We drove out of Cody, WY this morning on a road that winds through towering rock wall and "needles" that look other-worldly. Very old rock formations dating back millions of years line the road all around. The road also follows a tunnel through the canyon that is part of Buffalo Bill Dam and then enters Buffalo Bill State Park. I told you Cody is ALL about Buffalo Bill! It really was beautiful, though. We drove past lots of ranches, and saw a sign that said "Grizzly Bear Area" and another that read "Bears are dangerous - Do not approach" Ya think????
Just after 8:30 we entered Yellowstone. It was COLD!!! The entire park is above 7,000 ft, so it took a while to warm up. I had to break out a fleece jacket for the first time. Later on it warmed up and turned out to be a beautiful day. Bright blue sky, not a cloud in sight, and warm temperatures. Yellowstone is so amazing that pictures and words just can't do it justice. Every new section of the park we entered was more beautiful than the one before. I wish you all could experience it!
Almost as soon as we entered the park we saw a lot of cars pulled over at the side of the road. This usually means there is some sort of wildlife in sight, so we pulled over, of course. Imagine our amazement to see that all the excitement was a Grizzly Bear! He was just munching away off the side of the road. There were a couple of rangers keeping watch, and they kept people in line. Plus, they had guns! So when Rick got within about 30 feet of the bear to take pictures I felt a little better. It was a bit scary, but so exciting at the same time. What a welcome to the park! Yellowstone really is amazing. We drove to the Old Faithful area, and even though we didn't see it erupt it was fabulous. There are so many thermal hot springs to see it kept us busy for quite some time. There are boardwalks and walkways that go on forever, and there are signs everywhere telling you to stay on them because the ground everywhere is so hot. The geysers are just beyond description. They bubble up unpredictably, there are so many different colors with pools streaming water, and the sulfur smell is beyond description. Rick's comment was "I ain't ever seen nothing like that before". That about sums it up! There are so many thermal events in the park tha
t when driving along, all of a sudden you will see great streams of steam off in the distance. We stopped for lunch along one of the many look-outs that line the roads, and it was the perfect place to have a picnic. Can you see the steam from one of the geysers off behind us? After lunch we continued on toward the North Gate of the park. We learned so much about the park today! There were wildfires in the park in 1988 that burned acre upon acre, and there are whole sections where you can still see evidence of the fires. There are charred trees along with new growth among them that, according to signs, is "natural reseeding by wildfire". We also learned that the park was once part of a volcano that erupted 640,000 years ago! Apparently another eruption is imminent and could happen at any time! I'm glad it didn't happen today. As we drove through the park we kept coming upon Bison (or Buffalo) just meandering along in the road. It's so bizarre! They don't even acknowledge that you're there...they just stroll along as if they didn't have a care in the world! There are some absolutely frightening roads in the park! In so
me places there is very little between you and many, many feet below but a simple guard rail! We kept seeing big RV's and trailers, but I don't think I'd want to drive one on some of the curves we came up on. This picture shows one of the more hairy parts of the road...it seemed to just hang out over the edge! It's pretty stressful driving, but at the same time it's exciting. I'm not sure Rick would agree, but that's my take on it. Of course, today I wasn't driving...I might feel differently otherwise! As we came closer to the North Gate area, we went through Mammoth Hot Springs. It's another thermal area that is very different than Old Faithful. Mammoth is a terraced hot spring, and looks like steps. It's also very wintry-looking...like huge mounds of snow and water, but with steam coming out. Very strange...very beautiful. As we headed toward the exit of the park we saw a whole herd of Elk just hanging around in the park by the hotel! It was the like the icing on the cake! So beautif
ul. Rick swung the car around so he could take a picture of one of the bucks with huge antlers. When he got close enough to shoot a picture he got "spoken to" by one of the park rangers for getting too close. But he got the shot, so it's all good! At that point it was time to head for the highway and get to our hotel for the night. We're in Bozeman, MT, about an hour from Yellowstone. We were in MT within about 10 minutes, and it is just breathtaking! There are ranches everywhere that are so beautiful, and just what you would picture Montana looking like. It was another amazing day. Tomorrow we will drive into Idaho, stay the night and head on to Seattle. That's at the top of my list of places to see, so I'm very excited!
