Back to Yellowstone!

Midway Geyser Basin

August 17 – Bill wanted to be up and leave at 8 for Yellowstone but it was 9 when we left.  The crowds were not nearly as bad as we’ve seen them in the past.  We saw a number of bison on the way in which is the first time we’ve seen more than one along that section of

One stretch of the basin

road.  We stopped at Midway Geyser Basin and were excited that we got a parking space on the first try.  Normally cars are overflowing along the road sides.  The Grand Prismatic Spring is the major attraction there but the hot spring water flowing over the banks into the Firehole River is really impressive.  There’s a long boardwalk up and around most of the springs and geysers.  There were bison prints in some and even writing done by some jerk tourist. Why would someone want to ruin what has taken nature years to

Grafitti at the basin

create?

Wonderful tour busses!

Again there were many Japanese and several tour buses.  We were definitely in the minority.  Once section of a spring is flowing over long grass and it looks like a tree knot formation.

Along the walk to Fairy Falls

A little further down the road was Fairy Falls.  The parking area is really small but we found a spot along the road.  It was disappointing as we didn’t know to see the falls it was a 2.5 mile hike one way.  We took a couple of photos of some geyser pools and headed down the road to Biscuit Basin.

They call it Biscuit Basin because 4 days after the earthquake in 1959 one of the geysers starting spewing mineral chunks

Cool formation at Biscuit Basin

that landed around the geyser that looked like biscuits.  This area has some very interesting formations and geyser pools.  These are things that can only be formed by nature

Water flow at Biscuit Basin

and we get very upset when we see what some people can do to them.  Unfortunately everything is open 24 hours a day so anyone can come at night.  Also there are numerous hats and visors that get blown off of people at many sites.  The rangers use long grabbers to get some of them but many are too far out.

In front of Old Faithful Inn

Our timing was perfect as we arrived at Old Faithful at bathroom break time and lunchtime.  We parked at the General Store since they have restrooms and picnic tables

Huge geyser cone in Upper Basin

but as our luck would have it after we came back from inside the tables were all taken.  We just sat in the car and had our picnic lunch.  While we sat there we spotted a bison right along the sidewalk to the upper Geyser Basin where we were going after lunch.

By the time we ate and walked out to the geyser basin the

Buff in front of Old Faithful Inn

bison had moved but we still got some photos.  I had forgotten to bring my extra camera battery so didn’t get many photos on it.  I had to use the photo option on the video camera.  It zooms better but the resolution wasn’t set as high.  We did another long walking loop which we both

Castle Geyser

needed.  The basin is up a bit high so we got a beautiful view of the Inn and some shots with the loan bison in front in the field.  Towards the end the skies were turning gray and I was getting a bit uneasy as I DO NOT like lightning and it was cooling down fast also.  We walked faster and got back to the Inn just as the drops started.  Bill headed to the restroom and I waited for Old Faithful

Today's Old Faithful shot

and of course I got to see it but he only caught the tail end. By the time it was over the storm had blown past or around so we walked back to the car and headed back to West Yellowstone.

On the way out we drove the Firehole Lake Drive in hopes of catching Great Fountain Geyser going off.  That’s the one I took great shots of on the wrong setting and they came out white!  Well, we sat for quite a bit and it wasn’t doing anything so we finally left

Great Fountain Geyser Cone

and on the way we saw the elk at their regular spot but nothing else along the way.

Can barely see the mountain for
the haze

In West Yellowstone we parked and got an ice cream.  That local Wilcoxson ice cream is so good.  I love the Cream Coffee flavor!  We need to get out of here as I never eat ice cream except when we travel and coffee ice cream is my downfall and my extra pounds this trip!  We stopped in some shops and got some good deals on gifts for the family and stopped at the grocery and decided on some deli roast beef.  Bill was excited that I was making it with gravy and mashed potatoes for dinner with a side of steamed broccoli.  It’s a 15 minute dinner and I only do it 4-5 times a year! 

