Yellowstone: Mammoth Hot Springs and more...

     After visiting Old Faithful Geyser, we were ready to relax at the campground. Madison campground was nice because you're surrounded by people, but you still feel like you have space. Here's a couple photos to give you an idea. They have a gravel section that is boxed off for your tents and then a picnic table. In front of each campsite is a paved pull-in for your car. The restrooms were also nice. Can't complain about running water and flush toilets!

      Later that same evening, Karl and I walked across the street to Madison River that runs next to our campground. I set up my tripod and took, you guessed it!, some photos... :)  Throughout the trip, I used a new filter on my camera called a circular polarizer. It's pretty easy to get the hang of, but you need to have plenty of sunlight to work with or you can't really see the difference. It's great for nature/landscape photography because it cuts down on haze and gives you more saturated colors (like a bluer sky, for instance). That's definitely something I'll be blogging about more at a later date because I saw a massive difference in my photos after using a circular polarizer!

Madison River

Madison River

       On our way back to the campground, we came across a female elk grazing right across from our campsite! She hung around for a good 30 minutes and then meandered over to the next lane of campsites. Absolutely beautiful!

 

        The next day, Tuesday 31st, we headed towards Mammoth Hot Springs about 35 miles north of our camp.  Along the way I took a few shots from the car.

Driving towards Mammoth Hot Springs

Driving towards Mammoth Hot Springs

    When you reach Mammoth Hot Springs, the lower terraces are visible from the road. We parked near Liberty Cap which is right before you enter the small "town" of Mammoth. There's a lot more to the Springs than what we saw, but here are a few photos.

Map

Liberty Cap

Devil's Thumb at Mammoth Hot Springs

     We spent most of our afternoon in Mammoth, going into the General Store and looking for souvenirs to bring back home. During our drive back to camp, we stopped along the Gardner River and did some sightseeing and also had our first major encounter with a buffalo, but that's for next time.

Bighorn National Forest to Shoshone

     Bright and early Sunday morning (July 29th), Karl and I left our Wyoming hotel and started our last leg to Yellowstone. Along the way, we passed through Bighorn National Forest and Shoshone National Forest and can I just say...GORGEOUS! It was the perfect prelude to Yellowstone itself. Basically our conversation went from "ooooohhhhh" to "aaaaaaaahhhh" to "Hey, look at that!"and back again. Absolutely beautiful and, at times, a bit nerve-wracking with those drop-offs right next to the road. You definitely don't want to take your eyes off the road!

Here are some photos taken from the car as we passed through Bighorn and Shoshone.











We had a couple close calls with deer. You can tell they're used to traffic coming through because they look both ways before they cross :)

Be prepared to not look at the road when you get into Bighorn. And if you get carsick on those mountain roads (like me) be prepared to suck it up and deal with it. Luckily, I had my camera to help distract me.

Another passenger-side view of Wyoming...

Nearing the end of our drive through Bighorn and Shoshone. Our expectations were surpassed before we even got into the park! Once reaching Yellowstone, it would be another 1 1/2 hours before reaching our campground but that's another blog.

Road Trip to Yellowstone

      On Friday, July 27th, my honey and I set out at 7:30am to start the long and arduous drive to Yellowstone Park. We left Georgia and drove through Tennessee, Kentucky, cut through the bottom tip of Illinois and traveled across Missouri. I tried to save my memory cards for Wyoming but that didn't happen. While passing through St. Louis, Missouri we saw the Gateway Arch. I was able to get this photo as we passed by.

      And some Missouri fields...

    From Missouri, we drove along the border of Nebraska and Iowa and then into South Dakota. Driving through South Dakota we saw a lot of bikes and trailers headed for the Sturgis Rally not to mention a very interesting (and rather random) outdoor museum of giant statues. I fought the urge to snap away. I'm still waiting for Yellowstone! But here's a windshield snapshot of a South Dakota cloud.

    And then sweet Wyoming!

   At this point in the trip, we'd been driving for 2 days. Time for a hotel :) The next morning we got up bright and early and made our way through Bighorn National Forest. And that's where I finally lost control of my shutter button. But that's for my next post!