Moving on to Yellowstone

Wednesday was the day we had to leave the Tetons.  I wanted to see Yellowstone too, but could not imagine anything being as beautiful as these mountains.  We finally used the food we had placed in the communal frig for breakfast!  Then we packed up and headed to Yellowstone.  

Our last view of the Grand Tetons!!

We listened to our Gyspy tour guide on this ride and it was very helpful in letting us know interesting places to stop.  The first views we had in Yellowstone were of a canyon with a river at the bottom.  This river was the upper Snake River.  

Our first official stop in the park was at West Thumb Geyer Basin.  This was our first view of geysers and hot springs...but definitely not our last!  There were boardwalks around all the geysers because the ground around the geysers is very thin and if too many people walked on it, it could break and you could fall in.  

Bluebell Pool

The geysers were right beside and some in the Yellowstone Lake 

The hot water drained into the lake and bacteria made the colors 

The springs were inviting looking, even though they were deadly!

King Geyser

This was named the Fishing Cone.  In the past, fishermen would fish near the geyser.  When they caught a fish, they would drop it in the spring and cook it while it was still on the string.  What a great idea!  

Black Pool

Abyss Pool

After looking at all the geysers around Thumb Geyser, we headed to see the main attraction of the park...Old Faithful!  We timed our arrival just right in order to only have to wait about 20 minutes before we saw the geyser erupt.  My video lasted almost 4 minutes!

Old Faithful

There were many other geysers around Old Faithful and we walked to see some of them, but none of them erupted even though we waited for one.  We also saw two bison very close....well probably too close.  

Blue Star Spring

We had lots of questions about how many animals broke through the geysers...it looked like they were able to walk near them without breaking through

Crested Pool

Lots of steam everywhere!

More bison...this one walked up to the lodge parking lot

The inside of the Old Faithful Inn

After exploring the Old Faithful area, and Dave getting his fishing license, we were able to see Old Faithful erupt one more time.  We then left the area, ate lunch in the car, and stopped at the river near the Midway Geyser Basin.  Dave got his fishing gear together while Amy walked around the boardwalk to see the Grand Prismatic Spring.  (We had wanted to take the hike to see the spring from above, but had run out of time for that length of a hike.)

Grand Prismatic Spring

Animal tracks on the spring

Excelsior Geyser Crater

The spring's hot water hitting the Firehole River

Dave decided not to fish at this part of the river because they did not allow wading.  So we drove further down the river to a section off Fountain Creek Dr.  He fished and I explored.  I found two other springs and saw more bison....and baby bison!

A boiling spring beside the lake.  Although Dave wasn't near this one, he did say that when he was wading, several times he stepped and the ground gave and warm water came up.

The bison grazing on the hill with their babies

Ojo Caliente Spring

 Dave didn't catch any fish in this area, so we left to find another place to fish.  We went to a place called Firehole Falls.  He ended  up not fishing there, but the falls were beautiful!

We were now tired and hungry and ready to reach Gardiner, which was still an hour away.  So we decided to drive and not stop anymore....well that was the plan!

We had to stop at Gibbon Falls!

We also had to stop at Roaring Mountain with the steam coming right out the mountain!

That was our last stop where we got out, but we still saw more fantastic scenery!

We finally reached Gardiner, Montana and the Roosevelt Hotel.  It was super nice and we had our own separate room!  

Gardiner is very small and there were few dinner options.  We ended up eating at Cowboys Lodge and Grill and then stopping for donuts at the grocery store on the way back to the room.  It was nice to be able to walk to dinner and stay out of the car.  

Definitely a good room to get some rest and get ready for whitewater rafting in the morning!!