Day 06 - Pictures of Yellowstone

There were many great sights in Yellowstone and we were also blessed with many sightings of animals.  Some we presented in the two previous postings and we will post others here now.  First some of the landscape.

Rivers.

Waterfalls.

Hot Springs.

Hot spring terraces.

And the hot spring run off.

Elk.

Birds.

Hot Springs and geysers, fumaroles, and mud pots.

And bison.

And more bison. 

All of the animals in the park were great and whenever we happened upon any, we of course cried out.  In some cases Ching, the bus driver, was able to stop for us to get out and take pictures, for which Carmen and I were always grateful for.
Tomorrow we go to Billings.

Day 06 - Yellowstone Day 2

Today we are in Yellowstone National Park for the full day.  If you look at a map, you’ll see the major road in Yellowstone looks like a figure eight (8).  We’ll begin heading north out of Canyon Village and head towards Mammoth by way of Dunraven Pass, at an elevation of 8859 feet.  We cannot believe the amount of snow in Yellowstone on June 5^th.  Here the snow is at least 1-2 feet in depth.

               

We arrive at the Mammoth Hot Spring terraces and take a quick tour of part of the terraces.  Most of the terraces no longer have water and are drying up.  Where water is flowing, the colors still remain on the terrace.

The water cascades down the side leaving mineral deposits until the water pools in little bowl like basins creating little mini-waterfalls.  When many of these exist, they create a terrace.  The result is quite something to see.

While in Mammoth Hot Springs, Elk are in the area.  They decide to eat the grass and just lie down in the shade.  The Park Rangers are here and have put traffic cones around to keep people from getting close.  Carmen was able to get this picture of two elk in the shade relaxing.

Leaving Mammoth Hot Springs, we head south towards Old Faithful and pass by falls on the side of the road. 

We again spy elk along the way.

We pass fumaroles (steam vents) by the road. 

Shortly afterwards, we see more bison.  We have seen a number of bison calves playing and lying around.  This time there is a little one with its mother. 

Before long, we stop at Gibbon Falls.  These falls are 84 feet and cascade down over

After the short stop to see the falls, we continued on our way to the Geyser Basin.  As we pull into the parking lot there is a herd of bison that is trekking through the beginning of the springs.  We were able to get a picture of them walking by one of the hot springs.

Behind them, the remaining bison in the herd were walking in line following the lead bison.  Wow!  You couldn't plan this any better than this.  Most people wanting to see this would have to be in the Park for days following the bison herd and hope they do something like this.  The sight was simply fantastic!

After watching the bison until it was safe for us to pass, we followed the walkway around the basin to view more springs and mud pots.  At least some of these mud pots were wet and bubbling.

Later we arrived at the Old Faithful Inn for lunch and were able to view the geyser Old Faithful.  We later found out that the geyser erupted to a height of 145 feet.

As we continued to the lodge we are staying at, we saw a White Wolf but we missed the picture.   But, we did see more bison with a little calf or two.  As Carmen says, “they’re so cute”.

We leave Yellowstone tomorrow, but between the Tetons and Yellowstone National Parks we have seen eagles, hawks, ducks, geese, birds of all sort, grey fox, coyote (no picture), a white wolf (no picture), moose, deer, elk and bison.  Wow!  The only thing we haven’t seen is a bear.

Later, Bob and Carmen.

Day 05 - To Yellowstone National Park

Today we will just head north on Rte 89 from Jackson and into Yellowstone with side trips through the Teton National Park.  (As we begin, we can see the reclining Indian as we head to the raft trip.)

This morning we begin our trip with an optional rubber raft float down the Snake River.  It is not part of the tour, but an optional excursion, Carmen and I have decided to go.  I was a little concerned when I read the name of the launch site – Deadman’s Bar.  In any case, they took a picture of us so they could identify us later.  Just kidding, but here we are ready to hit the raft and hopefully not the water.

One of the first fantastic views on the trip is the portion of the Snake River where Ansell Adams took his famous “Tetons and Snake River” photo.  His was in black and white ours is in color.  All I can say is that the scenery is fantastic and is almost impossible to really capture in a picture, no matter how good the picture is.

The boat ride is simply fantastic.  Our guide, who reminds me of Woody Harrelson, pointed out a number of places we might see animals. 

A hawk flew by right in front of us and attacked something on the hill next to us.  It look like it missed, but we did get a picture of the hawk.

At one place, an eagle was perched high up on a tree with the nest nearby.  There are eaglets in the nest but I could not see anything.  Others thought they saw movement.

As we traveled down the river, you could hear the small stones on the river bottom bouncing along.  It sounded like popcorn popping.   All along the trip, the scenery is just unbelievable.  You can see Carmen is enjoying herself.

Besides the eagle and hawk, we saw elk, moose, geese, and ducks.  But, the most important of all the Teton Mountains with snow!

