Our Trip to Yellowstone NP

[Oakman]

Of the animals in Yellowstone, Bison are the easiest to find. If you take a drive through Hayden Valley you will probably see quite a few of the herds of Bison.



We also discovered that hiking in that area of the park can bring you in close quarters with the Bison. On a hike along the Pelican Creek Nature Trail a small herd of Bison caught us by surprise and momentarily blocked the trail. We literally froze in our tracks. They had come up from the creek and crossed the trail a scant forty feet in front us. Bison can be surprisingly quiet moving through the forest. Those animals look even larger when you’re not in the safety of your vehicle, especially when a bull stops to stare you down.



That same day we were walking across Fishing Bridge over the Yellowstone River and suddenly found our path cut off when Bison came out of the woods and decided to cross the bridge. It was thrilling (spine-tingling) to have the herd pass within an arm’s reach of us.





By the time the herd had crossed Fishing Bridge and moved off the road, traffic was solidly backed up.

[f150k]

We enjoy both the Tetons and Yellowstone. Since 2008 we have been going out each fall around the last of Sept- 1st of Oct, great time to photograph wildlife. This year was the year of the Grizzly's saw 8. The campground we have used is Madison, it is one of the few still open which takes reservations, also have stayed in West Yellowstone at Grizzly RV. Not sure how many more times we will use Madison, great campground but no services and my age is not liking the morning camper being around 30 degrees. Also the wife likes her wifi, so may have to look at West Yellowstone or Gradiner next year. All in all it is great place to be, someone said what if it blows. My answer, I hope I can be sitting in my recliner, tapping a beer and enjoying the show, what a way to go.

[Oakman]

Some hints if you visit Yellowstone NP.

Visit the geyser basins in the afternoon when the air temperature is warmer. On a cool morning the pools and geysers produce a lot of steam making viewing less than ideal. Use the morning to see the animals, visit waterfalls, or go hiking.

Here are two views looking toward the Midway Geyser Basin. This photo was taken on a warm sunny afternoon.


This photo of the same area was taken on a chilly morning.


Speaking of hiking, there are quite a few short hikes you can take that will get away from the crowds and allow you to enjoy the beauty of nature.

On a hike to Mystic Falls.


Expect to find yourself in a traffic jam caused by animals. Just relax and have your spouse ready with the camera so you can take a photo of the animals that are causing the jam. It’s going to happen, and probably more than once.


Plan to eat lunch and dinner in the park. There are restaurants in the park or you can pack a lunch and dinner in a cooler. Some days we would eat at restaurants and other days we would pack a lunch and dinner to enjoy at one of the many picnic areas.

Yeah yeah I know, don’t feed the animals. I just can’t say no to cute little beggars.

[Oakman]

Some pictures of my favorite hot pools and springs that we visited on this trip.

Sapphire Pool at the Biscuit Basin.


Emerald Pool at the Black Sand Basin.


Firehole Spring on Firehole Lake Drive.


Abyss Pool at the West Thumb Geyser Basin.


Chromatic Pool at the Upper Geyser Basin.

[Oakman]

Here are some pictures of the geyser eruptions we witnessed during this visit to Yellowstone. The one geyser that I definitely wanted to see during our visit was Riverside Geyser in the Upper Geyser Basin. We had to wait longer than I expected for the eruption but it was worth the wait.


The most impressive geyser we watched was Grand Geyser. My photo doesn’t come close to doing justice to this geyser. The water was shooting very high into the area and the amount of water it produced was amazing and very, very hot.


Also in the upper basin we were treated to an eruption by Castle Geyser. Castle only goes off every 10 to 12 hours so seeing this one erupt was a real bonus.


One of the more interesting geysers was Cliff Geyser in the Biscuit Basin. Rather than sending up a continuous stream of water this geyser pulses. When the eruption begins the cone looks empty, with each pulse the water level rises in the cone until the water is overflowing into the river.


This last photo is of Penta Geyser. Not very impressive but for some reason it really attracted the attention of the members of the Geyser Gazers organization.

[Blackrock]

My new bride and I on our honeymoon at Indian Paint Pots a year ago this past June.

