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| Mark under the iconic North Entrance Arch |
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| October snow |
After two days in Grand Teton, we headed north to Yellowstone National Park. We were quite surprised when we reached the South Entrance to discover that many of the roads were closed due to snow! The sign at the gate said that "snow tires" were required on the open roads. There really wasn't that much snow and I had four-wheel drive and all-weather tires. We figured we complied. |
| Winter came early |
We had to rethink our plans and, although Tower Road never reopened, we did get to see almost all of the Park.
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| Beautiful snow-capped peaks |
The FIRST thing we saw was a Grizzly bear! At close range right past the South Entrance gate.
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| I had never seen one there before! |
Then, we stopped at Lewis Falls, which are usually surrounded by vegetation that is so, so green. It almost looked like a black and white photo!
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| Brrrrrr |
Pretty cool stuff for a Florida boy!
We spent two days looking at geothermal wonders including bubbling mudpots and Dragon's Mouth (so called because of the roar and steam that emanate from the hole as the boiling water builds and releases pressure).
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| Yellowstone is one of the largest geothermal areas in the world |
We visited Mammoth Hot Springs ...
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| An interesting landscape |
... to experience its otherworldly thermal features ...
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| Perhaps this is another planet |
... We saw Roaring Mountain ...
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| Steam just comes out of the cliff |
... and, we saw a variety of boiling rivers, bubbling cauldrons, azure geothermal ponds and algae-decorated hot springs.
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| Steam and strange colors |
Of course we went to Old Faithful to witness an irruption. This time, the blast wasn't very high and the steam created by the cold weather obscured our view. It was fun to watch, but I have seen better.
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| Still, a good place to pose |
Then, we briefly visited the iconic Old Faithful Lodge so that Mark could see the amazing architecture featuring natural logs and stones ...
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| Old faithful's lobby |
We also visited Yellowstone Falls, both Upper ...
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| Drama |
... and Lower ...
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| More drama |
It was beautiful with a bit of snow around it. |
| Waterfalls just get the heart pumping |
And, a great place for a portrait (I think we all have pictures of ourselves taken in front of the Falls).
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| Mark looks so much like our father here |
And, we saw Bears, including a young Grizzly ...
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| This one was hunting gophers and eating flowers |
... a famous Grizzly ...
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| This is Scarface; the reason for his name is obvious |
... a very black Black Bear ...
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| This one looks more "typical" than the cinnamon one we saw in Grand Teton |
... and a beautiful Grizzly ...
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| One of the prettiest Grizzlies I have seen |
... that crossed the road right in front of us ...
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| Owning the road |
In Lamar Valley, we saw a Golden Eagle ...
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| At pretty close range, as well |
... a Coyote ...
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| Fairly distant |
... Bison ...
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| Yellowstone's #1 animal |
... more Bison ...
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| There are lots of them |
In Hayden Valley, we saw Pronghorn ...
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| Running |
... more Bison ...
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| A collared mom and her calf plus another mom with her itchy calf |
... some of which decided to create a traffic jam ...
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| Bison jams can last hours (this one didn't) |
Then, we drove out to the West Entrance, where we saw some Elk along the way ....
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| Resting by the river |
We also visited LeHardy Rapids, which looked foreboding in the gray, wintery light ...
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| Cold, cold water |
As in Grand Teton, the weather was all over the place, ranging from cold and snowy ...
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| The steaming geysers melt the snow |
... to the middle of autumn ...
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| Some trees still had leaves |
... but, it was all beautiful ...
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| Mark enjoying the scenery |
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| Hoping to see some |
Mark had wanted to see Wolves (let's admit it, so did I), but although we looked and looked and looked, we came up short there. Even the Yellowstone "Wolf People" (my name for folks who spend all their time looking for, tracking and viewing the Wolves through their scopes) couldn't help.
It was a successful trip, even with a very overdone bison burger in Mammoth Hot Springs and a ridiculous order of "trout" (it looked like two puny fish sticks run over by a tank for $22) at the Yellowstone Grill.
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| The open road was calling |
Most of the Yellowstone Lodges were closed or closing down, so pickins' were slim and it was a bit chilly and blowy for picnics. But, we managed to stay nourished (we always do)!
The sun was coming out as our visit ended.
We were scheduled to drive home and then Mark realized he was flying out a day later than he thought. We decided we hadn't had enough, so we headed out to Devil's Tower!
There's no road I don't want to travel!
Trip date: September 26-October 1, 2013
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