Yellowstone Day 2

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Woodside Bakery was a hit for breakfast sandwiches & giant homemade cinnamon rolls this morning. By 9:15 we were entering the West entrance of Yellowstone to finish the North loop road and see things we did not see yesterday. Huge clouds of smoke hung in the air & we were told to keep our headlights on when we entered the park. At one point during the day, smoke was very heavy around us & Bill got some ash on his shirt when he & Tim got out to look for bear.

Tower Falls on Yellowstone River was beautiful as was the river flowing at the bottom. Tim & I tested our lung capacity in the altitude as we made the hike halfway down to the river. As usual, going down was easy, but coming back up had us both puffing. This is the first time I have really noticed the elevation and the thinner air, although we have all noticed how dry our skin, nose, & mouth are.

The road through Lamar Valley was to be our wildlife viewing are. Our timing was likely not right to see wolves, elk, bear, etc. We saw 2 elk & several geese. The bison made it worth our trip as they were up close & personal again. A herd crossed the road in front of us as we went each direction on the valley road. They caused quite a traffic jam & a lot of picture snapping. It was exciting to watch the herd scramble down the side of the mountain right into the middle of the road and proceed to saunter down the middle of the road, across the bridge for about 1/4 mile. There were also plenty of steep cliffs to drive along & add to our excitement today!

We toured through Mammoth Hot Springs & saw the United States Post Office of Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming & Historic Yellowstone Fort (originally used to guard Yellowstone NP). There was a cow elk lying in the yard of the fort as if it were their pet. We drove the Upper Terrace loop above the fort and saw various formations of salt as well as flats of salt that resulted from the saltwater seeping out of the mountain. Sheepeater's Cliff was another amazing formation, made from basalt lava that formed columnar joints when it cooled thousands of years ago.

As we were leaving the park we reflected on what we had seen in 2 days. We agreed our favorite sites were the different falls and Old Faithful. I keep thinking about the variety of land forms that make Yellowstone. Trees, mountains, valleys, lakes, rivers, rocks, salt, mud, geysers. Our oldest national park is truly a wonder.

Tomorrow we head toward Glacier NP, stopping in Missoula, MT overnight.

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Photos

Is it snow?
No, it is salt!

Salt flat of Upper Terrace
Mammoth Hot Springs & Fort in valley below.

Sheepeater's Cliff
An Indian tribe

Our cabins
In West Yellowstone.