Friday, June 29 -- Carrie arrived around 6 Thursday evening and the nonstop fun began.
This is our second time here but Carrie's first. This park has a little (or maybe a lot) of everything. It just gets better and better. We spent twelve hours in Yellowstone National Park today and left tired and in AWE!
We saw so much beautiful scenery. The geography changes at every turn. There's the mountains, lakes, rivers, waterfalls, forest, meadows, geysers, mud pots, aqua blue steam pools, and more.
Norris Geyser Basin.
The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.
Grand Prismatic Spring. These are the true colors, no enhancing done. GORGEOUS!
Mammoth Hot Springs
Old Faithful was right on time.
Yellowstone Lake
We had great expectations of seeing some wildlife and those expectations were exceeded by a huge margin! We saw the following wildlife:
- Bison by the thousands
- Elk by the hundreds
- Several Pronghorn
- A WOLF.....yep, a wolf.
- A Silver Fox
- A GRIZZLY BEAR with 2 cubs
- A Black Bear
- Mule Deer
- Big Horn Sheep
- Trumpeter Swans
This Black Bear was no more than 15 feet from our car.
Pronghorn
This walked in front of our car for several hundred feet.
Bison everywhere!
Wolf
The Grizzle Bears were far off in a meadow. The Ranger would not allow us to get any closer, AND we didn't want too!
There is so much to see that we just have to let the photos tell the story. To see so many more photos of this fantastic 14-hour day, click here.
Saturday, June 30 – We returned early this morning to Yellowstone to do some hiking. Yesterday was a tour marathon to see as much as possible, today is more tranquil with hiking as our goal.
We chose to hike the Slough Creek Trail.
It is rated moderate with a strenuous first 1.5 miles uphill. We were huffing and puffing a little but overall it wasn't that difficult. Actually, we were surprised on the return hike how steep it actually was. We only hiked a portion of the trail because we wanted to do several shorter hikes, as well.
This trail is a dirt road which leads way out into the wilderness. We encountered two horse-drawn wagons coming into the park for supplies.
On this trail is where we encountered the famous Anise Swallowtail Butterfly. WOW is it big and beautiful.
We then walked the Tower Falls Trail and the Wraith Falls Trail.
Tower Falls
Wraith Falls
After those hikes and a short ride to see more of the park, we stopped at a pullout for a picnic lunch. It was another delightful day weather-wise as we sat near the babbling brook and enjoyed our sandwiches and fruit.
Each time we saw a group of vehicles pulled off the side of the road, we stopped. Each time we were rewarded with another glimpse of nature.This time is was a Black Bear and a cub. We sat and watched for a long time. The cub was in a playful mood rolling around on the hill and running around mom.
We caught this guy taking a swim.
Another grooming himself.
Our daughter, Carrie, had a memorable experience here in Yellowstone. We are happy we changed our plans. We really enjoyed sharing the weekend with her.
Another day full of memories. Again, the photos must tell the story. To see so many more photos of this exciting day, click here.
Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!
