Yellowstone

It looks bad! 30 degrees and snowing. Have you ever driven a 55'+ rig in snow? Neither have I, and I don't want to do this. Fortunately it is not sticking to the road, but we are at the point of no return since everything within 100 miles is over 7,000 feet. As we enter the park the ranger station is marked 12'6" but we are 13'. Jeanne gets out to watch me remove the air conditioning unit from the roof of the trailer. However, we are watching larger RV's go under the entrance without issue. As Jeanne begins to climb the ladder a Ranger comes out and tells her that the height is really 14'6". We begin to feel better.

30 miles down the road the kids start to yell Buffalo!
This guy is close enough to reach out and touch.















Another 20 miles down the road more screaming from the back seat..."Elk, Dad, stop!"















Look closely and you can see a large Bull Elk lying in the grass in the background.

10 miles further we arrived at the Fishing Bridge RV park on Lake Yellowstone; the largest fresh water high altitude lake in North America: it looks like an ocean.

The next day we awake to sunny skies and 60 degrees. After breakfast we head towards Old Faithful for our dose of geysers. We arrive at 11:00 AM for a Ranger tour of the geyser field. The tour follows a boardwalk through a series of geysers around Old Faithful; and of coarse we watch her erupt in all of her glory.














On the way back to the trailer (Edna) we see our first Grizzly Bear.



About this time we realize that the best way to see animals is to look for the crazy tourists who stop their cars in the middle of the road, grab their cameras, and run as close as they can to get the best picture. I usually stop to watch the tourists get mauled by whatever they are trying to photograph.




Our third day remains sunny with temps in the mid-sixties. We decide to go hiking in the "Grand Canyon" of Yellowstone. It's amazing how different the scenery changes in a few miles in this park.



















Our fourth day brings rain. We decide to do the northern loop of the park and head towards Mammoth Hot Springs. By this time the Buffalo have become commonplace and we all are disappointed when that is all the cars are stopped to see.


We do get to see a mama black bear and her cub however, the 200 crazies have scared them off before I can get my picture.

Our next wildlife experience is a small group of big horn sheep (not very big ones though). Again, they are close enough to touch. Not a lot of fear in these animals.















Mammoth as a series of travertine steps that are formed from the incredible volcanic activity. The water bubbles up forming pools and the minerals create dams that the water falls over and then the process is re-created to form series of beautiful pools each one spilling into the other(s).

We decide to treat everyone to dinner at Old Faithful Lodge. This is a Historic place built in 1-season in the late 1800's. It is built of relatively small logs and rises 7 stories high (although the top 4 stories are closed due to structural integrity issues from an earthquake a couple of decades ago: doesn't instill a lot of confidence, but it's a very cool structure). After dinner we wait outside in 35 degree weather for another eruption of Old Faithful and then begin the 1-hour drive to Edna in the dark (about 9:00). They say the best wildlife viewing is dawn and dusk. We are outside of those times so I'm not expecting much; but then to the left is a huge Bull Elk with the largest rack I have ever seen. At the same time Jeanne yells "Bear" right up ahead. The Bear is long gone by the time we proceed the 30 yards, so I back up slowly to get another glimpse of the elk. He has not moved and as we roll down the window to take a picture he is just 6 feet away!

Our fifth day we awake to snow. Time to go. We pack up and head to Jackson Hole. Light flurries present no problems and we decide to bunk down at the Jackson KOA for 1-3 days and get caught up on home schooling (which is going very well for McLeod: Erik really does not want to do anything but play. Oh, to be eight years old again!). It is 7:30 PM as I finish this entry and there is 1-2" of fresh snow on the ground.

Hope all is well with all of you reading this. Please keep in touch via e-mail: jamescpaton@gmail.com

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The Paton's