We have visited Yellowstone Park on several occasions and in all seasons and it is still exciting to enter the park. We knew that we would not be disappointed by the curiosities occupying Yellowstone National Park.
This year, I discovered an app on gypsyguide.com that used GPS as we drove through the park and detailed each area. It was just like having our own private tour guide in the jeep with us. It was informative and we even learned a few things!
The weather was near perfect with sunny, clear blue skies, and temperature in the high 70’s. It was perfect weather for geyser viewing and photography. The downside to gorgeous weather…crowds! Yellowstone Park set a record this year…over three million visitors. It seemed like half of them were in the park with us!
We elected to drive past several sites and go straight to Old Faithful. We don’t consider ourselves lucky, but, on most of our visits to Old Faithful, our timing has been good. This visit was no exception. I think we only had to wait about 10 minutes before the famous geyser erupted. Again, it was magnificent! We never tire of seeing the 120 foot waterspout erupt!
The area surrounding the Old Faithful Lodge has a large concentration of geysers besides Old Faithful. On our previous visits, we never explored this area so we took advantage of the great weather and walked along the trails viewing geysers, fumeroles, hot springs and mud pots.
Since we were midway into the park, we decided to drive on to Mammoth Hot Springs, near the north entrance. The springs are terrace-like formations created by limestone deposits. We drove on the one-way upper terrace drive for 1.5 miles to view the hot springs and travertine formations.
There is a group of Elk that hang around the Mammoth area and we found them laying in the shade near the Visitor Center. We grabbed our picnic lunch and found a picnic table within viewing distance of the Elk. Only one Male and about 12 females. They seem to be used to being watched by many tourists!
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Day two in the park was just as crowded! We turned onto the Firehole Canyon Drive, a 2 mile on-way road through a canyon where the Firehole River flows. We passed the Firehole Falls and the swimming area. Yes, there were people swimming!
We stopped at the Lower Geyser Basin and walked along the boardwalk trails, passing a sizeable assortment of geysers and springs at the edge of a large barren area of deposited minerals and very little vegetation. The various geysers along the trail were medium-sized and we were lucky enough to see some of them erupt!
We enjoyed a leisurely picnic lunch along the Firehole River and then continued on to Old Faithful Lodge to do some shopping. Before we left the lodge area, we saw Old Faithful one more time!
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Our two days in Yellowstone have been so beautiful! The sky was so blue without any clouds and the temperature reached the high 70’s! The river and lake waters glistened in the sunshine and the scenery was full of color.
The pictures show the details of this very special place, called Yellowstone.