Yellowstone Park - June 17th

So the day started off simple enough; just a short drive of 81 miles to the park entrance for Yellowstone and then a quick drive around to see the sites... Not to be. The drive down was quite nice, the highway to the north entrance of the park took us through a beautiful valley along the Gardiner River. The homes along this valley were well kept and many of them were quite large.

The highway was in great shape and Monster Truck had no problem doing 70 the entire way. There were many posted fishing sites and we had read that the trout fishing along the river was supposed to be good. We drove through a couple of small towns along the way and were pleasantly surprised by the appearance of Gardiner itself. There were many old west styled buildings and several that looked to be from the turn of the century. Driving through town with it's many tourists, we turned the last corner and go through a magnificent stone arch that appears to have been built in the 20's or 30's.

About a quarter of a mile past the arch we got to the ranger's gate and paid our 25 dollars for a 7 day pass good for both Yellowstone and Grand Teton.

The road then follows the Gardiner River up a narrow valley, climbing steadily all the time. We rounded a few corners, passed a few campsites and then all of a sudden entered the main complex at Allbright right beside the Mammoth pools. We found a parking spot right at the boardwalk for the pools and prepared to start the trek up the stairs. That's when we noticed one of the two things that would dampen our day a bit; Dexter wasn't allowed to go near any of the thermal features in the park. We also weren't allowed to leave him alone in the car, nor, of course, tied up outside it. Linda volunteered to stay behind while I climbed the stairs and took lots of photos. To keep them entertained an elk was grazing about 50' off the parking lot. I was quickly reminded that we were at a fair altitude (8260') when I made my way up the stairs and soon was gasping for breath. Ok, in through the nose, out through the mouth and don't push it so hard... The steam pools were amazing. The chemicals and minerals made all kinds of shapes and several colors that delight the eye. I was pleased to see several different species of birds and enjoyed seeing the swallows performing their aerobatics in and around the mineral formations.

Well, enough of this, better get back to Linda and Dexter... Everyone piled back into Monster Truck and we headed further along (and up). Once around the corner and about 200' higher, Linda was able to get out and see the wonders of Mammoth from above. It was starting to rain so she quickly got back in and we were off around the park. It was just after 10 and I figured we'd have no problem meeting TJ from Autodesk's 3DRV and his family at Old Faithful about noon. What we didn't count on was the enormity of this park and how many stops there were to make. We drove slowly through the road construction near Roaring Mountain, stopped at the Artists Paintpots, did a no no by leaving Dexter alone in the truck while we explored the pools and geysers near the Celestine Pool and watched a herd of buffalo just past Madison Junction.

We finally got to Old Faithful around 2:00. TJ and company would have been long gone as they had a tour at Mammoth at 2:30. We took Dexter into the lodge, Linda found a good seat and I picked up some lunch for the three of us. We waited patiently for Old Faithful to do it's thing and had a great view for this world renowned geyser. The lodge itself was full of that 1920's charm and made a lovely place to witness the show from. Once the crowd had cleared a bit, we were back in the truck and headed the rest of the way around the loop that circles the park. We drove along the shore of Lake Yellowstone for miles and was constantly surprised by the views. Lake Yellowstone is the largest lake at elevation with 141 miles of coastline and 132 square miles of surface. Turning at the Fishing Bay Visitor's Center we had to wait while an elk made it's way slowly across the road. It's as if the animals know that they have the right of way and they want to exercise their power by making you watch them take their time...

It was just after this when the second thing happened to shake up our day. We were headed along a short straight stretch of road when one of the on-coming cars swerved over into our lane. I locked up the brakes on the Monster, but a 2 ton truck doesn't stop that quickly. Luckily the other driver realized what he was doing a corrected just in time; we missed each other by just a few feet. It would have delayed our trip a bit, but his car would have been totaled as it was a small import and would have stood no chance against the Monster. After catching our breath, we continued on our way, arriving back at the Allbright Center at 6:30. We took a short break, used the facilities and finally made our way back out of the park. It was a quick 1 1/2 hour drive back to Bozeman and McDonalds for dinner. All in all, we spent 8 hours in the park and just touched the top of the many splendors there are to see. With over 2,200,000 acres to cover and most of it over 7500' elevation it's a wonderful place we are glad to have visited. One of the things I enjoyed was crossing the Continental Divide 4 times with the highest at 9680'. Mark another of the world's volcanos off my list to visit, this one being the largest! Linda here now, while Craig was exploring the Mammoth Pools, I noticed various yellow flowers growing in the area.

Yellowstone was a great place for observing license plates; 14 new ones. Day 3's Plates South Dakota, Connecticut, New Jersey, Florida, North Dakota, Georgia, Rhode Island, Mississippi, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, West Virginia, New Mexico, South Carolina. (14) Question; which one do you think will be the most difficult to still find? I've also developed allergies since entering the USA, some kind of hay fever. Never had anything like it before. What's that all about?