Yellowstone National Park!!Oct 14, 2011
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Welcome to Yellowstone! elevation 6,670 feet
Our first Bufallo siting in Yellowstone
Geysers in the park
| Left Sheridan Wyoming around 9am.. with a 363 mile trip ahead of us into the Rockie Mountains to West Yellowstone Montana which sits at the west entrance into Yellowstone National park... Found a campground only open until October 21st just at the park entrance which has great facilities and they've been super kind to us as their last guests of the season... got in Friday evening, walked around town and got ready for a day in Yellowstone on Saturday...Saturday we got a late start and headed over to Old Faithfull visitor center to get orientated to the Park.. Saw some great buffalo herds, a few thermal pools and a beautiful mature Male Elk walking right in front of us as we pulled over to watch the Dad and all of his herd move across the road.. Great sites for our first day.. Sunday day 2 was a day off with lots of rain.. Caught up on some laundry, spent some time exchanging our summer clothes with our winter clothess that were stored under the RV in each of our Bins..Great scene and fun finding clothes we hadn't seen in a while... After a good day of rest.. Day 3 we headed back to Old faithful knowing what to expect.. We were able to go on our hike around the Basin surrounding Old Faithful as well as finish helping Gabriel fulfill his Junior Ranger Program in the visitor center and help with the scavenger hunt... Well at 2:24pm, Old faithful just as scheduled went off and right behind we caught a very rare glimpse of both old faithful and beehive geyser going off at the same time... After a beautiful site.. we went into the visitor center and Ranger Mark was able to verify that Gabriel completed all of his requirements to become a Junior Ranger for Yellowstone Park.. He took his oath and received his badge.. Very proud moment and all cheered for him in the center!... Congratulations Junior Ranger Gabriel! After leaving Old Faithful, we took a drive over to Yellowstone Lake which is 145 miles around and as deep as 410 feet.. from the lake we took the loop north over to the Canyon but stopped in Hayden Valley when a crowd developed on the side of the road.. we pulled over to see what was the fuss about and sure enough a pack of three grizzly bears close to the road enjoying the afternoon digging in the hillside.. well our carload went crazy, I jumped out as quick as I could dropping everything on the curb, Chloe was screaming grabbing and shaking everyone yellling "Bears, Bears, Bears!!!!!!" scaring everyone.. I got a few good pics and we all had a good laugh of Chloe going crazy as usual.. From there we were running out of daylight and went over to the Canyon to check out the falls for the next day... beautiful sunset over the falls and in the canyon.. almost dark, we headed home and got there back at West Yellowstone around 7:30pm... Day 4.. Headed directly over to the Grand Canyons of Yellowstone to see the falls and were weren't disappointed.. saw the upper falls and then got to the lower falls where we took Uncle Tom's Trail which was an amazing trip down the cliffs and canyon wall down to the bottom of the Lower Falls... in the old days they would use ropes and a few rickety stairs.. Now it was much safer and the view was no disappointment.. the roar of the falls and the beauty of the canyon walls were worth the trip.. Of course the trip down had to go back up.. At 8000 foot elevation they warned us that it would be a hard trip up... We all struggled and Abby certainly had her moments of anxiety going up.. But in the end all enjoyed!! After our great workout for the day we headed to Norris Basin to visit more Geysers and Pools. weren't dissapointed.. Beautiful site and the most active areas in the park with the hottest and most actival thermal pools. After the visit to Norris we decided to head back a little earlier and get some rest for Day 5 to hunt for Moose and see the Grand Tetons... Day 5 started late after Gaby and Dad went over to the Wolf and Bear conservation center earlier in the day and were able to see some brown bears/ Grizzlies and a pack of wolves. Gabriel was very excited to see the wolves getting fed up close and we were able to actually adopt one of the wolves for a year.. Gaby picked Takoda a white wolf and had the certificate and picture sent to us... Although we couldn't take home the wolf, we at least were able to support. After mid day we took the whole gang over to the Yellowstone station at Old Faithful to get Chloe sworn in and pass her exam to become a Junior Ranger.. Success! She passed with flying colors... From there we took the South Road to see the Grand Tetons.. Alas, got a late start and was not able to make it all the way to Jackson Wyoming but was able to see the Tetons and turn around before it got too dark... Mom was getting worried that we would get stuck out in the middle of Yellowstone after dark.. Good Call as usual... Final Day 6, The girls stayed home and did some school work, while Gaby and Dad had an once in a lifetime chance to go fly fishing with an experienced guide from Arricks fly fishing shop in West Yellowstone.. Steve our guide was very experience and rowed us down the Madison River during peak trout season as they move up river to Spawn... Gaby and I got the hang of it and after a while, I actually caught a 14 inch brown trout!! Gaby got a few on the line, but very tricky to set the hook.. Saw a couple of bald eagles and some beaver dams along the way.. All in all a fantastic day out on the water fishing with my little buddy... Final night got a good's night rest as we had to leave the next day as Grizzly RV park was closing for the season and no other places to stay for we would have stayed longer enjoying all that Yellowstone had to offer...Next off to Canada with a stop in Helena the Capital of Montan |
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