Today was geyser and hotspring day at Yellowstone. We visited all of the hotspring sites between the west entrance and Old Faithful. We then stayed for an Old Faithful eruption and had lunch. While the skies were still clear it was colder and windy so while it was good picture weather it was not good hanging around outside weather.
Hotspring near the park entrance.
Mid-afternoon we decided to head over to Mammoth Hot Springs as Ton was not going to let her friends see Yellowstone without seeing where our son Dylan worked as a ranger. We did not have the best light for Mammoth but it is still pretty spectacular.
One of my favorite hot spring photos.
We returned to our campsite well after dark tonight and whipped up a quick meal.
Today was critter chasing day. The plan was to head over to Grand Teton NP and see what critters we could see. To facilitate that we rented a car for our stay in Yellowstone. Elephant costs .35$ per mile to drive, and we figured that the cost of the rental car would mostly be offset by the miles we saved not driving Elephant and we would gain the flexibility of being able to squeeze into smaller places. It turned out to be a good decision.
Noi is a professional photographer and ran her own travel magazine in Thailand. She asked me what the big five were in Yellowstone. I did not initially understand her question until she explained to me that there were a big five animals you should get photos of in the Serengeti. Ton and I did not know if there was an official big five list for Yellowstone, but we made one up consisting of Bison, Elk, Wolves, Moose, and Bears.
Bison on a river crossing.
We were not more than a few miles into the park when we crossed our first animal off the list as there was a large herd of Bison. After about an hour of photos were shot we headed on down the road towards Grand Teton. On the parkway between Yellowstone and Grand Teton we got to cross another big five off the list. There was a grizzly contentedly grazing right next to the road despite the considerable scrum of humans about fifty yards away shooting pictures. So far a good day.
This big fellow munched away while a herd of humans tripped over themselves 50 yards away.
The weather was fantastic today with clear blue skies and highs in the sixties. Grand Teton was spectacular and we enjoyed a really nice lunch in the park.
The view from our lunch spot.
Finally on the way home in addition to some more Bison we were able to get some nice shots of an Elk herd crossing a river. As well as watching some stupid human behavior as a clearly agitated Elk was being ignored by one guy who was so concerned with his photo that he risked getting attacked.
The Bull in this photo was very agitated with some people who were too close.
We started the day by heading to Craters of the Moon NM. Ton and I enjoy the starkness of this place immensely and wanted our friends from Thailand to see it.
Unfortunately Ron and Noi are both fighting colds so that reduced some of the fun of Craters. Plus I think everyone was pretty pumped up to see Yellowstone. So after half a day we headed on over to Yellowstone.
Craters of the Moon.
Because of the cold temperatures and some of the limitations of Elephant we need to stay in commercial campgrounds when it is cold. Elephant can only provide about two hours of heat before her battery is drained. Elephant is really making Ton and I appreciate the flexibility and nimbleness of Scout.
We chose the Rustic Wagon campground in Yellowstone. When we arrived you could tell it is near the end of the season as we were one of only three campers in the park, and all but one other campground was closed.
The plan for the day was to go to Yellowstone and stay at Hardy Campground. When we woke up in the morning we decided that we had not done Little Big Horn Justice so we decided to detour there on the way out of town.
We checked out the movie the Park Service has which is well done in trying to present the story from both sides. Then after the movie there was a Ranger talk which was also excellent. We ended the visit with a walk up to the last stand site. Our little detour cost us half a day and it was almost noon before we took off for Yellowstone.
We busted along as fast as we could but it was not as fast as we would have liked as there was a considerable wind blowing the entire way which meant we were moving along considerably slower than the 80mph posted speed limit.
We finally arrived at Mammoth Hot Springs around 3:30 pm, only to see that Hardy Campground had closed that day for the season. With a 60% chance of 1 to 3’ of snow forecast we had a choice of staying at Mammoth Hot Springs and risking the park service closing the road across the park for part of the day, or heading for West Yellowstone and staying in a commercial campground. We opted for caution and headed over to West Yellowstone.
After a week in Tioga while Ron earned his keep for the month working we moved on to our vacation. The plan for this week includes, Yellowstone and Grand Coulee Dam in Washington and whatever else we come up with.
After a leisurely start in the morning we drove to Hardin Montana to see the Little Bighorn National Battlefield. It was a wonderful Indian Summer day with puffy cumulus clouds in a wonderfully blue sky. The battlefield was quite well done. While it was like most battlefields a somber place, it is also a place of great natural beauty especially with fall colors. We really enjoyed ourselves today.
