This week has gone by in a blur and I can't remember which day we drove where!
One day we went to Norris Geyser Basin and Mammoth Hot Springs. There were lots of boardwalk trails through the geyser basins that we traversed at Norris, and we also walked the trail to see Steamboat Geyser, the world's tallest active geyser when it is erupting. The last time it erupted was in 2005, and we didn't see any action while we were there. The visitor center at Norris was really cool and informative, showing the last eruption of Steamboat as well as lots of history of Yellowstone.
We saw a few big horn sheep on the drive to Mammoth Hot Springs!
Mammoth Hot Springs was awesome, with a mountainous geyser basin, showing amazing formations and colors. The landscape looked like a winter scene, with the white ground and dead trees. Old Fort Yellowstone is located at Mammoth Hot Springs, and a big elk herd settles down each night right in front of the lodge there, much to the delight of the tourists!
On the leg of the drive from Madison Junction to West Yellowstone, there are two areas where the elk settle in for the night, and we have seen them on our drive home each night. There are over 3000 bison in the park, and we have seen several herds wandering around, sometimes right in the road. On the drive home, we saw a young wolf walking around a meadow hunting for small prey. My pictures weren't very good because the sun was behind him, but he walked pretty close to the parking area - all the people were thrilled!
Another day we drove to Canyon Village in the park, and checked out the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone - magnificent! We walked one trail that was basically a switchback straight down over 600 feet to the top of the falls - whew! Later, we drove around to the other side of the canyon, and there was a trail about five times longer that boasted over 1000 stairs to the river - PASS! The stair climbing is much harder in my book than walking a sloping trail. :) There were lots of beautiful overlooks, though!
On the drive home, we stopped at a pullover spot that was crowded with folks to see a couple of bears way off in the distance. A park ranger was there, explaining there was a bison carcass out there, and the bears and wolves had been eating it for a couple of days. There was a grizzly at it right then, and a black bear off to the side, waiting for its turn.
Another day we drove to Fishing Bridge area, driving along Yellowstone Lake. What a humongous lake! We did a small 2 1/2 mile hike through the woods and fields in the area, watching for bears. We spotted a snowshoe hare, and it let us approach it pretty close before zipping away. Yellow bellied marmots were supposed to be in the area, but we didn't see any. Lots of squirrels and chipmunks, though!
We drove home through the Hayden Valley, where we had seen the bears the day before, and there was more bear activity again to see. We also saw a herd of bison running in the distance, so we stopped to see it we could figure out the cause and found it - two wolves flanking the herd! The bison all gathered up tight in a bunch, putting the calves in the middle, and a few bulls patrolled the outer perimeter. The wolves wandered away.
Sam has been busy collecting the stamp cancellations in his National Park Passport Book, so we drove out to Tower-Roosevelt the next day to collect those stamps. Unfortunately, this lodge was closed, and there was road construction, so it was a bust. We cruised out to the northeast entrance gate to drive through the Lamar Valley, which is heralded as the wolf mecca, but we didn't see any wolves that trip. We did see lots of pronghorns and bison, however. That valley was HUGE! It was also a nice drive through some mountains - what a beautiful area!
Every day on the drive home we see the elk at their usual hangout near the West Yellowstone exit.
One day we drove up to Big Sky, to check it out. We were going to ride a tram to the top of the mountain there, but found out once we got there that it only ran once a day (already gone) and that it was not a tram the whole way up - part of the trip was on the ski lift. Sam said "No go." :)
We went from there to Virginia City, which is a cool old west town with most of the buildings still preserved from the 1800's. While there, we took a train ride to Nevada City, and got a little history lesson on the gold found there over a century ago. Pretty cool!
Another day we checked out the Bear and Wolf Discovery Center here in town, which is a nonprofit organization which has animals that cannot be returned to the wild for various reasons. Some of the grizzly bears were enormous! It is a really nice place, and they are expanding next year, adding an otter area. Sam really enjoyed it!