The boat ride took almost an hour and a half and soon came to an end.  I think we could have gone back up for another trip down.  We hopped back into the bus and headed along the park and a stop at the Chapel of the Transfiguration Episcopal.  What a view from here as I think you will agree.

Continuing on, we travel a short distance for a view of the mountains of course our obligatory picture taken in front of Grand Teton.

While we were at this picture stop, we spied a fox in the field.  I am happy to say that Carmen and I were not the only ones running to get pictures of the fox.  The fox of course was hunting and cared little for our presence.  But it did stop near a bush, right next to the parking lot, looking for something and posing.

Back on the bus, we traveled down to Colter  Bay, passing more elk and deer, for our picnic lunch. 

Continuing our travels, we stopped at Jackson Lake for more panoramic views of the Tetons - only this time with Arrowleaf Balasmroot flowers in the foreground.

We entered Yellowstone Park and took a picture next to the entrance sign.  It is not often that you can park a bus at an entrance sign and let everyone off.  As a mater of fact, I do not remember when Carmen and I have had our pictures taken this often while on vacation.

Before too long we stopped at the West Thumb Geyser Basin, and toured the hot springs.  Here the water is so clear that you can see right down into the spring's hole.

And mud springs.  This mud spring was bubbling while some of the others were mounded or drying out.

Traveling again on our way to our overnight lodge at Canyon Village we spied a Bison and stopped for pictures.  However, as usual, as we round the next turn we spied a large number of bison in Hayden Valley that were close enough to see.  As Bruce, our guide, mentioned, when we see bison the first time we’ll stop, since you never know if you’ll see them again. 

On the way to the lodge we stop at the Lower Yellowstone Falls.  Quite a spectacular site.  The falls are over a mile away from where we are standing when we took the pictures, but you could still hear the roar from the water falling.  Also, notice the ice to the left of the falls created by the falls spray.

We reach the lodge just in time for a little rain shower, but it was finished before we got out of the bus to head to our rooms.  It was a long day and Carmen and I are going to bed early.  Tomorrow we stay for another day in Yellowstone. 

Later Carmen and Bob.

Day 04 - To Jackson, Wyoming

Today our trip takes us back on I-15 out of Salt Lake City and into Idaho.  At (the city of) Idaho Falls we picked up Rte 20 into the town for a stop at the falls where the town gets its name.  We then turned onto Rte 26 and followed it to Rte 31 where we crossed the mountains and had a most fantastic view of Jackson in the valley.  From there we drove down the mountain into Jackson where we will spend the night at the Antler Hotel.

We traveled past many miles of farm lands, with cattle, milk cows, and crops like wheat and Idaho Potatoes.  Let me say this was a most visually stunning ride.  There were mountains on both sides with lakes and rivers and fields all along the way.

We stopped for a break and a short box lunch at the Idaho Falls in none other than Idaho Falls.

The falls are not very high, but long.

We continued up into the mountains crossing over into Wyoming.

The mountains are closer, but there is still ranch lands around.  Very pretty.

Instead of continuing our trip on Rte 26 around the mountains, we took Rte 31 (a scenic
Bypass) and went up over the mountains. 

We stopped at a view point overlooking the valley and Jackson. 

The views from here are simply breathtaking! 

During our trip down the mountain and while we were heading to Jackson, we get our first views of the Tetons (from the east side).  Very impressive.

Someone spied a moose in the stream.  After passing it, we turned around (quite a feat by the bus driver Ching for the 8-point turnaround) and headed back.  (For those of you who will catch the reference, it felt like Austin Powers turning the cart around in the narrow underground hallway.) 

We found the moose, which was still there and was nice enough to stick around for us to take pictures of it.

We got into Jackson, settled into our rooms, and then went off exploring the town.  At the Town square, there are four arches made from elk antlers.  It is quite something to see.

As we toured around town, there was the horse and carriage ride, only this one is a stage coach ride.  It takes you around the town and I even saw some riding shotgun.

We continued around town for a little while doing some shopping and stopping in some of the galleries.  I was able to take a picture of one of the bronze statues.  I only wish I had the money and house to accommodate them.  There are also a number of bronze statues out and about the town, all of them impressive.

We tooled around town some more before meeting everyone on the tour for dinner at “E.levan”.  Carmen and I had the beef medallions, let me say OMG because they melted in your mouth.

Afterwards, we went to the “Million Dollar Cowboy Bar”.  Had a couple of beers (“Million Dollar Beer”) after the complementary three glasses of wine (oh, since Carmen does not drink wine, I drank hers).  Here is Carmen on one of the saddle stools.

Everyone played some pool and bellied up to the bar, some even sitting on the saddle chairs.

We headed back to the room and await our trip tomorrow to Yellowstone. Until later, here is a sign I found at one of the stores. 

Yippee-i-o-ki-yay, Carmen and Bob.