The smoke from the Montana and Idaho fires are still bad and people are asking if they are getting close. 

 We watched some TV and chilled.  Tomorrow we are going to Rexburg!

The day that almost was!

August 5 – The car was packed and we were ready to head out at 9.  Unfortunately the skies opened up on us and we drove in and thru rain all the way to Driggs, ID.  We had decided instead of trying to get into Yellowstone this morning and deal with lines of traffic we’d go south and east to Jackson, WY and north through Grand Teton National Park and enter Yellowstone at the south entrance so I could get the passport stamps and we would re-visit Jackson and Grand Teton.

View of Grand Tetons from ID

By the time we arrived in Driggs, we both needed a bathroom stop and saw a nice grocery store, Broulim’s, and went there.  What a great grocery store out in the middle of just about no where!  Too bad we weren’t heading back home or we’d have done some major shopping.  I did manage to find my tapioca flour and xanthan gum.  Bill got a good buy on Snapple and we picked up a few other things that would travel well.

Steep road ahead

From Driggs you take Teton Pass over the mountains and down a steep grade of 10% to Wilson, WY.  Then it’s not far at all to Jackson.  We didn’t really recognize anything until we

Bill at one of the arches

got to the town square park where all four corners have arches made of elk antlers.  Traffic was as horrendous as expected and no where to park so Bill dropped me off at the corner to take photos but then he found a spot right on the end where I was.  We took our photos and hopped back in the car to head north.  We

Jackson ski slopes

could see the ski slopes on the mountain sides.

There is a new visitor center that we don’t think was there when we last visited, National Elk Refuge and it’s park of the National Park Service also.  I got several stamps for my book and we picked up some literature.

Bill with George Washington in
downtown Jackson

The official Grand Teton VC is at Moose Junction just a few miles up the road.  We sat in the car and ate our lunch first and then went in.  This is where we took our first close up photos of the Tetons.  I started taking photos over in Idaho but it was still over cast.  It wasn’t the clearest of days at lunchtime

From the Visitor Center

either.  There are 2 roads north through the park, one is a regular road with fewer stops but longer if you plan to exit into Yellowstone.  So we took the more traveled road that all of the visitor centers are on and goes directly into Yellowstone.  The building is beautiful with one side all glass to give you a great view of the mountains.  There were nice exhibits with animal pelts so kids can see what different animal fur feels like and about their claws.

Receding glaciers

I took lots of photos of the mountains and what is left of some of the glaciers.  It’s sad to see the exhibits of how much they have receded in the last 25 years, 15 to 25 per cent.

Walkway to the ferry shuttle

At the Jenny Lake Visitor Center there were tons of cars and RV’s parked all along the entrance road and then out on the road.  We weren’t sure why but think it was because there is a ferry shuttle from their marina to Inspiration Point where the Hidden Falls are.  If we had planned to stay a night there we would have gone on it but not this time.  Bill dropped me off to get my stamp and picked me back up after circling the parking lot.

Jackson Lake from Colter Bay

We stopped at several more overlooks to get some glacier photos but were never exactly sure which ones they were.  The markers at the pull outs were not terribly definite, but at least we got pictures.

From the Colter Bay Visitor Center the view from the back deck was spectacular.  There were boats in the marina on Jackson Lake, which is a very long lake and wide in the center.  We didn’t stay long, just enough for a few photos and to get my passport stamp.

At some point the road changed names to the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway.  He bought up 32,000 acres of land in the 1920’s and against the wishes of the locals he donated the land to become part of the Grand Teton National Park. 

Last view of Jackson Lake
and the Grand Tetons

As we approached the south entrance of Yellowstone, which borders Grand Tetons, the rain started.  I ducked into the ranger station there to get a stamp, then we drove in the nasty rain to Grants Village where we go left to Old Faithful.  Well, here’s when our day took a drastic turn.  The Inn check-in time was 4:30 and our dinner reservation was for 5:30 so we started thinking we’d end up just parking the car and going in to dinner and unload and check-in after.  When we were about 25 miles away a little dim light came on in my head and I started thinking about all the passport stamps I’d gotten today and they were all dated August 5.  Then the light got brighter as I thought the reservation said August 6!  I got out our confirmation and low and behold, yes, we planned everything on the wrong day! 

