Day 26 - Yellowstone National Park

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Well our accommodation is at the 3 Bear Lodge in West Yellowstone, Montana. Our room fronts the main street and it is on the first floor and quite new as the Motel was destroyed by fire in 2009 and only recently rebuilt. Our room has 1 main bedroom, an alcove area where there is a single bed a tiny bed for little bears as well as a main open plan living area with a separate Queen Bed and a large Dining Table, Bathroom. We also had a big outdoor balcony area overlooking the main street.

Agreed to have a sleep in today after so much driving and we were not up until 10am, and had breakfast at the 3 Bears Lodge Restaurant around 10.50am (they closed at 11am !). They were super fast cooking our eggs and we were out in no time at all. After yesterday’s spectacular sightings I was hoping today to see some Antlers (Elk or Moose) and a Black Bear.

Weather today was mostly sunny with occasional cloud cover and around 30 degrees. Luke was proudly wearing his green Milwaukee Bucks Andrew Bogut T-Shirt.

Headed 1 mile down the road and we were back in Yellowstone National Park and back in Wyoming again. We decided today we would do the southern loop so first destination was the Norris Geyser area. About half way there and traffic was stopped so we pulled over. Luke & I jumped and ran down the road to see what the fuss was. I could not believe it but this almost the exact same location where we stopped yesterday for the Buffalo migration !

Luke was first to spot two large Elk grazing just across a small stream. I was so excited I had the SLR in overdrive. I think I took about 30 photos of this pair. I guess we were only about 15 metres away from them. I sent Luke back to the car to get the girls to see this sight. What a great start to the day.

We then got to the Norris Geyser and went for a walk to see the Steamboat Geyser. We listened to a Park Ranger who explained about geysers and how they work. He also talked about how Yellowstone is actually a Volcanic Area and that this geyser has recorded the highest water spray in the world at around 300 feet lasting about 20 minutes. This last occurred in 2005 and was not happening today for us ! Just a couple of whimpering puffs and splashing of water coming from the two outlets and lots of steam. We then a look at Porcelain Basin which looked cool.

Next we went across towards Canyon Village where we stopped for lunch. I had a garden salad which was nice to have after all the eggs, burgers and fries I have consumed of late. A nice Italian dressing, and accompanied by a Vanilla Coffee was lovely. Kerry & Elise both had Salad as well but they had the supersized versions whilst Luke had a BLT. We went to the gift shop and Luke & I scored matching $5- Yellowstone National Park T-Shirts which were on sale. Elise bought a wooden box to keep her playing cards in.

We then drove to see the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. First we saw two waterfalls where I have never seen such powerful water falling over the cliffs. The water actually looks green as it flows over the cliffs. You could walk down to the edge of the falls but they had steep climbs and we had to maximize our time. Then we saw the views of the Canyon itself which is just amazing and I suspect where Yellowstone got it’s name.

We then drove further down the southern loop to the Yellowstone Lake area, where we went to the Mud Volcano where we saw Buffalo footprints walking around the sulphur pools . The park ranger at Steamboat geyser had told us earlier they walk around here to feel the warmth underground. We saw a single Buffalo right next to the walking rack (just 3 metres away !). We kept driving south and spotted another Elk. When we rounded the Lake to head to the far bottom of the loop at West Thumb we spotted another 4 Elk with 3 being males with the massive antlers, and I was able to get up really close to these.

We then turned for home and passed by the Old Faithful Geyser which we might try and visit tomorrow. Saw a few buffalo but nowhere near as many as yesterday. We think we spotted a dead one (no-one was game to check !). No major traffic problems on the road back heading back from Madison to West Yellowstone we did stop one more time for some Mule Deer shots by the river.

We were in the main street by 7.30pm and headed straight for dinner at Pete’s Pasta and Pizza which people raved about on Trip Advisor. They was only one table free when we got here and had a beautiful pizza with Pepperoni and Italian Sausage. I had two Pacifico beers to wash it all down which are Mexican if I recall and a bit like Corona but Mexicans think Pacifico is better.

Walked along Canyon Street to see the Souvenir shops and pick up a few things. Kerry finally got her coffee mug and I strangely managed to find more licence plates for my Bali Hut collection (they had Eastern states of Delaware, New Jersey, Philadelphia in Montana !).

Well another busy day and I was so happy that my wish for a view of Antlers was granted not once but several times. I guess I saw Black Bears at Bear Country USA in South Dakota but seeing things in the wild is just so special. Maybe the Moose tomorrow as we leave Yellowstone ?

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