July 10, 2013 - Yellowstone National Park

We got a fairly early start today – about 8:15 – as we headed north from Fishing Bridge to Canyon Village, Tower-Roosevelt, Mammoth Hot Springs, back south to Norris, to Canyon, and back to Fishing Bridge.

Our first stop was the Mud Volcano area. We met a group of Boy Scouts also hiking around the area – what a pleasant change from the teens we encountered yesterday! They were so respectful and considerate.

It was interesting to read about Sour Lake (below). The microbes in the water ate the sulfur in the the lake and create sulfuric acid. Not a lake in which I would like to swim!Shortly before arriving at the Canyon Village area we hit a traffic jam … a large herd of bison were hanging out near the road.

We stopped, as did several other cars to take some pictures of these huge beasts! This baby decided it was time for a snack.

At Canyon, we took the walk to Artist Point for a view of falls. They were beautiful!Mineral stains mark the sites of hot springs and steam vents in the canyon walls. For thousands of years, upwardly percolating fluids have altered the chemistry of the rocks, turning them yellow, red, white, and pink. From the rim, the bright patches of color are the most visible evidence of hot spots. Puffs of steam mark areas of ongoing thermal activity in the canyon. The 109 foot Upper Falls of the Yellowstone River were created by volcanic and hydrothermal activity.

We continued on to Tower Falls, located in an area called the Hanging Valley, near the Tower Roosevelt Junction.

Like many of Yellowstone’s waterfalls, Tower Fall began as a low ledge at the junction of two different bedrocks. Rock at the brink and underlying the fall is a tough, volcanic breccia; the weaker downstream rock erodes faster.

Not far past Tower Junction is a turnoff to see the Petrified Tree. I was sure we had seen it before, but said we might as well go again since we were there. How lucky for us! As we approached the parking area it was jammed and we weren’t sure it was worth it. The traffic jam was caused by a small black bear!He was walking along right next to the petrified tree and stopped to look out at all the people nearby before meandering down the hill and crossing the road right behind Dean’s truck! We talked to a ranger who told us he was probably a yearling.

I was so glad we decided to go ahead and stop – my day was complete!

We headed on to Mammoth Hot Springs and stopped for lunch before taking the walk around the lower and upper terraces.

This area has really changed over the years with much less water flowing in the area right now. When we made it to the Upper Terrace Overlook, the springs were completely dry! The underground channels sometimes shift or clog, causing the water to change direction on its journey to the surface. Above ground, a spring may slow down or stop. New springs may bubble up, or dormant springs may flow again. If we come back in another six years, it will probably be different again!

As we left Mammoth and headed south, we told ourselves to be on the lookout for moose, since we were passing streams and marshy areas. We didn’t see any moose, but we were rewarded with a grizzly bear! Dean managed to get a parking spot and we hopped out to join several other folks watching this young grizzly have a great time digging in the dirt. We stood at the top of the hill and had a great time watching him play! You might enjoy watching him, too! http://youtu.be/mhtSzR0H0rA

We finally tore ourselves away and headed to the Norris Geyser Basin where we took the mile walk around the Porcelain Basin. It was really cool to see the beautiful colors in the geysers.



It was interesting to learn about how the temperature of the water affects the organisms in the water, changing the colors you see. The greens are at the coolest temperatures – around 100° F!

We decided to call it a day and head back to our campsite. We had another traffic jam as we passed another large herd of bison in the Hayden Valley area.


This was our last day in Yellowstone and it was incredible – even if we didn’t see a moose!

July 9, 2013 - Yellowstone National Park

Today we did the Fishing Bridge to West Thumb to Old Faithful, Madison, Norris, Canyon Village, and back to Fishing Bridge loop in the park – about 108 miles round trip!

We got started about 8:30. Our first stop was Pumice Point at West Thumb. It was really beautiful! We could see across to the Geyser Basin which was our next stop. We took the short walk around the basin and took lots of pictures of the different pools and geysers. We had to wonder what the people who first saw this area thought as then encountered all of the strange geological formations.




We headed on toward Old Faithful and made a quick stop to admire Kepler Cascades waterfall. 

We checked yesterday for the estimated eruption times for Old Faithful and arrived with about 15 minutes to spare! We had great seats in time for the 11:45-12:07 show and were not disappointed.
It was really fun to hear all the children around us when it erupted!

We made a quick dash to the Snow Lodge cafeteria and grabbed lunch before taking the Geyser walk. We were treated to seeing several other geysers erupt as we made the short loop – we opted not to go the entire distance!


We were even lucky enough to see Grand Geyser erupt – some folks had been waiting over 3 hours and we just happened to arrive at the right time!
We made a stop back at the Old Faithful Inn after the walk so we could enjoy the historic architecture as well as a tasty dish of ice cream!

