk all in all. Here are some photos:

Trailhead at Artist Paint Pots

About 10 minutes later

Small Geyser at Artist Paint Pots

                                  

      The mudpots were pretty cool because it looked like a giant puddle of milk. The smell wasn't quite as bad as Old Faithful Geyser, but there was still some stink. Despite that, I was glad that we had decided to stop at the last minute and see this area.

End of hike at Artist Paint Pots

Driving back to Madison Campground

     Later that evening, my friend Patience and I walked down to the Madison River and watched our first full moon in Yellowstone. I set up my tripod and took a good number of photos before I hit the right shutter speed and got this one.

Full Moon at Madison River

   

       Wednesday was definitely a beautiful day and evening! Although we didn't get to see any wolves in Lamar Valley, we saw plenty of buffalo to make up for it. The coyote was icing on the cake and we finally got to see the Artist Paint Pots and settled the much-argued bet that it wasn't just a bunch of artists painting pots...although that would have been fun too :)

      Thursday is Grand Canyon day so don't go too far!

Yellowstone: Close Encounters of the Buffalo Kind

    On our drive back from Mammoth Hot Springs, we stopped along Gardner River and did some walking. It was a beautiful place to walk and take photos and the weather was perfect. I kept forgetting to keep my eye out for large and small critters because the scenery was so distracting. Here's some photos.

Gardner River

Gardner River

    However, it was the trip from Gardner River that was the real gem! While we were driving down the road, we came across a bit of a traffic jam. A lone buffalo was ambling down the center of the road with both lanes stopped. And he did not care how long it took! And he definitely was not concerned about being surrounded by vehicles. It was pretty cool to come that close to something so massive and powerful.

............

Whoa!

     Here's a few more shots on our way back to camp:

    On Wednesday, we drove 45 miles northeast to Lamar Valley where there's even more buffalo. That's supposed to be one of the best places to see buffalo, bears and wolves. No luck with wolves, but we did see one bear from REALLY far away. We did happen upon a young and slightly curious coyote though. 

On the way to Lamar Valley

And, oh, wait...more buffalo...

   After Lamar Valley, we drove to Slough Creek and hiked part of the trail there. We didn't make it too far because of the incline, but we tried!

Slough Creek Trail

Up to no good: Karl, me & Patience

Leaving Slough Creek

Leaving Slough Creek

   The Artist Paintpots was our next stop after Slough Creek, but that will have to wait until the next blog.

Yellowstone or Bust: Old Faithful Geyser

     So, Yellowstone! Finally! On our last day of driving, we woke up early, drove through Bighorn (previous blog) and made it into Yellowstone at last.

   The entrance fee was only $25 for a little over a week. Not a bad deal. Once we were inside the park it was even harder not to drive off the road because the scenery takes your breath away. I, unfortunately, didn't take many photos leading into the park because we were just ready to get to the campsite.

     We came in through the eastern entrance and drove around Yellowstone Lake (huge!) up to Canyon Village to Norris then to our campground, Madison. All in all, it was about 69 miles from the east entrance to our campground. Driving at 45 miles per hour, and that's only when you're not having to stop behind a line of cars that saw a buffalo and forgot what a pullout was for, it took a solid 1 1/2 hours to get to the campground. At that point we were definitely ready for some R&R topped with an ice cold beer.


    Joining us for that ice cold beer was George, our very own Yellowstone prairie dog. Later his friends, John, Ringo and Paul would join the party.

    These guys were social butterflies especially when the food came out. There were tiny holes in the ground all over the campsite that they ran through and, if you sat really still, they would walk right up to your feet. I wasn't expecting them to be quite so friendly. One of them came up right by my feet and when I lifted my legs up he acted like he was about to jump onto my leg! Cute, but a little too close for comfort. Every now and then, we would catch one that was brave enough to jump onto our picnic table and make it to our lunch. We definitely received a warm welcome to Yellowstone :)




     The second day in Yellowstone, we set out for the Old Faithful Geyser Basin about 16 miles south of our campground. Can I say, "WOW," again? We walked from Old Faithful Geyser and made about a 5 mile loop around the geyser basin. The colors were just amazing, the smell not so much.

Here's a map of the trail we took. Starting at the bottom right with Old Faithful and then veering towards the right and walking #6 to #17 Morning Glory Pool then back down to #4 that led to beginning of trail. I got sprayed a couple of times, but I guess you can't really say you've been to Yellowstone without getting sprayed by a geyser. The walk itself was beautiful and very sunny. We looked like tomatoes over the next couple of days. If you're planning on walking this trail just make sure you bring more water then you think you'll need because you will need it. It's not a difficult trek but you will be guzzling H2O.



I'll stop talking now and show some photos :)

Chinese Spring

Blue Star Spring

Pump Geyser

Grotto Geyser

Morning Glory

Old Faithful Geyser

Grotto Geyser