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.
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