The previous installment of our travels took us on a 53 mile drive from Cody, Wyoming to the Yellowstone National Park entrance, Thursday June 19th. My goal was to be able to see this spectacular park before it erupts some time in the next millennium. The park is approximately 1000 miles from Los Angeles, Phoenix and San Francisco, 530 miles from Denver, 320 miles from Salt Lake City, and 775 miles from Seattle. I can say it is worth the trip to come and see this spectacle of nature.
As we entered the park we traveled along 20 some miles of twisting road that offered some interesting sights. There was a couple of Bighorn Sheep on a slope above the road. Needless to say they created quite a traffic jam. Then there were glimpses of Yellowstone lake, which is fed by melting snow from the mountains surrounding the large caldera, which is the current valley floor. This isn't the exact definition, sorry Karen, but a caldera is the hole left after a volcanic mountain blows it top off. There is usually a rim of mountain peaks around a valley of sorts. Mount St. Helens blew its top off at an angle where Yellowstone's rim is nearly level.
I pulled into the first campground that I came to, Fishing Bridge RV Park, but there was a "FULL" sign posted at the entrance. I was committed to the turn so I pulled in and was approached by an employee who asked how many nights I wanted. I said one. He called on his walkie-talkie and was told OK, send him in. This was pure luck! I registered and got a nice spot near an area where the dogs could walk and we all got some exercise.
We had lunch and I took off, leaving the girls to chat by themselves, on a journey around the north and west parts of the park. We were camped on the north rim of the Yellowstone Lake. I stopped a couple of times along the Yellowstone River, which flowed north and west into an area called Canyon Country. I really like water and rocks, and boulders, and cliffs, and mountains, and trees, etc. One of the more spectacular water falls is Lower Yellowstone Falls (photo below). I stopped down stream a ways to get a more panoramic look. I was tempted to go for a closer look, but there was only so much time to take in so much beauty and wonder.
From there I headed along the northern route through the canyon, over some hills and got to Mammoth Hot Springs. This was gorgeous! It doesn't flow as heavily as it once did, but the remnants are impressive. There were over 16 easily reached hot spring sights. Some were still actively flowing, while some were basically extinct, yet no less awesome. Most of the water that was reachable was very warm, not hot. The two photos that I've included were some of my coolest photo compositions, I think.
I continued around the loop to Norris Geyser Basin. There were way too many geysers to go and visit. I went to one section and took the pathway around a number of fumaroles, hot springs and mini geysers. As one drives the roads you will see steam rising from meadows, hillsides and even streams. I stopped at a couple of smaller places, just to look at the less popular places, but still wondrous. I didn't see any big geysers, but it was still great. I met with one of the summer employed Park Rangers. He is a musician and teacher during the off season. He gives guided tours around the Norris Basin and evening lectures to the visitors and children groups. It was nice talking with him. I took the loop back to our campground. We dined and went for a nice walk and a great night of sleep.
Below are a few photos of some of the sites we enjoyed during our short stay in Yellowstone.
In the morning we broke camp, after necessities, and headed on the western route around the lake to West Thumb Geyser Basin. This thermal area has lakeshore geysers, hot springs and bubbling paint pots. The paint pots are actually hot mud the bubbles up and there are an interesting species of plant that grow nearby they look like artist's paint brushes stuck into the surrounding ground - weird. There is one hot spring that is slightly submerged under water at the lake shoreline. This is called Fishing Cone because fishermen used to catch trout from the lake and then promptly drop them into its boiling waters to cook. Or so it says in the guide book.
We went on to the Old Faithful area. There were several pools, small geysers, hot springs and other wonderful sights to behold here. Unfortunately, Old Faithful had just gone off about 10 minutes before we arrived. I walked around this famous geyser and looked at the many other points of interest, but I wasn't going to wait 90 plus minutes for it to erupt again. I went to the motorhome and took the girls out for a walk. We then headed toward the western entrance of the park. I decided not to stop at a couple of close by geyser spots. I knew we had a long drive ahead so we exited the park through Montana about noon.
We entered Idaho a bit later and traversed the state south west then northwesterly directions before entering Washington State. We stopped at a truck stop for the night and made it to Yakima about 1 pm on Saturday. I get us into a RV park - over priced and under valued. We did our walks and I left the girls so I could have a look at the area where I would be working. 55 miles later I found it, up a creek. Actually it is called Bumping creek, located 5 miles east of Bumping Lake. I had made previous arrangements to meet the boss at his campground on Sunday around 11 am. I went back to Yakima, did a little grocery shopping, dined with the girls and rested for the night.
I will send photos and more description of my job and the area in the next episode of our adventures.
Bye for now.
Bruce, Molly and Digit
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