A Visit To America's First National Park - Yellowstone

Yellowstone National Park (62 degrees, blue skies, chilly)

It's A Wonderland

Old Faithful

The weather suddenly improved and a road trip to Yellowstone National Park seemed to be in order. We drove through the Teton National Park and entered into Yellowstone via the south entrance.This is the last entrance to open and it was very evident why upon entering.  There were steep banks of snow along the road and with the increased in elevation spring quickly disappeared at least for awhile..

Yellowstone Ma

This was the Oxbow area which in the the Teton National Park.  If you go back a few posts you will see how much this area has changed.  When we first arrived this lake was solid ice and it's where we first saw a grizzly bear.

Oxbow Overlook

Entering Yellowstone National Park

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The mountains were still very now covered.

Red Mountain Range

Check out the snow bank behind John and Jimmy

We stopped briefly at the Lewis Falls area (names after Meriwether Lewis).  The river is running very quickly and it's a picturesque area.  

Lewis Falls

Lewis Lake is still frozen solid and seemed so peaceful.

Frozen Lewis Lake

We drove through Fishing Bridge and had a quick lunch.  We originally considered working for Delaware North at this gift shop. and checked out the employee campground.  It is one of the few with 50 amp service.  The sites are close together and we much prefer our campground at Gros Ventre.  It would have been a good place to work but much more remote and isolated.

Yellowstone Lake

Driving along the banks of the Yellowstone Lake is spectacular.  It is very large and impossible adequately capture in a photo due to its vastness.

Our next stop was LeHardy Rapids.  The postal clerk at Moose had told us some Harlequin Ducks were is this area for a short period of time.  They usually hang out in Alaska and Northern Canada. When we first arrived it didn't seem possible a duck could cope with the turbulent rapids.  But sure enough a female duck was seen perched on one of the few visible rocks.

LeHardy Rapids

There was only one duck and her pudgy middle section works well as a raft to help her bounce up and down on the rapids.  She was quite comical to watch.  National Geographic was there filming her too.

Female Harlequin Duck

Riding the rapids

We liked this area very much and the wooden walkway traveled along the river for a long distance.  It would be nice place to have a picnic on a warm summer day.

On the way to the Canyon area there are some interesting mud pots.  They are so weird, unique and smelly and buffalo seen ti like this warm area.  My brother in a past visit about eight years ago was chased across the parking lot by one. He will always remember that day!

After leaving this area we headed to my favorite area in the park - Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. Here you see sweeping views of the Lower Falls. The color of canyons formed by the Yellowstone River are so beautiful and no wonder one of the areas is called the Artist's Point.

There are two nice trails  which get you up close to the falls. This is definitly on our "to do" list soon.

Peregrine Falcon

Colorful canyons

We back tracked after lingering here as long as possible and headed to see Old Faithful.  The park posts as you approach the visitor center the time  Old Faithful is due to erupt.  We spent a little time in the visitor center and then headed out to get a good viewing spot.

This is what you see as you approach the area.  The crowd starts to build as it get closer to the posted time.  There are nice benches to wait before the big event.

It erupts more frequently than any other geyser and at this time of year this happens about every two hours. It can last between 1 1/2 to 5 minutes and expels 3700 to 8400 gallons of boiling water reaching a height of about 175 feet.  There were a few false alarms and then it erupted in all its glory to a very happy crowd.

I used the video option on my new camera (Canon SX-50) for the first time.  It turned out pretty well. You'll notice we were not around very many English speaking people. :)

There is so much more to explore in this area but this was all we could accomplish in a day. After a nice dinner at the park we headed back home.  It was a long day but an amazing road trip. Our plan is to explore this park many more times. Check back soon!