Yellowstone Park

September 21- 22: We saw lots of horses and black angus cows in Montana. The drive down highway 89 was gorgeous. We saw antelope and fenced bison. I guess you would call them farm raised. Saw a few hawks, red tail and rough legged hawk. The road went alongside the Yellowstone River It is the longest free flowing river in the US. We followed it right into Yellowstone National Park. Of course, we had to drive through the Teddy Roosevelt stone archway. The park seems to be run by concessionaires. They are very efficient, but not as happy and cheerful as volunteers or seasonal rangers. We got in on my Golden Age Passport Card, this is a wonderful card.

Stopped at Mammoth Hot Springs, and then headed for the only campground that wasn’t full and would take reservations. Stopped along the way for a close up encounter with a few bison. They walked down and into the turnout where we were parked. They went by Escape To not two feet from my window.

When we got to our campground, it was a disappointment. No picnic table, no fire pit, no electric, and water pressure that spiked to 100PSI. You needed a pressure reducer to connect to the water. The worst part of all was the no generators until 8AM rule. Therefore, no coffee till then.

Next morning we had our coffee at 8AM and went to look at the next campground. If it had been the same we were leaving the park. It was actually quite nice with fire ring and trees that separated the sites.


Yellowstone Lake by our campsite

Went to Old Faithful and spent most of the day in that area. We saw Old Faithful erupt, as well as numerous geysers and some beautiful boiling pools. It is a very strange landscape, but very intriguing.

Old Faithful

Even Yellowstone Lake has some thermal activity. This activity causes some open areas in the ice during the winter. The otters take advantage of these holes. I felt very rough after dinner and went to bed a 8 PM. I guess it,s too much vacation or too much hiking in this altitude. We plan to go on to Grand Tetons and Jackson WY tomorrow. Time is getting tight.