As we headed north from the Old Faithful area we stopped at the Midway Geyser Basin because I wanted to see the Grand Prismatic Spring. It is really beautiful and amazes me how the different organisms in the water affect the colors.
We did encounter a large group of teenagers on a bus tour who were in dire need of an education. Two of them jumped out onto the fragile ecosystem – twice. The first time to pick up a hat that had “blown” into the water, the second time shouting to their friends to take their picture. Tobey yelled at them to get out and they immediately jumped out. They knew they were wrong. We stopped at their bus and reported them – and their adult supervisor didn’t seem to know much better himself. Things like this make us worry whether these national treasures will be around for future generations to enjoy if we don’t respect them now.
On toward Madison, we took the 2 mile Firehole River loop to watch folks having fun in the river. The water is warmed by thermal activity upstream so it is quite pleasant. We didn’t swim today, but have in the past.
As the day drew to an end – about 6:30 – we made our way back to our campsite at Fishing Bridge campground. We did have a short delay on the bridge while we waited for this guy to cross!

Tomorrow we will take the northern loop from here and hope to see more wildlife!

July 8, 2013 - Lander, WY to Yellowstone National Park

We were getting settled in for the night last night when Tobey noticed something LARGE fly by the window. We went out and he spotted a HUGE owl in a tree across the river. He was at least 18-24” tall. We watched him for a few minutes before he spotted something else and took off in flight. It was a perfect end to the day!

The scenery between Lander and Dubois was quite beautiful. We loved the red rock formations.

We stopped in Dubois at the National Bighorn Sheep Center. The interpretive center had a good 15 minute film about the migration and life of the bighorn sheep along with several taxidermy specimens.

Right next door to the National Bighorn Sheep Center is the Dubois Museum. While the museum is not very large, there were several exhibits of Native American artifacts, as well as items from early settlers in the area. One of the books left from the elementary school in the 1930s was a copy of Goldenhair and the Three Bears.

From Dubois we headed north through Grand Teton National Park. We stopped at the Teton overlook and were a little disappointed at how hazy the mountains appeared. Since we are camping in the Tetons later in the week, we headed on to Yellowstone.

We checked in to our spot at Fishing Bridge Campground and were settled in about 3pm. Our friends, Dean and Eva, arrived about 30 minutes later.

Since it was early we decided to go check out the Yellowstone Lake Lodge and Bridge Bay areas. This big guy was hanging out in the parking lot by the Fishing Bridge gas station!

It was fun to walk through the historic hotel and see the old lodge taxis and imagine the days when visitors arrived here and toured the area in style.

At Bridge Bay we decided to take the hour-long boat tour on Yellowstone Lake.

Even though the weather turned cloudy and threatened rain, it was interesting to hear about the ecology of the lake and history of the area. Since the late 1980s, around the time of the huge Yellowstone fire, the lake has an infestation of lake trout which are killing off the cutthroat trout. The decreased cutthroat population is affecting over 40 different species of animals in the park that feed on the fish, so they are attempting to kill off the lake trout (over 190,000 so far this year alone!)


After the tour we headed back to camp for dinner and cards. Tomorrow we have an early start as we head off to the West Thumb and Old Faithful areas of the park.

July 7, 2013 - Lander, Wyoming

Tobey and I are on day one of a short, about 10 days, trip up to Yellowstone, the Tetons, and Jackson, Wyoming. It has been one of our more unorganized beginnings to a trip!

We got away from home about 9 am and made it six blocks before we had to stop and fix the air conditioner. The inside part of the unit was jiggling off the ceiling! Fifteen minutes later, tools put away, we were on our way again. There was little traffic and the sky was clear as we headed north to Wyoming. 

After a lunch stop we had to work on the A/C again – the screws had worked loose again! Hopefully, they are okay now. We continued on and north of Rawlins stopped at Split Rock. Originally called the Emigrant Trail, the Oregon Trail was the main route for westward expansion between 1812 and 1869. It is estimated that over 500,000 pioneers passed along this route! Because of its unique shape, Split Rock was a well-known landmark and navigation aid. Emigrants along the Oregon and Mormon Trail often camped in the valley between the two hills along the Sweetwater River.

Just west of here ruts cut into the rocks by the wagon wheels were still visible. As we climbed back into the RV, I realized I had forgotten to bring extra camera batteries and the charger. We were already five hours from home so turning back was not an option. Tobey searched our electronics box and found a USB cable that would work to charge the battery in the camera so hopefully we will be able to make it work for the rest of the trip.

About eight miles south of Lander, Wyoming, we turned south on Hwy 131 and visited Sinks Canyon State Park. The canyon is a natural pathway in and through the Wind River Mountains. As we arrived the weather started clouding up and we had a few sprinkles.


We parked and took the 1/2 mile round trip walk between The Sinks and The Rise. This is an amazing phenomenon in which the Popo Agie River drops into a cave and disappears underground for 1/4 of a mile before “rising” back up through an underground spring and a few small waterfalls along the pool. Another amazing thing about The Sinks and The Rise is it takes TWO HOURS for the water to travel that distance!



Where The Rise pool appears again the water is very calm and filled with trout. We were standing on a platform over 20 feet above the pool and the fish were huge! One of the signs said they were between 8 and 10 pounds – quite large for trout!

With rain threatening, we decided not to take the 1.5 mile (1000’ elevation gain) hike to Slide Rock and instead headed into Lander to camp for the night. There is a wonderful city park with free parking for RVs and tents right next to the Popo River. Very pleasant! We took a nice walk around the park and into town and back before dinner. We were both impressed with the fun “Old West” playground set in the park.

From what we saw on our mile walk, we were both impressed how neat and clean Lander is. We plan to settle in for the night and get an early start tomorrow.