The plan for tomorrow is to head towards Yellowstone and hope the good weather holds for another day.
We decided to start our return trip west to Portland by heading due east over the Beartooth Highway. This drive is absolutely spectacular and you really must include it in any trip you take to Yellowstone. It is one of our favorite drives in the US. A lot of better writers than I have described it so I am going to pass. All I can say is make sure you do it at least once.
One of the many scenic views on the Beartooth Highway.
After coming down from the Beartooth we jumped on the interstate and headed west towards Bozeman. The place we had picked out to stay was full, so we continued headed down the interstate until we came to Three Forks where we ended up in a commercial campground.
Today was geyser and hotspring day at Yellowstone. We visited all of the hotspring sites between the west entrance and Old Faithful. We then stayed for an Old Faithful eruption and had lunch. While the skies were still clear it was colder and windy so while it was good picture weather it was not good hanging around outside weather.
Hot springs near West Yellowstone.
Mid-afternoon we decided to head over to Mammoth Hot Springs as Ton was not going to let her friends see Yellowstone without seeing where our son Dylan worked as a ranger. We did not have the best light for Mammoth but it is still pretty spectacular.
One of Tons favorite photos.
We returned to our campsite well after dark tonight and whipped up a quick meal.
Cannot leave Yellowstone without a shot of Old Faithful.
Today was critter chasing day. The plan was to head over to Grand Teton NP and see what critters we could see. To facilitate that we rented a car for our stay in Yellowstone. Elephant costs .35$ per mile to drive, and we figured that the cost of the rental car would mostly be offset by the miles we saved not driving Elephant and we would gain the flexibility of being able to squeeze into smaller places. It turned out to be a good decision.
Noi is a professional photographer and ran her own travel magazine in Thailand. She asked me what the big five were in Yellowstone. I did not initially understand her question until she explained to me that there were a big five animals you should get photos of in the Serengeti. Ton and I did not know if there was an official big five list for Yellowstone, but we made one up consisting of Bison, Elk, Wolves, Moose, and Bears.
Bison on a river crossing.
We were not more than a few miles into the park when we crossed our first animal off the list as there was a large herd of Bison. After about an hour of photos were shot we headed on down the road towards Grand Teton. On the parkway between Yellowstone and Grand Teton we got to cross another big five off the list. There was a grizzly contentedly grazing right next to the road despite the considerable scrum of humans about fifty yards away shooting pictures. So far a good day.
Not sure who is watching who, the crowd did not phase this guy.
The weather was fantastic today with clear blue skies and highs in the sixties. Grand Teton was spectacular and we enjoyed a really nice lunch in the park.
Grand Tetons from our lunch spot.
Finally on the way home in addition to some more Bison we were able to get some nice shots of an Elk herd crossing a river. As well as watching some stupid human behavior as a clearly agitated Elk was being ignored by one guy who was so concerned with his photo that he risked getting attacked.
The Bull in this photo was very agitated with some people who were too close.
The plan for the day was to go to Yellowstone and stay at Hardy Campground. When we woke up in the morning we decided that we had not done Little Big Horn Justice so we decided to detour there on the way out of town.
We checked out the movie the Park Service has which is well done in trying to present the story from both sides. Then after the movie there was a Ranger talk which was also excellent. We ended the visit with a walk up to the last stand site. Our little detour cost us half a day and it was almost noon before we took off for Yellowstone.
We busted along as fast as we could but it was not as fast as we would have liked as there was a considerable wind blowing the entire way which meant we were moving along considerably slower than the 80mph posted speed limit.
We finally arrived at Mammoth Hot Springs around 3:30 pm, only to see that Hardy Campground had closed that day for the season. With a 60% of 1 to 3’ of snow forecast we had a choice of staying at Mammoth Hot Springs and risking the park service closing the road across the park for part of the day, or heading for West Yellowstone and staying in a commercial campground. We opted for caution and headed over to West Yellowstone.
Scout in a commercial campground in West Yellowstone.
We decided to start our return trip west to Portland by heading due east over the Beartooth Highway. This drive is absolutely spectacular and you really must include it in any trip you take to Yellowstone. It is one of our favorite drives in the US. A lot of better writers than I have described it so I am going to pass. All I can say is make sure you do it at least once.
The views on the Beartooth Highway are really spectacular.
After coming down from the Beartooth we jumped on the interstate and headed west towards Bozeman. The place we had picked out to stay was full, so we continued heading down the interstate until we came to Three Forks where we ended up in a commercial campground.
