Yellowstone National Park

After spending the night in Driggs, ID, to the west of the park, we set off to see Yellowstone. You could classify this day as "adventures with Betty" (that would be Bitchin' Betty, our GPS). We asked for the shortest route to the park, and she directed us to the south entrance. Early in the trip, we ended up on a dirt road. This was not unusual, we have been on dirt roads with Betty in the past, usually as a short cut to another road. Well, this was a shortcut- to another unpaved road- 32 miles (that's right, I didn't forget a decimal point) of dirt road and about 2 1/2 hours later, we were in the park!

Yellowstone is huge- 2 1/2 million acres of some of the most diverse topography anyone has ever seen. If Theodore Roosevelt was about the animals, Teton about the mountains, than Yellowstone is about the earth's continued thermal activity. We spent our first 1/2 day (thanks to Betty) at the location of Old Faithful, the geyser that goes off every 90 minutes or so. We were there for the eruption, but that was really the least of the sites at that location. We walked around the boardwalk, viewing some of the weirdest and most beautiful sites, accompanied by the constant smell of sulphur. There were several other geysers, one of which erupted and continued to erupt for over an hour. There were pools of the most beautiful blue coloring, and those that were rusty brown in appearance. Apparently, the color varies according to which type of bacteria thrive in that location, and that depends on temperature. It was all pretty amazing.

We spent the remainder of the day driving on part of the Grand Loop road (it is 142 miles in total), stopping at many of the overlooks to take in the view. We planned to return the next day, starting at the Mammoth Springs location. We were spending the night in Gardiner, just outside the North Entrance- Betty managed to take us right there.

The next morning, we were in the park early, on our way to Mammoth Springs, which truly are mammoth! As we drove through the little village (Yellowstone is set up with several different villages in the park that provide visitor services, including visitor information, restaurants, and small stores) just prior to the springs, we were surprised to see a whole herd of elk just wandering through the village. Everyone was gathered around taking photos, so we joined in. Some of the fawns still had their spots. They didn't seem too nervous, but guess they are big enough to protect themselves if anyone gets too close.

Mammoth Springs was truly amazing. We spent about 1 1/2 hours walking around the area, taking multiple pictures of all the strange and beautiful formations. You really could take a photo around every corner! We then took the eastern side of the Grand Loop highway and were surprised at how different this side of the park was from the other side. There was much more elevation as we headed for the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. When we reached the Canyon, we decided to take a short hike along the Canyon Rim trail. In looking into the canyon at the turquoise blue river and the yellow,red, black, pink colored walls, we could truly understand why early visitors to the area were considered liars when they returned East! It was a beautiful and other-worldly scene!

We returned to Gardiner, stopping to see waterfalls we had missed on the way out. Dale decided this was his favorite park. I think for me, it is still a tie between Tetons and Theodore Roosevelt...

Travelers warning- bring a picnic lunch. Yellowstone has lots of beautiful picnic spots, and the food available for purchase in the park is fair to poor, and way overpriced!