Yellowstone NP (5/27 - 6/1)

It's time to catch up on what we have been doing the past ten days. We left Jackson, Wyoming on Tuesday 5/27 and drove through Teton NP and into the southern part of Yellowstone NP. We continued to see buffalo and other wildlife as we drove north. We were really surprised at the amount of snow we encountered as we entered the southern part of Yellowstone (See pics). Our campground was in a town on the western side of the park, just over the Wyoming line in Montana, West Yellowstone. It is a very nice town and the campground (Yellowstone Grizzly RV Park) is the nicest one we have been in yet.

The weather during our five days in Yellowstone was not the best but we did get to see a lot of wildlife and experience the very unique geothermal aspects of America's first National Park. There are buffalo and elk everywhere ,and many of the people we met saw grizzly bears. We were not that lucky. We were in the park almost every day and still only had the opportunity to explore about 35% of the park.

We had met a couple from Florida when we were in Salt Lake; and by some quirk of fate they were in the site beside us at three different campgrounds. Chip and Barbara were heading our way until they decided they had had enough of the cold, rainy weather. After Yellowstone, they headed west to explore the Pacific Northwest.

Chip and I did get a chance to hire a guide to teach us fly fishing. He took us into the park along the Firehole River. We were taught the basics of fly fishing, step by step, and then we fished while he helped us with all the snags and tangles we had as neophytes. It is really a cool way to fish and the guide, Andrew, was a very good teacher. Since he had grown up in this area, he knew a lot about the park, the wildlife, the woods, and of course the fishing. We had a great time and I can definitely see myself getting into this sport.

We really enjoyed our time with Chip and Barbara and hope to cross paths with them again. We also met two other couples, Mel and Rebecca and Len and Marianne. They were both on their way to Alaska and were really enjoying their time on the road.

Yellowstone NP covers 2.2 million acres. Even though we only got to see about 35%, we did get to see many beautiful and interesting places. The park is above an active volcano and someday it will blow again. The geothermal features of the park are a result of the volcano. We saw geysers, mud pots, hot springs, fumaroles and all kinds of weird stuff. Our wait for Old Faithful was in the rain and really not a great view as a result of the clouds.

Our favorite place was in what is called The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. It is near the Canyon Village section of the park and has a beautiful waterfall and multicolor canyon that takes your breath away. I only wish we could capture the beauty we have seen on the pictures. It just isn't possible. I will post as many pictures as I can. Be sure to click on them to enlarge them.

We left Yellowstone on 6/1 and drove through much of western Montana to the western side of Glacier NP. More on that in the next written post. Yellowstone was rainy and cold for us, but a fantastic spot. A definite must on the NP tour.

Life is Great!!

Bill and Eileen