Yellowstone

It was pouring rain when we woke Saturday morning. Our Harvest Host asked us to leave before 9am because they were bringing in a load of grapes from Washington and needed the parking lot cleared.

We couldn’t leave before the other guests who blocked us in, so at 730am I went out to connect the trailer to our truck inverter power, and started the truck. Generators were not permitted by the host but there was nothing stated about a vehicle inverter. Our truck runs pretty quiet but loud enough to wake someone who is parked right beside.

Whether we woke them up or they were already up, our neighbours drove out at 830am and we followed shortly after.

It continued to rain as we made our way from Billings to Livingston Montana. As we were driving Connie informed me that Jimmy Buffett’s friend (who later became his brother in law) owns a ranch in Livingston and Jimmy wrote a few songs while staying there. I think he must have written Incommunicado there, because of the lyrics:

“On the day that John Wayne died, I found myself on the Continental Divide, saying where do I go from here, maybe take a ride into Leadville and have a few beer.”

Singer and extremely talented guitar player, John Mayer also has a home in Livingston and is frequently seen at local events.

The rain stopped and we arrived in Livingston about 1045am. After a short stop for groceries and gas we drove into the RV park at 1130am. Although check in isn’t until noon, they were fine with us checking in early and we were all set up shortly after noon. After a quick bite to eat, we headed off to the north gate of Yellowstone at Gardiner, Montana.

The drive from Livingston to Gardiner is about an hour (speed limit is 70 in the daytime and 65 at night) and is the prettiest drive through Paradise Valley. As we approached Gardiner, Connie spotted a small herd of Elk basking in the Yellowstone River.

Cars were stopped along side the highway, a thing we came to expect during our time in Yellowstone. At the north gate (the original gateway to the park) we purchased a park pass for $35, which is good for 7 days – I thought it was a pretty good deal – and made our way up the winding road to Mammoth Hot Springs.

Our plan was to travel the Grand Loop over two days, so we decided to do the top half of the park on day one. We travelled from Mammoth to the Roosevelt Lodge and Tower area. Speed limits in the park are typically 35 miles per hour (sometimes 45); however, one needs to be on guard constantly as people tend to break suddenly when they spot wildlife on the side of the road. I ran the GoPro both days and when we get back home, I look forward to editing the footage into something others will enjoy watching.

On the way to Roosevelt Lodge we encountered a huge crowd of people with cars parked on both sides of the road. There was no place to stop, so we continued on. We think it may have been a grizzly bear that folks were spying.

A little further along the way, Connie spotted this guy.

We saw quite a few buffalo while in the park. Unfortunately, we didn’t see a moose. In fact, we haven’t seen a moose yet this summer. We are a bit surprised as New Brunswick is fraught with them. The last moose we saw was in May and it was in Ethan and Carissa’s back yard.

As we drove between Canyon Village and Norris, Connie spotted a wolf in the field next to us. He seemed to ignore the audience as he appeared to be tracking something along the ground. Suddenly he pounced and appeared to have a bite of lunch. It’s too bad we didn’t record a video as his pounce was quite funny – almost like a cat playing with a mouse.

After reaching Norris, we turned back toward Mammoth and stopped briefly at Roaring Mountain. It was quite spectacular.

On Sunday morning we drove by Roaring Mountain in the opposite direction and should have stopped as given the freezing temperatures, the steam was rising from across the entire face of the mountain.

As we continued along our way toward Mammoth, we were searching for a moose. The terrain looked like moose country. While we didn’t see any moose, we did spot a few Buffalo.

When we arrived at Mammoth, we drove on the upper terrace road and were fortunate to find a parking spot. As we made our way down the boardwalk, we were hoping to recreate a photo we took of Ethan 31 years ago. A lot has changed in 31 years and I expect the walkway has been replaced a few times.

We left Mammoth around 445pm and returned through the north gate into Gardiner. As we were leaving, we saw some antelope munching alongside the road.

We woke at 545am hoping to get to the park early and beat the crowds. It was dawn when we got on the highway so were mindful of wildlife on the roads. Fortunately we didn’t see any until we approached Gardiner. Once again there were lots of Elk alongside the road.

As we drove up to the park entrance, there were several elk there to meet us. At Mammoth there was a huge bull elk on the lawn right outside the post office but we didn’t stop to take a photo as there was already a bit of a crowd.

Today we drove toward Norris down the opposite side of the Grand Loop. While we were on the same road as yesterday, it seemed different. The temperatures were near zero celsius until we reached Norris and fog filled the air above the streams, lakes and ponds.

Driving past Norris toward Old Faithful, we came across Beryl Springs. A side note…Connie’s Mom’s name was Beryl and she was with us when we drove through Yellowstone 31 years ago. As we drove past the spring to the parking lot, I was amazed at how loud the roar was. We walked back on the boardwalk toward the roar in the mist and I recorded a video. It was simply awesome.

Shortly after leaving Beryl Springs, we stopped at Gibbon Falls. Connie stood in a long line for the one washroom and I walked down to take couple of photos. Unfortunately for Connie a tour bus had arrived just before us, so it was a long wait.

After Gibbon Falls, we continued on our way toward Old Faithful. Old Faithful was what I really wanted to see today. I don’t recall seeing the geyser in full form during our last trip. I suspect we didn’t as Ethan and Sam were under the age of 3 and little boys are less patient when it comes to waiting.

As we continued, we spotted some cars along the road and pulled over to see what was happening. After a short walk through the woods we emerged to witness these fellas chomping down some grass.

We arrived at Old Faithful just before 10am and learned the geyser was expected to spew at 1024am plus or minus 15 minutes. We waited patiently as the crowd around us began to grow. Some of the kids around us were trying to make the geyser spew by counting down from 10. I commented to them that nature doesn’t work that way.

True to form, Old Faithful let loose at 1025am. It was an awesome site to see. I recorded a 4 minute video of the entire event while Connie took several photos and recorded some short videos.

After leaving Old Faithful, we made our way along the shores of Yellowstone Lake before stopping for a quick bite of lunch at Canyon Village. As we were eating our lunch a few people came over to inspect our license plate. One older lady announced loudly, “British Columbia! That’s what I thought.” Connie and I had a good chuckle. It’s not often we are such celebrities.

From Canyon Village, once again we drove in the opposite direction of yesterday. This time it was along the Grand Loop towards Roosevelt Lodge. When we arrived, we discovered the lodge was closed. This was disappointing because it was open yesterday but we didn’t stop. I would have loved to snap a few photos. C’est la vie!

We continued on, stopped a few times to snap a photo, and by 230pm we were back in Mammoth. After making our final descent into Gardiner, we stopped to take a photo of the Roosevelt Arch and Connie snapped a photo of me driving through.

The experience of being in Yellowstone is truly spectacular. If you haven’t been here, I highly recommend you put it on your bucket list. We may never pass this way again but I’m glad to have seen this place twice during my 61 plus years.

Tomorrow we make our way to Spokane, which will be our last stop before we join some friends for 6 days at Lincoln Rock State Park in Wenatchee.

Until next time, thanks for reading.

PS in an earlier post I indicated we were planning to explore Grand Teton along with Yellowstone. When we arrived in Yellowstone it was obvious that we didn’t have enough time to visit both parks. There is just way too much to see.