It’s difficult to over state the magnificence of this park: snow patched mountains, beautiful views, waterfalls, wild life, a picturesque mountain lake, historic lodges one of which had a daily string quartet playing in the lobby, and of course the thermal features….hot springs, geysers, mud pots and fumaroles. We spent 6/25, 26 and 27 seeing the unique features of the park….
6/25 Buiscut basin, excelsior geyser, grand prismatic springs, fountain paint pot, Fairy falls vs grand prismatic overlook, Peggy and I went to the the former, Will and co. to the latter (miscommunication).
6/26 We went to Mammoth hot springs, a long drive. Yellowstone is bigger than Rhode Island and Delaware put together. Grant Village CG is slightly south of Yellowstone’s center and Mammoth Hot Springs is at the north edge, the drive is 2 hrs. – when you don’t stop along the way. Will, Colleen and Noel went through Hayden Valley, we went with Anne Kash along the Gibbon river, the western route. We met up at Mammoth HS which is just 4 miles from the Gardiner, Montana. After walking around Mammoth we gave AK to W and C and they set out for the chuck wagon cookout at Roosevelt Corral, we headed for restaurants in Gardiner, had a good meal at Wonderland Cafe, then loaded up some groceries and headed back. The chuck wagon ride was about a mile in a wagon pulled by horses while the “shotgun” told stories about the old west. They ate steaks outside and listened to a fiddler play, then returned to the corral and started the long drive back, arrived at camp about 9:30. We had just gotten back from Gardiner minutes ahead of them.
6/27 Went to Thumb, a spot right beside Yellowstone with more thermal features. Next we all drove through Hayden valley, which perhaps should be called Yellowstone river valley, saw a grizzly bear mother with two cubs, at a safe distance, and lots of bison, it’s a beautiful drive. Here are some of the things we saw on those days….
Roses 1.0 Van Life 