Back to Yellowstone

The plan for today was to visit the northeast portion of Yellowstone.  Emma and I made it through the construction between Madison and Norris, and headed for Canyon Village. 
That’s where we were to take a left turn and head north toward Tower Fall.  We made it to Canyon, but the road to Tower Fall was closed.  I don’t know why, maybe because of the snow we had yesterday.  So that put a crimp in my plans.  I decided to head south towards Fishing Bridge.  That was another section of the park that I hadn’t driven yet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first stop was Sulphur Caldron.  It is aptly named…smells just like rotten eggs!  :(  I couldn’t stop at Mud Volcano since I had Emma with me.  I took a right at Fishing Bridge…

and stopped along Yellowstone Lake for a picnic lunch.  Two weeks ago, when I arrived at Yellowstone, the lake was frozen.  There was not a bit of ice today.  I guess spring has really arrived.

The picture just doesn’t do justice to the view of Yellowstone Lake along the road to West Thumb.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I finally encountered a male elk, until a huge motorhome almost ran into him and he fled.  That guy ruined everyone’s view.  :(

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Because of all the rain lately, and the snow run off, all the rivers and falls are full to capacity and stunning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can’t spend a day in Yellowstone without getting some Bison shots.  :)

 

As I headed for the west entrance, I decided to turn down Firehole Lake Drive again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This time, two of the geysers were erupting as I traveled by.  You know, they’re almost as spectacular as Old Faithful. 

 

With the weekend upon us, the RV park has filled almost to capacity.  I think I’ll leave Yellowstone to the weekend warriors for a few days.  I really must clean house and do some laundry.  :(  I think I’ll try to figure out how to use my onboard washer/dryer tomorrow, but if the weather’s as good as today…who knows!

THE END!!!

 

Thanks for stopping by….talk to you later,  Judy

Holy Geysers, Batman!

It was overcast when we awoke this morning, but it wasn’t raining, so we decided to make another trip to Yellowstone, and hope for the best.  Yesterday, we saw quite a few geysers (including Old Faithful) and we saw many more today.
The first stop was the Artist’s Paint Pots.



It was quite a hike up to the top, at this altitude, to get this view.  It was worth it, though.  :)  It was supposed to be a 1/3 mile hike, but both Pam and I agreed that it had to be much longer than that!

The eleven mile stretch of road between Madison and Norris was under construction, but we lucked out and weren't delayed for very long. 










The next stop was the Norris Geyser Basin.  Once again, the hike down and up was taxing.  It is astounding to me that so many of the visitors to our National Parks are from foreign countries.  And it won’t be long before it seems like most of the RVs on the road will be inexperienced rentals.  It happens every summer in the West part of the country.

Our original plan was to only go as far as Norris today, but the construction eliminated several of the spots we were going to tour today.  So, we continued on north.
There were several “buffalo jams” along the route, but we finally made it to Mammoth Hot Springs.
 
What a selection of geysers we have seen in the last two days.  Rain is forecast for the next six days…yuck!  We will probably take a day off from Yellowstone tomorrow to catch up on laundry and such, but who knows.

Thanks for stopping by….talk to you later,  Judy

P.S.  Mrs. J asked about all the felled trees in some of my pictures yesterday.  Most are the result of the great fires in the park in 1988.  As it turns out, that is the last time I visited Yellowstone, and it was during all of those massive fires.  It has been great to return, without the fire and smoke, and see how much the forests have renewed themselves.  :)