We drove out of Cody, WY this morning on a road that winds through towering rock wall and "needles" that look other-worldly. Very old rock formations dating back millions of years line the road all around. The road also follows a tunnel through the canyon that is part of Buffalo Bill Dam and then enters Buffalo Bill State Park. I told you Cody is ALL about Buffalo Bill! It really was beautiful, though. We drove past lots of ranches, and saw a sign that said "Grizzly Bear Area" and another that read "Bears are dangerous - Do not approach" Ya think????
Just after 8:30 we entered Yellowstone. It was COLD!!! The entire park is above 7,000 ft, so it took a while to warm up. I had to break out a fleece jacket for the first time. Later on it warmed up and turned out to be a beautiful day. Bright blue sky, not a cloud in sight, and warm temperatures. Yellowstone is so amazing that pictures and words just can't do it justice. Every new section of the park we entered was more beautiful than the one before. I wish you all could experience it!
Almost as soon as we entered the park we saw a lot of cars pulled over at the side of the road. This usually means there is some sort of wildlife in sight, so we pulled over, of course. Imagine our amazement to see that all the excitement was a Grizzly Bear! He was just munching away off the side of the road. There were a couple of rangers keeping watch, and they kept people in line. Plus, they had guns! So when Rick got within about 30 feet of the bear to take pictures I felt a little better. It was a bit scary, but so exciting at the same time. What a welcome to the park! Yellowstone really is amazing. We drove to the Old Faithful area, and even though we didn't see it erupt it was fabulous. There are so many thermal hot springs to see it kept us busy for quite some time. There are boardwalks and walkways that go on forever, and there are signs everywhere telling you to stay on them because the ground everywhere is so hot. The geysers are just beyond description. They bubble up unpredictably, there are so many different colors with pools streaming water, and the sulfur smell is beyond description. Rick's comment was "I ain't ever seen nothing like that before". That about sums it up! There are so many thermal events in the park tha
t when driving along, all of a sudden you will see great streams of steam off in the distance. We stopped for lunch along one of the many look-outs that line the roads, and it was the perfect place to have a picnic. Can you see the steam from one of the geysers off behind us? After lunch we continued on toward the North Gate of the park. We learned so much about the park today! There were wildfires in the park in 1988 that burned acre upon acre, and there are whole sections where you can still see evidence of the fires. There are charred trees along with new growth among them that, according to signs, is "natural reseeding by wildfire". We also learned that the park was once part of a volcano that erupted 640,000 years ago! Apparently another eruption is imminent and could happen at any time! I'm glad it didn't happen today. As we drove through the park we kept coming upon Bison (or Buffalo) just meandering along in the road. It's so bizarre! They don't even acknowledge that you're there...they just stroll along as if they didn't have a care in the world! There are some absolutely frightening roads in the park! In so
me places there is very little between you and many, many feet below but a simple guard rail! We kept seeing big RV's and trailers, but I don't think I'd want to drive one on some of the curves we came up on. This picture shows one of the more hairy parts of the road...it seemed to just hang out over the edge! It's pretty stressful driving, but at the same time it's exciting. I'm not sure Rick would agree, but that's my take on it. Of course, today I wasn't driving...I might feel differently otherwise! As we came closer to the North Gate area, we went through Mammoth Hot Springs. It's another thermal area that is very different than Old Faithful. Mammoth is a terraced hot spring, and looks like steps. It's also very wintry-looking...like huge mounds of snow and water, but with steam coming out. Very strange...very beautiful. As we headed toward the exit of the park we saw a whole herd of Elk just hanging around in the park by the hotel! It was the like the icing on the cake! So beautif
ul. Rick swung the car around so he could take a picture of one of the bucks with huge antlers. When he got close enough to shoot a picture he got "spoken to" by one of the park rangers for getting too close. But he got the shot, so it's all good! At that point it was time to head for the highway and get to our hotel for the night. We're in Bozeman, MT, about an hour from Yellowstone. We were in MT within about 10 minutes, and it is just breathtaking! There are ranches everywhere that are so beautiful, and just what you would picture Montana looking like. It was another amazing day. Tomorrow we will drive into Idaho, stay the night and head on to Seattle. That's at the top of my list of places to see, so I'm very excited! 
Dad must be loving all of the wild life you keep encountering! Can't wait to hear all about Seattle!
ReplyDeleteLooks fabulous. If you go through Missoula, MT that is where Kevin lived for awhile and loved the area. Enjoy Seattle, say hi to Kev's friend Meg. Try to get some rest too, Cheryl
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