Yellowstone National Park

..and then came Yellowstone.  Miles and miles of discovery.  Miles and miles of road and pine forests.

Elk, black bear, grizzlies, pronghorn, mule deer, ravens, eagles, osprey, waterfalls, sulfur pits, Old Faithful.

Did I say...a week is definitely not enough time.

We stayed in the Mammoth Springs Hotel.  The rooms have no tv, no radio and no bathroom.  You share a restroom/shower area with an entire floor of rooms.  We were there at the peak of opening season, peak of baby season, and although we had to share the facilities with an entire floor, only once during our stay there did I have to wait an extra five minutes to get into the shower.  I never had to wait for the restroom itself.  We had no problem with noise and party people.  We had an awesome view the mountains around us.  Every day, right outside our window, right outside the hotel in the parking lot median area, were groups of elk.  Very very inspirational.  I still....don't want to come home.  I still sense the feelings I had while I was there.

This corner of the park definitely is the place to see (oh my gosh, I forgot to add Bison to my list above...truly the most abundant animal in the park) the wildlife.  I believe we drove every road in the park while we were there and this northeast corner has the most to offer from a wildlife viewing point if you are trying to do it from your car.  I highly recommend you get out from behind the wheel though and hike the trails.  It took us three days to see a black bear.It took us two and hiking on the back trails to get some awesome opportunities to get up close with the bighorn sheep,pronghorn and other little furry critters that entertained us.  We found one trail that followed a portion of the river that wasn't used much where I discovered all kinds of bird life that I had not seen anywhere else in the park..including a pair of mandarin ducks.

The last half of our week there, we moved to the Canyon Creek cabins.  They are not stand alone cabins.  More like duplexes...with thin walls.  We didn't have much of a view there and check in was long and way past normal check in time..but we had our own bathroom in our room.  The area there was under renovation but it didn't really pose a problem as you don't tend to spend a lot of time right there.  The cafeteria food was good and reasonable, quick and easy and all we needed.

It was this part of the park that we saw grizzlies...early early in the morning.  There are large open field areas where there were always entertainment from the bison and that is also were we discovered black and white coyotes.  A pair of each.
The Grand Canyon area of Yellowstone is awesome to see with the waterfalls and if you are lucky you will find ospreys nesting at the top of rocks in the middle of the canyon.  That in itself was worth the view.

If you have a lot of energy...I highly recommend the Elephant Back trail but...note...it is a climb.  We would climb five minutes and take a break...meanwhile, some young man that apparently lived nearby...jogged...yes...jogged past us on the way up.  Jogged?  Really??  And I thought I was fit!!!  This trail presented us with entertaining squirrels and fox and an absolutely 'to die for' view of Yellowstone Lake.

So again...please do find time to get out from behind the wheel.  The experience is so much more worth it.

Yes, we saw Old Faithful.  The food was good while we waited.  It was an experience to see all the people waiting...for a five or ten minute view of water spewing out of the ground.  I'm glad I experienced it.  Would I do it again?  Probably not...unless I do it at a time in the evening when it is lit up.  I think that might have been more inspirational for me...but it really is just personal preference.

The first few days we were there, the temperatures were in the 70s..and yet we were still able to enjoy some of the snowcapped mountain views around us.  Mid week when we moved to the Canyon area, we woke to freezing temperatures and light new dusting of snow...as we travelled up into the higher areas of the park, on narrow roads, but this is truly the one most beautiful view and experience that i will not forget about my trip to Yellowstone.    I'm glad it didn't 'dump' on us and close the park down...but so glad it did the bit of dusting that it did.

Definitely... a trip I will have to plan again.  This was a discovery trip and I know what I would do different next time.

You may, of course, email me, if you have any questions via the comment section of my post.

Happy travels.

Bighorn National Forest

Although we were headed for the northwest entrance for our hotel in Yellowstone National park, we took the road in on the east side of Yellowstone to then enter on the north east corner and work our way across the north route through the park.  This east route to the park took us through The Bighorn National Forest.  Another must see.

Note...it is a slower route also because you literally wind up through the mountains. If you have the time, please take this route.  Although Yellowstone is known for it's wildlife, we saw no moose in Yellowstone and it was one of our main goals for this trip.  We saw moose as we drove this easterly route through The Bighorn National Forest.  If you are travelling with an RV...be sure you have a full tank of gas because I can only imagine how much you will use on this route.  Again, it is literally climbing up and around..and around...and around.  Be sure to stay on your side of the road.

 Be sure to stop and visit at the Shell Falls Interpretive Site.  The water fall is extraordinary.  This stop also provides a wonderful opportunity to watch the hummingbirds at the feeders right at the parking area.  There is a gift shop and Park Rangers to answer all your questions.

 Enjoy the view all around you...below you...

 ahead of you. Yes, those white capped mountains...The Rockies...are quite a way off from where this was taken.  Awesomely magical.

 One of the many moose we saw on this route.

 I did state early on in these posts....that a week is way not enough time!!!

The Badlands

 The Badlands National Park in South Dakota is worth the little side trip off of 90 going through South Dakota.  I highly, highly recommend you go through there either at sunrise or sunset as it truly brings out the reds of the rock.  When I think about it...and if I remember correctly, sunset will probably be the best as most of the redder, rockier hills are on the east side of the road if you are driving through from the main entrance area.  The above was taken late afternoon but as we drove through and the sun started setting the rocks really showed their color.

 Drive through slowly and watch all around.  You never know what wonders Mother Nature will share with you.  We thought we would see much more wildlife in the matter of pronghorns, mule deers, but the most abundant were, of course, the prairie dogs.  There is one section of the road that on the west, north side of the road (sorry, terrible at the directional thing but I believe it was the more northwest direction) that the prairie dogs have a large colony and will be right up close to the road.  There are a few spots where you can pull over for a bit and watch their fun antics....as they watch you.

We were there at the very beginning of June...in time to see a Pronghorn mom with her newborn...well, it was probably about 48 hours old.  It was amazing to watch it at a distance as it sunk down amidst the sage brush to hide...from whatever.  It blended so well into the landscape.

Definitely a place I will visit again some day...at a slower pace, closer to sunset.