Yellowstone to the Tetons, 10 minutes apart

In Bozeman,, Montana we stayed in a La Quinta Motel with a pool that I usually use no matter how late we arrive, but this night I collapsed at midnight.

July 14th:  Up for our one and a half hour drive down Route 89 to the north entrance of Yellowstone.  Lying before us was the Yellowstone River Valley.  Prosperous ranches lay on both sides of the river nestled at the foot hills of towering steep mountains.  The swift river ran thru the grass, cattle and horses sprinkled through the green pastures.

Before entering the park we stopped at the visitors Center where we found a useful book:  Yellowstone in a Day, and the guide there suggested the must-sees:  lunch away from crowds overlooking vast wildflower covered meadows with glades of trees, boulder outcrops surrounded by Rocky Mountains, then the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, Yellowstone Lake and Old Faithful.   With the 17% increase in attendance the ranger said "pack your patience" and we remembered her words as we waited in the long line of cars entering the park. 

 Parking at each crowded scenic overlook was the biggest difficulty.   One elk we saw laying down in the woods, his antlers stuck up between a fallen tree with its branches camouflaging the Elk's antlers.

The mountains are on both sides of the river that rushes out of Yellowstone Park.  I had to stop and stand next to the river just to feel the air and grandeur.  How small we are in the midst of all of this.


Looking up the hill during our little lunch.

Looking up the hill during lunch.

And looking down the hill at the wildflowers.

The waterfall at the Grand Canton of Yellowstone.  The distinctive features were the mineral stairs of yellow, red, pink, white made by the hot springs and geysers.   The steam comes out at the shores of the river and the canyon.  The geothermal origins are from deep fissures leading up to geysers, hot pools, mud cauldrons, hot springs that we see at the surface.  The rhyolites are what we see and the stinking sulfur is what we smell.  The park is known for its Grizzly and Black bears though we didn't see any. Three times people said, "Oh, you just missed a bear."  "Oh, the bison just went into the woods." 

Path to the lake

Mineral pools.  bubbling mud pools and colored rocks and waters from all of the unusual minerals in the area.  See the orange in the background, the turquoise in the pool.

We arrived with the crowds.

 Hundreds of people started sitting about an hour before Old Faithful was to go off.

 It shot out for about 5 minutes and reached maybe 60 feet high.  They had a sign saying it would go off at 5:18 and it went at 5:10 so they are pretty accurate.

We left the park with the other hundreds, but fortunately fewer cars were going our way as we drove south toward the Tetons.  What a greeting those Tetons gave as we rounded a curve and there they stood.

We drove for Casper, WY and another La Quinta for the night.

Along the way:

A double rainbow.