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Our second trip of the summer had been in planning phase for over a year. We had a condo reserved for Ellen and family at Big Sky, Mt., while we were staying in a motel in West Yellowstone. Of course, touring Yellowstone National Park was the prime objective, which we did well - many pictures were taken; Harry took about 140, while Ellen reports they took over 500.
Our route to West Yellowstone took us by the famous Chimney Rock in Ne.; and passed the Little Big Horn battlefield, which was several miles off the road, so we didn't take time to visit it this trip.
As scheduled, we all arrived on a Saturday, got settled in rather late, but managed to map out our plan for seeing the park. After church services and lunch Sunday, all eight of us in two suburbans headed into the Park via the west gate - even at mid-afternoon the waiting line at the park gate was almost unbelievable. This first day we headed south to the Old Faithful area with numerous stops both going and coming to view geysers, mud / paint pots and wildlife. The bison have nearly taken over, and of course, when they take to the road traffic snarls result. Old Faithful performed as scheduled and was a grand sight. A tour of the famous Old Faithful Lodge was also enjoyed by one and all, even found their snack bar for an ice cream cone. Seeing the old fashion, open top tour bus that is still in use parked at the lodge entrance was interesting.
Monday we entered the park in late morning, again waiting in line for at least five minutes to get processed through the gate. Going north this time, we drove up to Gardener, just passed the Northgate, for lunch. Returning to the park after lunch, we stopped at the Park Headquarters to visit the museum and history exhibits. Then it was on to Mammoth Hot Springs area which is less than a mile from the Park Headquarters. The elk herd in this area is large and often visible. Unlike the bison, the elk don't often venture onto the road to cause traffic snarls, just cause cars to be parked any and every where to allow picture taking. I consider the Mammoth Hot Springs to be one of the prettiest areas in the park. Heading on back toward the west gate, we toured the Norris Geyser Basin to see the many geysers and geyser pools - as I am sure you know, geyser activity is the big attraction in Yellowstone.
On Tuesday, we again entered the park about mid-morning and proceeded east across the park to Canyon Village, where we visited the visitors center for more history and scientific exhibits before having lunch in the village buffet. The afternoon was spent viewing water falls, with the upper and lower Yellowstone Falls first on the agenda. The view of the Falls and the Yellowstone Canyon from Artist Point is beyond what words can describe. This was a cool, rainy afternoon, but even so the views of the Canyon were outstanding. Going north from Canyon Village, you cross Dunraven Pass, which is over 8,800 feet high - banks of snow with marks of the work done to open the road for summer visitors was highly visible even on July 1st. Our next stop was Tower Falls - another of the many beautiful water falls in Yellowstone. Continuing on around the north loop road, we stopped to view the petrified tree along the way to the Mammoth Hot Springs area. A bear cub well off the road in a grassy field near the edge of a wooded area had the road blocked by cars stopped for picture taking. Since it was getting on toward dinner time, we didn't make many more stops, but proceeded on to West Yellowstone and the first available cafe.
Willardene and I started our return trip to Kansas on Wednesday morning. Ellen and family continued their daily ventures into the park thru Friday. Having changed our homeward bound route, we made a stop in Idaho Falls to visit the World of the Pharoahs exhibit at the Museum of Idaho. After overnight stops in Pocatello and Cheyenne, we arrived home on July 4th in time to enjoy the fireworks display at Johnny Eades'.
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previous trip page - click here