The wildlife count has kept climbing, though at this point we are still looking for a bear and a moose. When I got out of the camper in the morning, I found this snowshoe hare. The photo doesn’t do his size justice – he was huge. He’s in his summer grays now, though his feet are still white from the winter. Or maybe the feet stay white always. I don’t know…who do you think I am, Jack Hanna?
We moved out and headed north again, past the Mud Volcano and through the valley, where there’s limitless bison and numerous elk. Remember boys and girls…
And you know how well people listen to directions, right?
This is the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, viewed from Artist’s Point. There is a lower falls and an upper falls. This is one of them.
Here’s one of the park’s vintage tour buses in classic yellow.
Throughout our travels, we’ve seen many of our rival Cruise America RVs. I have wanted to catch someone and ask how their rental experience has been. At one turnout, we pulled behind these people. “So how’s your trip going?”
Suckers.
Anyway, we are still missing bear and moose on our wildlife list. Wait, don’t move!
Near canyon junction there was yet another falls. This is a pretty nice place. They did the right thing making this a park.
You say “expensive souvenir hats”. I say “photo props”. OK, now put them back, kids.
Past canyon junction we ran into what they call a “bear jam”. We had a hard time finding a place for our land whale, so we passed up the bear and parked a bit down the road. We walked back and were treated to a mother bear and her cub (which she put into a tree).
The bear got too close to the road and the rangers made everyone get back into their car. Since the bear was moving between us and our RV, the ranger called and we actually piled into another ranger’s vehicle to drive past her.
OK, so cross bear off the list. I was told later that the moose was not real. Still looking for moose. We continued on to Mammoth Hot Springs.
A long boardwalk winds around and ends at the fabulous summit of the springs. My daughter barely made it, and we had to tell her that there was candy at the top so she wouldn’t collapse. We we knew that the amazing springs would make her forget all about her pain.
Hmmm, there seems to something a bit…umm…off about these springs…something missing maybe…
Though you’ll see that I’m modeling my Kuhl Liberator Convertible pants. The Liberator Convertible has a mountain-town style that slyly masks the two-in-one design. Mobility-enhancing spandex strips mimic the zipper lines, so they stand out less, and small slots swallow the zipper pulls. A worthy winner of Backpacker Magazine’s 2012 Editor’s Choice Award.
This a really nice looking post office for a place that only moves postcards.
We figured that since we were so close to the border, we might as well cross into Montana.
This is the Roosevelt Arch at the north end of the park. It was the original gateway to Yellowstone.
And we were glad we did go north, because let me tell you, Montana…knows how to party.
The Roosevelt Arch is no longer the actual entrance to the park. That’s a bit down the road.
But wonders never cease and this is the actual 45th parallel. No lie.
More elk.
As we passed Mammoth Hot Springs again, we took a straw poll to see if we should stop again. Mammoth barely lost out, 4-0. It was starting to get darker as we continued on. Lots of bison, still no moose. Norris Geyser was the next stop. We pulled in as it appeared that pretty much no one was left. We passed an Australian couple who said that it “looks like hell in there!” In a good way.
Norris is where you can find Steamboat Geyser, the world’s tallest. Let’s check it out.
So in other words, it’s due. We watched for a bit, it was making noise…who knows how many years we might need to stand here. Plus, it was getting quite dark and we forgot the bear spray again. Moving on, this is at the head of the main basin. It seems to erupt constantly. Or what the geyser sign makers call, “lame”.
Crossing from Norris toward Canyon, there was evidence of a massive fire. In fact, on our whole trip there’s been nothing but evidence of fire. After it became almost pitch black, we came upon a load of bison on the road. Dark bison, dark road…and they really don’t care to move. Once again, by the time we return to camp, the rear passengers are out cold. Another benefit of the RV is that you can just sling sleeping kids around, instead of juggling them and luggage into a hotel.
RV Adventures to the National Parks – Day 8: Midway Geyser Basin, Yellowstone NP to Grand Teton NP