[bobcrowder]

We took our first trip to Yellowstone this past summer. We plan to go back someday, but it's so far away (1800 miles). We saw all of the main attractions in our 3 days there, so next time; maybe we can get off the beaten path a little more. We really enjoyed the ranger led boat tour of Lake Yellowstone, and the Stage coach tour. We missed Steamboat geyser's eruption by 1 day. It last erupted 8 years ago. We stayed at Yellowstone Valley Inn camp ground. It was 25 miles from the east entrance, but it allowed us to spend some time in Cody. Being so far from home we wanted to do as much as we could. The week before was spent
in the Black hills. We absolutely loved that too.

[GalsofEscape]

We went two years ago and I am so wanting to go back. As we had only a few days in Yellowstone, we could only hit the high points and were not able to do some of the hiking trails. We had only two weeks to travel from Maryland, see the Badlands, Mt. Rushmore, Yellowstone and Grand Teton and then get back. What a trip - and some 800 pictures to sort through......

One of my favorites - a blue bird at the nest (both adults were there).


Buffalo "stampede" - we had them on both sides of the car - (well the ranger got them moving along as they were really poking along at first)

[Oakman]

Wow, great photos GalsofEscape. Thanks for sharing them.

[Iggy]

I found this rock in the middle of the road while in Yellowstone National Park.
Can anyone tell me what type it is?
Thanks......

[GalsofEscape]

Thanks oakman. I have enjoyed your pictures as well. The animals and scenery are really spectacular and as I said, would love to go back for a less hurried trip. It really is worth taking the time.

[Oakman]

Originally Posted by Iggy

I found this rock in the middle of the road while in Yellowstone National Park.
Can anyone tell me what type it is?
Thanks......

Oh YUK! Once they dry out you can use them to make a good campfire.

[Oakman]

BTW in case anyone is wondering, Iggy’s photo is that of a Buffalo chip.

On the other hand, it’s time to take the safety off of your bear spray canister when you come across a recently deposited pile like this while hiking.

[Oakman]

I think I’ve covered the major highlights of our trip to Yellowstone with the exception of the one thing that “made” the trip for me. This happened on the first day of our trip back to MO. We were driving over the Togwotee Pass on Hwy 26/287 in the Teton National Forest when we spotted three Grizzly bears in a field alongside the road. Fortunately there was enough shoulder on the road to pull over so I could take a few photos. We were able to observe the bears for at least five minutes before they disappeared into the forest.

[torben]

Great pictures, did you get my PM?

[Oakman]

Originally Posted by torben

Great pictures, did you get my PM?

Thank you for the compliment Torben.

[Oakman]

I was reading F.R.O.G.’s excellent Facebook post about the Yellowstone rally and it reminded me of our own “small world” occurrence in Yellowstone. We had hiked to Mystic Falls from the Biscuit Basin and when we arrived we had the falls to ourselves. While I was clamoring around on the rocks trying to get better photos of the falls, another couple showed up and struck up a conversation with Joyce. It turned out this couple lives in Crystal City, MO, not more than 15 miles from our house. Incredible, 1400 miles from home, a mile and a half into the wilderness, and the only other couple at Mystic Falls resides in the same county we do. Now that’s a “small world” encounter.

Here’s a picture of Mystic Falls. This 70 foot water fall is unique because of the thermal activity all along the cascade. In the photo you can see the steam near the top of the falls.

[Oakman]

Well I thought I'd give this a try. I put together some edited video clips of three geysers in Yellowstone NP, Grand Geyser, Riverside Geyser, and Old Faithful. I'm not sure if the mp4 video file will display or not.

[kayo]

Great pictures. If anyone comes out next year, stop in at Canyon Visitor Center and look me up. I have been a seasonal Park Ranger at Yellowstone for the past eight summers

[Oakman]

Originally Posted by kayo

Great pictures. If anyone comes out next year, stop in at Canyon Visitor Center and look me up. I have been a seasonal Park Ranger at Yellowstone for the past eight summers

Well shoot, now ya tell me. We walked right in front of the visitors center at Canyon Village on our way to the restaurant.