I was terribly upset and could not figure out why we made the reservations for a Thursday, knowing we work on Friday and now what were we going to do.  Bill said to look on the bright side, at least we were not a day late and lost our money!  We had no cell service and could not call the RV Park to ask about changing our days, so we just headed on back to West Yellowstone.  I was on the brink of tears as I hate to inconvenience other people and if they had plans.  Oh it was not a fun ride.

Madison River in Yellowstone

On top of our mistake, the traffic heading out was backed up, the worst we had been in so far.  Finally, we found the reason, one lone buffalo minding his own business, just grazing along the road.  As soon as we got past him we sailed on in to West Yellowstone and stopped for dinner at the Wild West Pizzeria.  Before even ordering I called the

Traffic problem

RV Park to tell them our dilemma and see what we could work out.  They were all planning to go to the parents’ house for a get together and I asked if we could work tomorrow a half day and another half day next week and have Friday off.  She said she’d call me back.  We felt certain they would work something out for us and she called and said we could work in the morning and we’d figure out later the rest.

What a relief!  We enjoyed our calzones and salads for dinner but boy, it was expensive.  Won’t do that again, but at least we left with enough for dinner on Saturday night after work.

Other than having to unload all our “crap” and re-load it tomorrow, we were lucky that it all worked out!  Just another day in the “normal” life of the Chambers family!

Super day in Yellowstone

Low clouds this morning

July 29 – BRRR it was cold again this morning but supposed to warm up a lot so we were up and out the door for Yellowstone at 8.  I dressed in capris but layered on my tops.  Bill overdressed for the ride and was hot long before I was.  Before we even got to West Yellowstone there were unusual low hanging clouds along the mountains.

Road work

The traffic getting into the park was not too bad and things went rather smoothly until we got to Norris.  We stopped at the Ranger Museum there to get my passport stamp that we didn’t know they had the last time we came.  Then we were on the road to Mammoth Hot Springs.  That’s when the going got slow.  There was a very long section of road work and we were switched from single lane to both then back again.  It was so nice once we got passed it.  They work 12 hours most days or they will never get it done before snow season.

Geyser at Upper Terraces

Our first real stop for the day was Mammoth Hot Springs – Upper Terraces area.  We decided to drive the one-way loop and at the first stop Bill dropped me off thinking he’d find a space and ended up having to drive the entire loop to get back to me.  I saw him head on around so took my photos of the formations at the first stop and was ready when he came back around.  I waited with the car in a no parking area for him to go see what I had seen.

Orange Spring Mound

The next stop was the Orange Spring Mound.  That was really interesting.  It looks like a huge mound of cake with icing dripping down.  On one side it has a lot of orange coloring and continual steam coming from it.  Most people just stopped in the road there and took photos from the window so we had to get out of the way several times.

Angel Terrace

Further around the loop was Angel Terrace.  It looked rather desolate, all white.  Maybe the Angel part was due to the white snowy look it had.

Once we came out of the loop and down the hill to the outside of the Upper Terrace, the wall of formations sort of runs down the hill forming the Lower

Lower Terraces

Terraces.  One section was quite orange and steamy.  We drove on passed into Mammoth Springs at an elevation of 6,239.  It’s open year around, but isn’t actually a town even though there is a post office there.

Fort Yellowstone was built here and the army protected the

Albright Visitor Center

park from 1886 to 1916.  The fort’s building now house the Albright Visitor Center and private residences and the parks headquarters.  Three of the original buildings have been torn down but the rest are in use.  The enlisted men’s quarters now house summer staff for the park system.  There is only one hotel in the community, a medical center, a general store and a couple of small shops and restaurants.  There is also a large park services residential area just outside of the village.

