We love Yellowstone National Park and will return any chance we get. Every time we go we see new things, and even the things we're seen before are still amazing (and sometimes have changed in some way).
So when we had a few extra days in between Bighorn and our next destination (southern Idaho), I checked for RV park availability in West Yellowstone and found a site available. Score!
Even better, our friends Jason and Kristi were interested in joining us. And they were up for some hiking and on-foot exploring. So we gathered in town and started a 3-day (all day, every day) tour of various parts of the park.
First up - a trail with a view of Grand Prismatic, excellent!
This is probably the best place to view the giant colorful spring, except somehow by air:
Further up the trail we found Fairy Falls, another lovely discovery:
Even further up, to Imperial Geyser (with an added attraction next to it):
I love unexpected mud pots! All bubbling and gurgling:
We walked up the small hill nearby for a different view (and to briefly escape the mosquitoes that congregated around the little creeks):
Something of a selfie on the way back:
We spent the afternoon based at the Old Faithful Lodge, always fun to see the beautiful building and occasionally a look at the tourist buses:
I went for a run in the geyser basin (one of my favorite places to log miles). Here's a random yet completely normal thing to see there, steam coming out of the ground:
Firehole River is aptly named:
Punch Bowl Spring, what a perfect moniker!
I ran over to Black Sand Basin, which also has a lot of steam and fun colors:
And water spewing out of the ground, so cool:
I made it back up the hill in time to catch Daisy Geyser erupting, excellent! I can't recall ever seeing this one before:
A short Daisy geyser video:
I was checking out the other side of the river when the skies got rather dark. My jacket was already on due to ongoing sprinkles, but I decided to hustle back to the lodge. First though! Old Faithful was erupting, excellent!
One more awesome bubbling pool on the way back:
Geyser Day is always awesome!
The next day we went looking for wildlife. I misplaced the location of Hayden Valley in my brain, so we ended up travelling near Mount Washburn instead.
No matter, because when we paused for a bathroom break, we overheard a woman talking about some wolf pups she had seen. We asked for more details and then backtracked to try to find the location. At one of the pull-offs, a coyote mom walked right past us. We stood completely still, trying to figure out why she seemed unafraid (maybe she had found food there before?)
Jason's picture:
That was a new one! We continued driving to look for wolf babies, when Kristi spotted movement across a ravine. Sure enough, little pups were rolling around on the hillside! Except we're pretty sure they were coyotes and not wolves. Still very cute and worth the search.
Back on the road and over to Tower Falls for a short hike to see a pretty waterfall:
Checking out the Yellowstone River and an interesting tree:
Basalt rocks and colorful banks (yellow stones):
Our first bear sighting! This creature was foraging next to the road, giving all the people in the slow-moving cars a chance to see it and take a picture. Thank you, bear!
We went into Roosevelt Lodge for the first time (Hi Teddy!) and looked for the nearby trail but decided instead to drive around to the petrified tree. Still standing, nice one (and all by itself - which seemed weird after the plethora of trees at Petrified Forest):
Good morning ravens - but no food for you!
Moose spotting! It's a zoomed and cropped picture from inside the truck, so you'll have to squint to see it:
There wasn't much water on the terraces this time, not sure why it looked so different from last time we were here. Still pretty though:
It's afternoon so apparently it's time for rain clouds. They mostly stayed away from our area that day. Just close enough to help with a dramatic photo:
I'm guessing these trees would have preferred to grow up somewhere else:
Giant orange dome on the upper walking road (we hadn't gotten up here before, neat to find it):
Fun trail down the other side:
Love this boardwalk-looking feature:
I wasn't sure I had enough time to run out to the beaver ponds, but once I started down the trail I figured there was no turning back. I might have even seen the head of a swimming beaver on the biggest pond, not certain though.
A glimpse of Gardiner:
Another adventure-filled day, and we hadn't quite worn everyone out just yet. Good thing, because we've got more to see tomorrow!
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