Day 3 - Leaving Yellowstone - heading back to work

Friday - May 30, 2014
Time to get back to work, to help fund my travels.


It was cold this morning, 36 degrees. I didn't get moving as early as I wanted. The sun was shining and I was waiting for things to warm up a little.

The only stop I made on the way out of the park today was at the Fishing Bridge Visitors Center. This is an older, log building with exhibits of animals and birds. Walk out the back door of the Visitors Center and there is Lake Yellowstone, with a sandy beach.  I walked along the beach for awhile, taking pictures then sat at a picnic table for a little while. I will definitely go back to spend some time on this beach during the summer.

This icy lake reminded me of the Great Lakes, except for the mountains in the background. 

Fishing Bridge in Yellowstone to the East Entrance

I stopped for a few minutes at Lake Butte Overlook

The drive to the East Entrance is very scenic, a lot of thermal activity, there are steam vents all along the side of the lake. Then you cross over Sylvan Pass with lots of switchbacks on the way down. Just put it in 2nd gear and coast down, with clear roads and some snowbanks lingering on the side of the road.

After reaching the park gate, it is another hour driving through the Shoshone Forest and Buffalo Bill State Park, then passing by Buffalo Bill Dam and through some tunnels and finally into Cody. Total drive from Fishing Bridge Campground to Buffalo Bill Village was about 2 1/2 hours.

The great thing is that I didn't use much fuel - traveling from 7783' to 4997'.

Yellowstone - Day 2

Thursday - May 29, 2014

Today I went on a tour of the southern part of Yellowstone. I drove all day yesterday and decided to let someone else do the driving today.  We were on a small bus and there were only 11 of us and the driver.

The tour is the "Circle of Fire" and well worth the $74 dollars, I would have probably spent that much in gas driving around in the RV all day. The driver/guide picked us up at the campground. The tour was scheduled from 9:15 am to 6:00 pm, but we didn't return to the campground until 7:00.  We had a great driver/guide, he was very knowledgeable of Yellowstone. The amount of information was amazing.

There were many stops along the way, we walked on the boardwalks and a few short trails.

I logged 7 1/2 miles for the day on my LifeTrak pedometer/watch.

The first stop was at Lake Yellowstone Hotel.

The weather today was cooler, but it was a bright sunny day. 

Some areas of the lake are 410' deep - Elevation 7783'

 There was still ice on the lake, it was starting to break up and flow down the river.

I would like to go back and stay at the Bridge Bay campground

and go on a boat tour of the Lake. 

Our next stop was the "West Thumb Geyser Basin" to see the pretty blue thermal pools.

The color of the pools is determined by the temperature,

if the water is not hot enough, the algae will grow 

and the pools will start to get an orange looking color.

After the West Thumb area we headed towards Old Faithful.
We drove over the continental divide two times on the road between West Thumb and Old Faithful.
There was still some snow on the side of the road.

There were many stops along the road on our way from one area to the next main feature.
 We stopped to take pictures of the animals and other interesting features of the park.

We arrived at Old Faithful around 12:50, waiting for Old Faithful to go off around 1:10

and then we had lunch before boarding the bus again at 2:00.

As we were leaving the parking lot of Old Faithful, we saw "Castle Geyser" going off,

 this one is not as predictable as Old Faithful, so it was an unexpected sighting.

There are four types of thermal features:
 steam vents, mud pots, geysers and hot springs.

The "Fountain Paint Pot" area is north of Old Faithful

Violet-green swallow

As we drove from area to area, our guide pointed out some side roads and places
that we should visit in the future. He said some roads were not suitable for trailers and large RV's.

We drove through Madison and Norris to our last big stop of the day...
The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and the Upper and Lower Falls.

We then drove south through Hayden Valley to return to Fishing Bridge Campground.

There was a last minute quick stop at the bridge to watch the ice breaking up.

~     ~     ~     ~     ~

I've seen many bison and a few elk.

I will need to go back because I want to see

the bears and wolves.

Yellowstone - Day 1

Today as I write these blog posts, it is cold and rainy.  Luckily the weather was perfect last week, for my visit to Yellowstone.

Wednesday - May 28, 2014

I headed north out of Cody toward Cooke City to enter Yellowstone at the Northeast entrance.

 Chief Joseph Scenic Highway

This direction takes you over the Chief Joseph Scenic Highway. The road starts out gently curving upwards with views of the mountain ranges and then there are more switchbacks as you start to climb higher, it is not a difficult drive. And of course, after you climb up, you then need to come back down the other side.

At the top of the road, there is a large parking area with a walking path

 and a pedestrian bridge to walk out over the river.

As you approach Cooke City, you will be on the Beartooth Highway, but I did not drive over the Beartooth Pass today. Cooke City states it is the smallest town in America, it is 3 miles from the NE gate of Yellowstone.

display at the Cooke City Visitors Center

When you enter YNP at this entrance, your drive starts in the Lamar Valley where there are usually a lot of bison and elk, some of my co-workers saw white wolves in this area. I was not that lucky and only saw bison in this area.

I did have the thrill of the bison walking on the highway in my lane, coming towards me, I drove very slowly for awhile and then stopped to take a short video and waited until the bison climbed up the side of the road.
I am having problems posting the video here and will try to add it to another blog post later.


I continued on towards Gardiner and Mammoth Hot Springs.
At one of the pullouts, I came upon the Undine Falls.

I stopped in Mammoth and walked around the Fort, I did not go into any of the buildings. I walked around the terraces at Mammoth, this is in the NW corner of YNP.

 I had lunch in the RV in the parking lot at Mammoth.

Mammoth Hot Springs terraces - water seeping out, flowing down the rocks

It was time to head south and then east again, as I would be staying at the Fishing Bridge Campground for 2 nights, this is the only campground in YNP that has full hookups, which is greatly appreciated as the nights are still cold at the elevation of 7783'.

I do hope to get reservations at some of the other campgrounds in the park, during the summer, when I should not have to use the heater in the evenings.

Yellowstone is huge and I wonder if anyone can possibly visit all of it.  There are many scenic pullouts and side roads, its not possible to stop at all of them.  Some of the pullouts are crowded with cars and RV's, but there is always another one just down the road.

It is difficult to put a 10 hour driving/touring day into one blog post. I have many, many pictures and there were many scenic views along the way.

Forces of the Northern Range Trail

I got out and walked on many short trails,

 I would love to walk further into the off road areas of Yellowstone.

 It is recommended that you hike in groups of 4 or more, since this is bear country.

I will have to sign up for some hiking tours.