View of Lower Terraces

After checking out everything we took out our picnic lunch and our tablecloth and spread it on the ground along side where we were parked.  I had packed some chicken salad, broccoli salad and potato salad.  We chased it with some crackers and brownies for dessert.  We saved our fruit for a snack later.

Bill at Roosevelt Arch

The road out of the back of the village goes to Gardiner, MT where the Roosevelt Arch is.  That is the official entrance to Yellowstone.  As luck would have it they were doing road work in the entire town but we could still walk to the arch for photos.  The first part of the town that you see looks like a typical western town with plank sidewalk and no pavement for road.  We found out that the pavement had gotten so cracked and buckled that they took it up and it is part of the work they are doing that will take 3 summers to complete. 

Main Street of Gardiner

We checked out the shops and split a cup of ice cream before heading back into the park.  Bill spotted what he thought was elk in the town’s green out front, so I circled back around and it was a male and female pronghorn antelope.  Nice!  First ones we’ve seen here.

Male pronghorn antelope

We didn’t get far before we spotted a female elk along the road and another mile was another one.  We had to drive back to Mammoth Hot Springs to take the road north east to Tower-Roosevelt.  This is when things really slowed

Wet moose

down.  First Bill spotted a single buffalo along the road and then cars were stopped all over and we finally found out they were watching a female moose taking a bath in a pond along the road.  We stopped for a few minutes to catch her and finally got back on our way.

Mom and her babies

As we were pulling into the Tower-Roosevelt Ranger Station for a passport stamp there was a deer and her 2 fawns right where we were turning.  They pretty much ignored us and the babies raced to get some lunch.  That stopped traffic for a bit also.  

Stagecoach passing through

Where we made our turn to go to the Yellowstone Association Institute at Lamar Buffalo Ranch there was a stagecoach trail ride coming through.  Then we were on our way through Lamar Valley and it seems at every turn there

were more herds of buffalo.  We saw cars in the pull out on the right and there was a small ridge just behind the pull out and we could see buffalo so I pulled in at the far end of the pull out and Bill got out to video.  

From August 3, 2015

Just as he was going up the ridge 2 buffalo came around it and I yelled for him and he turned and videoed them going in front of the car and across the road.  Traffic was

Here's the big guy!

stopped.  Then a single buffalo came in front of me and stopped and the edge of the road and looked left, then looked right and the walked to the center line and stopped.  Then he looked left again and right again and just stood there gazing at all the people with cameras and cars stopped.  He was there 5-7 minutes just standing and watching, then slowly he turned around and walked back to the ridge and went around it.  It was unbelievable.  Several watchers were crouched beside our car in case he decided to get aggressive.  There were others still over the ridge but he was maybe 10 feet from my car.  Bill was thrilled to be so close to this big guy!

As we proceeded down the road to the Lamar Buffalo Ranch where I could get another

Some of the herd in Larmar Valley

passport stamp, we passed field after field of buffalo herds.  The Lamar Valley is the largest accumulation of buffalo in the park.  The buffalo at their peak in the US was 60 million.  In the late 1800’s there were less than 300 left.  The Buffalo Ranch had 25 pure buffalo and the Ranch then protected and provided for those 25 and increased the herd back to what it is today.  There is an estimate of 250,000 currently owned privately and publicly in the US.  Each winter there are some that die from no food and some walk off the park boundaries and are then fair game for Native Americans to kill but you cannot get a buffalo permit.  

Strange rock formation

We turned around at this point and headed back to

Tower Falls

Roosevelt Lodge where we took the road south to Tower Falls.  Along the way were some interesting rocks along the road and along the walls of the Yellowstone River.   They made a nice backdrop for the Tower Falls.  There’s a nice stop there with a shop and snacks and then a short walk to the falls.  We ended up not getting a snack since we had fruit in the car that we hadn’t eaten at lunch time.

It has been a long day and we were finally on the last loop around to heading home.  It was really a super day after seeing so many wild animals in their natural habitat.