Drive through Yellowstone

Our work week has gone well. The store is getting crazy at times especially at the "Geyser Rush", the time after Old Faithful goes off and people come to the store to shop. From our window behind the cash register we can turn around and see the geyser erupt and watch the wave of people making the exodus toward us. Here we are early Friday before the store opened. We have the option of wearing the apron. I do because I need pockets to put my "stuff."

One evening last week we heard lots of people talking outside and realized that some bison were wondering through the camping area. I got this shot when one was across the street. That is NOT Dan by our car. We stayed inside when they were close to our RV.

Since Saturday was a beautiful day we decided to go out and explore the park. As we headed north from Old Faithful area toward Madison we encountered our first group of bull elks grazing by the roadside. Their racks were quite large.



Traveling northeast of Madison to Norris we followed the Gibbon River past Gibbon Falls. We didn't stop there because we hope to hike that area. From Norris we went east toward Canyon Village making a stop at Virginia Cascade. We aren't sure what the difference between a cascade and waterfall is but this cascade was on a slope rather that straight down like most of the falls that we have seen. It was a peaceful and beautiful to see the water rushing down.

We drove to the top of it and got another view that was quite lovely. The scenery along the highway has a way of changing as you drive along. Here is one view.

And here is another.



North of Canyon Village (we'll need a whole day to explore that area) we stopped at Tower Fall. We could walk to it, but we couldn't walk down to the base because the trail was closed due to unsafe conditions. I was a little underwhelmed!

 Just north of Tower Fall we stopped at Roosevelt Lodge which is the cowboy country of Yellowstone. It was one of Teddy Roosevelt's favorite spots in the park. It's main focus is horseback riding and covered wagon rides. We got to see some folks heading out on the trail. (Remember you can click to enlarge a picture.)





We traveled east past the Lamar Valley which we heard is noted for wolf, bear, moose, and bison sightings. What we failed to remember is that the best time to see them is dawn and dusk. So all we saw was lots and lots of bison. The bison population was down to less that 50 in the early 1900's but now is up to between 3,000 and 4,000. They are what we see most often. Even though we didn't see the animals we were thrilled with the scenery.

We decided to exit the park at the northest corner and go to Cooke City which is about 4 miles outside of the park. The population is 300 in the summer and 80 in the winter. It reminded us of a small version of Talkeetna, the Alaskan town we often visited last summer. We were thrilled to find a Steeler Bar there although not much was happening that afternoon.



There was a visitor center, general store, several gas stations, places to stay and eat. We walked around town which didn't take long. We liked the Trading Post in front of the mountains.

On the way back home we enjoyed the changes in scenery through the mountains and along the Yellowstone Lake. I didn't take any pictures, just sat back and relaxed with the gorgeous view. In several areas we saw the results of fire. Many of the burnt trees still stand and new growth fills in underneath.

We drove about 200 miles round trip. This is a BIG park. We are glad that we have the time to explore at our leasure.

On Sunday Scott & Kathy with Tigger, friends from PA, stopped to see us and Old Faithful. They are camping around the country with a stuffed tiger who we protected from the wild animals of Yellowstone. It was great to spend the day with them. Tigger got a little hot as the temperature hit the low 80's.

Our work schedule has remained the same so we have next weekend off. We're thinking about going to Cody, WY. It's hard to believe that we have been here over a month and that next Sunday begins July.