Yellowstone

So you already know from the previous two posts that we saw many of the main Yellowstone attractions and camped at Norris campground, so this blog post is mostly photos with only a bit of story.
 

Lower Falls of Yellowstone

We visited Artist Point viewing the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River. The girls enjoyed it, but after seeing Gibbon Falls and Tower Falls they were less impressed than I had expected. Perhaps this is a location where one's memory grows in time and seeing others' photos of the same location.... we'll have to wait and see. 

  

The top photo is my favorite of the trip, the bottom two will need some help from Photoshop once we return home.

Old Faithful

Yellowstone is know for the geothermal activity, with over a quarter of the entire world's geyser viewable from the Old Faithful Lodge and visitor center. The tallest geyser in the world is just north of this location at the Norris basin. The girls thoughts can be heard on the video below.

Christine and I would have preferred to visit Yellowstone the first week of June or earlier, but schedules put us here in July. The main drawback of mid summer can be seen on this picture. 

Hot Springs

We quickly squeezed in a stop at Mammoth Terrace the first night, then walked Fountain Paint Pot basin the second day.

 

 

Other Stops

 

 

Petrified Tree and Tower were quick stops the first day...ice cream at the second of course in 80+ weather.

Wildlife

 

Lastly, the major draw for us is wildlife.

 

 

 

Danielle's photos of a Mule Deer and Grizzly Bear are on top, another Mule Deer and Elk below.

Michaela hiked a good part of Mt Washburn with Christine while Danielle and I stopped earlier. Luckily it gave me an opportunity to look at butterflies. The best photo is below, but the other two unidentified butterflies can be seen here and here.   

 

 

Ravens, Juncos and Sparrows were common....butterflies were left unidentified.

For even more of our trip watch Michaela's reaction to being in the cave as the lights are turned off while in the Black Hills.

First time for everything

Yellowstone has long been one of my favorite destinations; I first enjoyed trips there with my sister and parents, then later after marriage with Christine.  Christine and I have been to Yellowstone a handful of times but this trip afforded us a first ever while at the park. With many photos, videos, and stories from the two days this blog is devoted to one specific moment. Another blog will contain other stories from Yellowstone,  To get an idea of that moment and potential first for Christine and I here are the girls journals from yesterday.
 

Michaela's Journal

Danielle's Journal

After a late night unsuccessfully scanning Hayden Valley for Wolves we returned to Norris campground around 9:30.  We backed into the #4 site of A Loop and both girls piled out of the van to hop in the tent.  As soon as the doors opened we heard someone yelling, "There is a Bison in the campground get back in your vehicle."  Somehow both girls were outside with closed doors as we heard this, they of course struggled to run around to the other side to get back in. As soon as they were back in the car we lowered a window to see the Bison 10 yards from our tent and 15 yards from the Van. If I had only pulled into the parking spot directly rather than backing in we would have seen it.

A park volunteer soon asked us to move to the opposite side of the loop as, "A Ranger is going to fire a gun and we don't know which way the Bison will go." We obliged the request and shot the video below after parking.  Three park rangers and a volunteer went campsite to campsite asking everyone to move to a hard sided vehicle. In a constant rain some poor campers (many with kids) lumbered back to their cars. We've never seen rangers walk tent to tent asking people to return to their vehicles.......a first for us! The videos below are better viewed in HD, but I'm not sure if you can make out anything other than our conversation in the first.
 

 

Shortly after 10 it was so dark the only way the Bison could be seen was with spotlights.  Luckily the animal chose to walk toward the valley with the gentle nudging of a ranger's truck (no gun needed) and we were able to return to the tent by 10:30. 

 

This morning Michaela informed us "There is a Bison in camp!" when she woke up. It is hard to know if it was the same animal as before but it was nearly in the same location as the night before. Luckily everyone, including the Bison, were unharmed in these encounters. It was awesome being able to observe sites 4 and 5 of Norris campground special visitor.

The girls' perspectives

We successfully found a campsite in Yellowstone and traveled the top half of the grand circle the first day.  Today we are traversing the southern half with Old Faithful and Canyon.  We have limited reception in Yellowstone and probably won't be posting many pictures to the blog until we are out of the park.

In the meantime here are the journal entries of Michaela And Danielle regarding the first week of our road trip to the West Coast.

Michaela's journal

Danielle's Journal