WST Day 8: Bison, Deer and Falling Water, Oh, Yes!

We entered the park today right at the modern entrance that is just beyond the Roosevelt Arch Entrance in Gardiner, Montana where we spent the night. What a luxury to know we have 2 nights here and don't have to pack up right away! (How do traveling salesmen do it???)






Driving up to Mammoth Hot Springs, the view offered evidence of the volcanic nature of this terrain and its multitudinous geysers and fumaroles.


At Mammoth Hot Springs, we found one Jack Rabbit and several white-tailed deer decorating the lawns around the buildings as they munched breakfast.

  We chatted about the "tame" deer as we read one of the thousands of "Don't accost the wildlife" signs. FB quipped, "I don't care what you say, you are not marrying one those city elk!" The humor kept on when we sighted a "Bear Spray Rental" stall; we wondered if that meant the spray had been successful or faulty.  A reminder (and humor moment) came when we spied two backpacking hitchhikers with a large cardboard sign asking for a "Ride to Old Faithful - 40 miles." Again, we're amazed at the vastness of this national treasure.

Nancy got her Bison! FB could have reached out and patted the one who strolled down the center line of the roadway and eye-balled him as it passedd the Kia!

Animals were about a lot during the day: grouse, American chipmunk, American Swans,

Trumpeter Swans, elk, and pika. Most were just too quick for my camera, actually for my reflexes.  As you can see, Nancy and I made the most of the slower moving exceptions.




I never thought I would come to the point where a Bison would appear with 20 feet of me and I'd keep on eating my apple!!

We saw a notation for Mount Washburn and the Mount Washburn Hot Springs and we just had to find them, after JT Washburn deserves an acknowledgement! The hot springs are the vapor trails you can see in the bottom pictures.

We savored the waterfalls we saw today as well as the canyons. The variety of terrain in Yellowstone makes every moment, every twist of the road an adventure for your eyes. I am awed by the power of wind and water, wondering which is the stronger? Which is the most manipulative of landscape?

We marveled at the bison whose tracks we followed (backward from where he was lying near the mud volcano) as we realized he had purposely walked across this "quivery earth" to the warm mud to nap.
We saw how he walked too close to the pit turned around and found a 'safer" way around it.

I'm quitting blogging for tonight. We're leaving at 6 AM for a looooong day on the road. We have only one stop scheduled between here and somewhere in Idaho or south...that's the adventure (says Nance!!)

Tune in tomorrow to read about the rest of what we saw today in Yellowstone and what we get up to in Butte and on the road.

WST Day 7: Yellowstone National Park!

All my life I have heard about this place. I can hardly believe I spent the day prowling the walkways of this incredible park. Bless Teddy Roosevelt for creating it!!

On our way from Cody to the Eastern Entrance, I looked up and saw a visual reminder of the West:

Once we entered the park, we saw mule deer, moose, Pronghorn antelope, coyotes, pelicans (yes, there are fresh water pelicans) and lots of wondrous sights. The animals moved too quickly to capture on my camera, but WE know what we saw! We are still looking for a bison for Nance!!

We drove over the Continental Divide (twice), we crossed over 45th Parallel (the exact point which designated us halfway between the Equator and the North Pole), we eyed Gibbon Falls and the many faces of the Shoshone River. We experienced the heat, steam, smell and growling of many geysers and formations besides Old Faithful. I even recorded (still can't figure out how to upload a video!) the growling of the Red Spouter geyser. I gorged on the scent of sage and the sight of yarrow!

I decline to try to find words to describe the wonders of Yellowstone, so after the following few sentences, just grab a beverage and enjoy the pictures.

We ended our day with dinner at The Iron Horse in Gardiner, Montana, where I enjoyed a local Montana ale: Salmon Fly Honey Rye. Yumm...I had 2. FB and I agreed our Bison Burgers were much better than the ones we had in Minnesota. Nancy was very brave and munched on an Elk Burger with a Big Sky Moose Drool ale. She noted both were exceptional.





One kind of cool "small world" incident - Nancy got into a conversation with the gift shop clerk at the park's visitor's center, mentioning we were from North Carolina and Florida. The clerk asked what part of Florida and Nance said, "Middleburg, up by Jacksonville." To her astonishment, the girl responded that one of her best friends graduated from Middleburg High. Nance and I went back later, but the clerk was gone to lunch.  Still - that six degrees of separation moment!

Our day in Yellowstone: