30-DAY RV ROAD TRIP THROUGH THE AMERICAN WEST. CHAPTER 3 - YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK
-
Hits: 70
CHAPTER 1:
30-DAY RV ROAD TRIP THROUGH THE AMERICAN WEST. CHAPTER 1 - SOUTH DAKOTA & BADLANDS NATIONAL PARK
CHAPTER 2:
*****
June 23
This was a long day of crossing the full length of Wyoming and Montana to reach Yellowstone National Park. Once we left Devils Tower National Monument in the morning, we made no additional stops except those for gas. 500 miles (800km) was a long way to travel in an RV in a day. And as our approach to Yellowstone was via the North Entrance, I wanted to make sure we got through the canyon leading up to it before darkness came. This section of road was infamous for animal collisions after the sun set, and I wanted no part of it.
The scenery along much of the way wasn’t particularly stunning. It was a lot flatter than I imagined Wyoming and Montana to be. But we enjoyed the views once mountain ranges started to appear along the horizon the closer we got to Yellowstone.
GARDINER
Our determination paid off and we reached the Yellowstone gateway town of Gardiner well before nightfall. This was where I had booked us a campsite for the night. Although technically not quite yet Yellowstone itself, but definitely the closest we had ever been to it. Besides, we needed a good rest and a little bit of a break after the long drive, before we could whole-heartedly devote ourselves to America’s first national park.
Our campsite was amazing – on a hill overlooking the river, town and mountain meadows with lots of wildlife spotting opportunities right there from our picnic table. How can you beat a view like this?
We set up the camper, grabbed a couple free movies (for later in the evening) from the front desk, and decided that we could not just sit there and let the evening go to waste. It was still sunny outside, so we walked into town to see what it had to offer. We watched a group of tourists getting ready to go sunset river rafting on the Yellowstone River. Once they took off, we walked across the bridge into town.
Gardiner had a little bit of a western feel to it with wood buildings and the overall aura of wilderness all around. And as proof, my boys noticed there were elk grazing in a field right in front of all the shops, restaurants and car parking lots. They were not bothered one bit by the people stopping and taking their photos. Seemed like these elk had done this a thousand times before…
Once we reached the edge of the town, I was absolutely shocked by what I saw! There was a big Yellowstone National Park entrance sign! I had no idea this was where the park officially started. But here we were – standing at the sign and leaving our first footprints in Yellowstone.
It was such a weird feeling – to finally be here at Yellowstone – after I had longed to see it for almost two decades. It was one of those bucket list destinations that I had finally fulfilled, and my heart was full of happiness and excitement. I felt very grateful to be able to be here.
Just a few yards away from the park sign was the famous Roosevelt Arch. This was also a surprise. I knew we would see it when entering Yellowstone, I was just not aware it would be right here. So, we walked over to take a closer look. The arch was designed to be a grand statement of arrival at the Yellowstone Park, and its cornerstone was laid by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1903 - "FOR THE BENEFIT AND ENJOYMENT OF THE PEOPE"
And just like that, by simply choosing to go out on an evening walk, we had managed to check off two items on our Yellowstone list – the entrance sign and the Roosevelt Arch.
We decided to treat ourselves to a night out and went to a pizza place that had a roof-top terrace overlooking the park. The pizza was good, but the view was even better. On our walk back to the campground, the boys pulled us into an ice-cream shop. Huckleberry was the top choice again, followed by chocolate! It got dark soon after we reached the campground, so we just spent a leisurely evening watching a movie.
MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS TERRACES
June 24
There was no time to waste! We were up bright and early, bid farewell to our beautiful campground, and hit the road towards all the Yellowstone wonders.
Our first stop of the day was an area called Mammoth Hot Springs. This was probably part of the park I was looking forward to the most - it was much different than the rest of Yellowstone. I had read than some tourists chose to skip this corner of the park which just seemed totally crazy to me! How could one voluntarily choose not to see such a natural wonder?!
Finding RV parking proved to be quite simple as there were many RV-only spots here. And with it still being quite early, many of them were unoccupied. After we parked, we walked over to the visitor center for a short introduction to the park, as well as picked up Junior Ranger Booklets for our boys to fill out throughout our next 5 days here.
We learned that these terraces were continuously getting formed by hot springs that rose up through limestone, dissolved the calcium carbonate, and deposited the calcite that then created these travertine terraces. Back in the day people used to come and soak in these terraces to heal ailments and diseases but nowadays it is forbidden in order to preserve the area.
We started our exploration with an area called ‘Main and Lower Terraces’. There were boardwalks and staircases connecting different sections of the terraces, offering various vantage points. The whole scenery just seemed so otherworldly and unreal! It felt like a scene out of some fantasy movie about magical places and different planets.
We could not get enough, and I kept taking pictures of everything I saw. I did not want to miss any details. The colors of the terraces intermixed between blinding white to shades of orange and even gray. And the water trickling through them looked like little waterfalls frozen in time. What a magical, magical place this was!
After we had explored the Lower Terraces, we climbed the steps to the ‘Upper Terraces’ section of the Mammoth Hot Springs. From here we could have a good look at the Lower Terraces from the bird’s eye view.
The most popular attraction of the Upper Terraces was the Canary Spring. Unfortunately, during our visit the Canary Spring had gone dormant and the whole area had gone dry without its signature vibrant blue water pools trickling down the cascades… With a dead tree in the middle, it reminded us a little bit of Death Valley National Park.
While other areas of the Mammoth Hot Springs were always active, the Canary Spring went through short phases of dormancy and activity. We just happened to be here when the terrace was not active. It was still quite pretty, but without its usual activity, we voted the Lower Terraces to be more impressive.
Altogether we had covered 3 miles (4.8km) of boardwalks in about 2 hours. On our walk back to the RV, we stopped in a corner store / souvenir shop but deemed everything to be too overpriced here, including ice cream. Our kids were a little disappointed and tried to barter with us, but it did not work. We promised them to get some treats at a more reasonably priced shop instead.
NORRIS GEYSER BASIN
Having absorbed enough beaty of the Mammoth Hot Springs Terraces, we were ready to head on. Next on our list heading down south was Norris Geyser Basin. Along the way we admired the amazing scenery. As most of these were small (or tight) roadside pullouts, we did not have enough room to make a stop. Therefore I took many photos from the driving car, including one of this waterfall.
About 1-2 miles (2-3km) before reaching Norris Geyser Basin, we were at a standstill. The traffic was not moving anywhere. “There must be an accident. Or a wildlife jam,” we thought. But as we approached the parking lot, we quickly realized that the backed-up traffic was caused simply by having no available parking. A park ranger had blocked the overcrowded parking lot and redirected all the cars to park somewhere along the road – miles up. We quickly made a decision to turn the RV in the opposite direction of the parking lot (heading away from the Basin), in hopes that most people would try to find parking somewhere, supposedly, closer. Our quick thinking paid off as almost immediately we found a roadside spot big enough for our RV. We were very proud of ourselves!
Just like the Mammoth Terraces, Norris Geyser Basin consisted of 2 parts. The shorter, and therefore more popular (and crowded) loop, was Porcelain Basin which was also where we started. The second we walked around the first bend, we could hear hissing along with very moist and hot air. The Ledge Geyser was erupting! We did not plan or look up any eruption times beforehand, so it was a great surprise to see the geyser in action here.
Thermal features here were connected by wood boardwalks and elevated platforms. Because the Porcelain Basin was barren of trees, the elevated platforms offered vast views of the area. From up top, we could see all the colors – turquoise, milky blue, green, bright yellow, orange…
And although very pretty, they were deadly. Almost all the water here at Norris Geyser basin was acidic and above the boiling point of 199F (92.7C) due to elevation. In general, Norris Geyser Basin was the hottest, oldest, and most dynamic of Yellowstone's thermal areas.
Once done exploring the Porcelain Basin, we headed farther into the park to see all the features of the Back Basin. It got more wooded with features scattered throughout the area. This was probably one of the reasons why all the crowds disappeared after we left the Porcelain Basin – people just did not bother with longer walks and saw only what was easily accessible right there near the parking lot. This worked in our favor, and we enjoyed our solitude. It felt like we had the Back Basin all to ourselves.
The most famous feature of the Back Basin was, undoubtedly, the Steamboat Geyser. It is the tallest geyser in the world at 300–400 feet (91–122 m). All the trees around it were dead due to the acidity of the water it spewed out when erupting. The fumes flew as far out as the parking lot and often burnt paint off cars that happened to be there during the eruption. During our visit the Steamboat Geyser was just…. steaming. The eruptions of this geyser are unpredictable and can happen between a few days to years apart, sometimes without much warning.
As we walked the Back Basin Loop trail, we saw many other amazing thermal features, including Cistern Springs, Emerald Springs, mud vents and a ton of other stunning sights. It was a mix of colors, sights, sounds and, last but not least, - smells! And even the kids did not complain much about the long walks – they were keeping their eyes and ears peeled for what was possibly to come around the next bend. It was all so very exciting!
Altogether, both sections of Norris took us about 2 hours to complete (with lots of photos), with a total of 3.7 miles (6km) walked.
ARTISTS PAINTPOTS
Although it was approaching evening and we were on the way to the campground, there was still one small thermal area along our route that I wanted to stop in. It was called Artists Paintpots (or Gibbon Geyser Basin). This area was famous for its gurgling, boiling mudpits which we had not seen many of, yet.
Unfortunately, as we approached the little access road to the parking lot (hidden in the woods), we noticed a “No RVs” sign by the road. Oh my!!! We were contemplating turning in anyway as our RV was so small in comparison to the big rigs, but in the end decided not to take the risk as we did not know exactly WHY the RVs were not allowed. This meant I had to get out on the main park road and walk about ½-mile on the wooded access car road to the basin. My husband had to stay with the RV, and he did not want to let the boys come with me out of fear of roaming bears… So, I was on my own.
As I reached the parking lot, I saw two other RVs of our size already parked there and plenty of empty spots. And a nice, wide loop road to turn around if needed. I was so bummed! I could see how this could have been a problem for larger rigs, but our 24-foot sized RV would have had no issues here. I tried to call my husband to tell him to drive in and park, but as in most of Yellowstone, there was exactly zero cell signal. Even my text messages were not going through. I was so sad my husband and kids had to miss seeing this basin because we thought we had nowhere to park.
This was a very short boardwalk in comparison to the others we had done already, and was only 1 mile (1.5 km) in length. I took several videos here of gurgling, jumping mudpots and boiling underground springs to show my husband and kids back at the RV.
MADISON CAMPGROUND
Just a short 10-minute drive away from Artists Paintpots was our first, true Yellowstone National Park campground – Madison Campground. Like most national park campgrounds, it was very basic – boondocking sites with no water or electricity and you had to rely on your RV’s own generator or batteries for any power source (lights, water pump, stove). But at the same time, nothing could beat the convenience of staying inside a national park and being just a few minutes’ drive away from all the main sights. As we set up our camp, I was ready to rush out and explore this amazing campground before it got dark, but my husband and the kids put a stop to it. They were too hungry to go anywhere and proclaimed that they would cook and eat first, no matter what! It was 3 against 1. So, we cooked.
The men kept their word, and after we were done eating, we headed down to the meadow which made this campground so desirable. Madison River was weaving its way in between hills, and we had panoramic views across the whole valley. It was stunning, and the golden evening light made it even more magical! This area was famous for its animal sightings – bears, bison, elk, water birds. People had brought lawn chairs and were just sitting and enjoying the scenery. We walked down to the river and strolled along its banks stopping occasionally to skip some rocks and wade in the water in more shallow spots.
There was a lot of bison poop everywhere in the tall grass, but no sight of bison tonight. We did see an elk come out of the woods and cross the river, however.
As a side note, I have to mention that Madison was my favorite out of all the campgrounds we stayed at inside Yellowstone National Park. Although I did not care much for the actual campsites (which were fairly tight and basic), the river and meadow just a couple minutes walk away with all its wildlife watching opportunities gave this campground a big advantage. The kids were playing in the water; couples walked along the river bank; others were out with binoculars in search of water birds... It was just an overall relaxing place to be.
Once the sun went down, it got cold quite quickly. Too cold for the T-shirts and shorts that we had on. So, we made our way back to the RV. It was still nice and warm inside from the day’s sun. With no electricity and darkness settling in, we went to bed.
LOWER GEYSER BASIN
FOUNTAIN PAINT POT AREA
June 25
Thankfully, the night never dipped below freezing and we all stayed warm and comfortable inside our RV. A hot, steaming morning coffee perked us up, and we were ready to conquer another day. This morning we could really see how staying inside a park was a big advantage – our next geyser basin was just a 10-minute drive away. We got there before most of the tourists had even managed to make it into the park at all yet. Luck was really on our side when, upon pulling into the tiny parking lot, there was exactly 1 parking spot left, and we fit!
The Fountain Paint Pot Area was relatively short, just under a mile long, but it had many features, including boiling mudpots that my kids and husband missed yesterday at Artists Paintpots. I was very happy they could watch them here!
The Fountain Paint Pots were among the most famous mudpots in Yellowstone. The mud was composed of clay and fine particles of silica. Iron oxides tinted the white clay with shades of orange, red, brown, and pink. As we walked around, we could truly see the mud changing colors. It was like a colorful rainbow!
A nice surprise was also the Clepsydra Geyser which was erupting.
Without any rush, we were done exploring this area in about 30 minutes.
LOWER GEYSER BASIN
FIREHOLE LAKE DRIVE
Although done with the Fountain Paint Pots, there was another section of Lower Geyser Basin that we were interested in – Firehole Lake Drive. It was a 3-mile (4.8km) one-way car road that had many geysers and hot springs that one could see from the road. There was also a boardwalk around the Firehole Lake itself, leading to small geysers and springs. The only problem was – this road was CLOSED because of its poor asphalt condition which the park service was in the process of repairing. On the plus side, the road was still open to foot or bike traffic. It worked great for us! We grabbed our bikes, crossed the park road, and headed off to explore Firehole Lake Drive.
With no cars, it was so peaceful and quiet. We could hear the bubbling water and hissing steam vents… We explored every boardwalk; stopped by each geyser and steam vent; watched the fields and woods for wildlife sightings; and just took it all in!
And the best part of it all – during the hour that it took us to bike these 6.5 miles (10.5km) out and back, we did not see a single other person besides a park ranger who was out there surveying the road damage. Not even one other tourist (out of tens of thousands) had bothered to come see this area simply because they could not drive their cars here! We were completely dumbfounded. But at the same time, this adventure became our favorite memory of Yellowstone as one just never gets to experience a national park in complete solitude! Choosing to come out and bike this road was the best decision we made!
Upon returning to the parking lot, we saw that there was an endless stream of cars lined up on the main park road waiting for a parking spot to become available. We made someone very happy when we packed up our bikes and pulled out. The parking spot was now theirs, but we were off to our next adventure!
MIDWAY GEYSER BASIN – GRAND PRISMATIC SPRING
It felt like we had done so much already, but we were not done yet. Next on our list was Midway Geyser Basin, which most people referred to as simply the Grand Prismatic. That was because this was where the famous, colorful Grand Prismatic was located.
Already when approaching the area, we understood that we were in another parking situation problem. The traffic got slower and slower, and we started seeing cars parked along the side of the road far before the official parking pull-in. Not wanting to take any chances, we pulled over on a roadside shoulder that fit our RV and set off on foot for the rest of the way.
Midway Geyser Basin was small but spectacular. Upon crossing the river, we were met with the deep blue waters of Excelsior Geyser - a 200 x 300 foot (60m x 90m) crater that constantly discharged more than 4,000 gallons (15,141 liters) of water per minute into the Firehole River.
But the star of the show was, of course, the Grand Prismatic Spring itself - Yellowstone’s largest hot spring at 200–330 feet (60m x 100m) in diameter and more than 121 feet (37m) deep. When anyone thinks of Yellowstone (whether they have been here or not), this color-saturated spring is most likely one of the features they are imagining.
It was rather unbelievable to walk here, right alongside it, without any barriers, fencing or guardrails. And those colors! They were as bright in real life as I had seen them in photos online!
We just had to stand and stare… and stare… and stare some more! How was this even real on planet Earth?! Seemed like a whole different world out here. It was hard to walk away, very hard. We kept looking back, just one more last glance…
On our walk back we noticed a pair of bison that were taking a midday nap right next to the river along the main road. Tourist crowds seemed to not bother them one bit.
GRAND PRICMATIC OVERLOOK
Of course, no Grand Prismatic experience would be complete without a visit to the overlook. This could be achieved by heading out on Fairy Falls trail, and then following the signs to the overlook. It was roughly a 2-mile (3.2km) out-and-back hike, albeit a slightly steep one as it required going up a mountainside.
When we reached the trailhead parking lot, there was a lot of commotion. Park rangers were there, along with medical personnel and ambulances. A helicopter was dispatched as well. Apparently, someone had fallen very sick on their way to the overlook. So much so, that a Medevac helicopter flew in all the way from the town of Billings. This was a stark reminder that this was a wild and unforgiving place, and nobody should overestimate their physical abilities.
The day was unusually hot for Yellowstone, with over 80 degrees in shade. Combined with Yellowstone’s elevation here of over 7000ft (2200m), hiking even this short distance was much more difficult than one would think. We packed water bottles with us and took it slow, seeking out shade whenever it was available. But our efforts got rewarded with a sight that just lacked any words to describe it properly! Wow, how could something like this even exist?!
Going back to the parking lot was downhill and much quicker. When we got to the RV, everyone was hungry, so we had some snacks before driving off to our next thermal area.
UPPER GEYSER BASIN – OLD FAITHFUL
The Upper Geyser Basin area was huge both in terms of visitor amenities as well as all the thermal features. This was a region in Yellowstone National Park that contained the highest concentration of geysers in the world, including the famous Old Faithful geyser.
In regard to the visitor amenities, there were restaurants here, grocery and souvenir stores, coffee and ice cream cafes, a visitor center and even a lodge. We walked though the souvenir shop where our boys picked out a geyser, bison and bear mini-Lego sets for themselves. I found a cute Yellowstone mug and a fridge magnet, and my husband just wanted to go get food. We really had not eaten out much on this trip, so we treated ourselves to some pizza and burgers, and they were surprisingly good.
To complete the last requirement of their Junior Ranger book, the boys joined a ranger program about the park’s animals, and then got awarded their Yellowstone Junior Ranger badge.
At this point, all the tourists had started to gather around the Old Faithful. That was a sign that the geyser was going to erupt soon. We headed there and sat down waiting. This famous geyser erupted every 35–120 minutes for 1.5–5 minutes at a time and was usually quite predictable.
Besides the Old Faithful, there were very many other thermal features in this area along miles of boardwalks and trails. As tired as we were after today’s many miles walked and biked already, we were not going to leave here without seeing as much as we could manage. Not surprisingly, after the Old Faithful erupted, most of the visitors just turned around and walked back to their cars. Very few headed farther into the park onto its trails and boardwalks. We were perfectly fine with that – more peace and quiet for us!
Boardwalks and trails veered off in different directions here, often criss-crossing or looping around. So, it was a little bit of a choose-your-own-adventure type of hike here. I opened AllTrails maps, plugged in our destination to Morning Glory Pool and then explored everything along the way. We did not time our walk in order to see eruptions, yet we happened to stumble upon many of them. The first one was Castle Geyser.
As we continued, we saw a sign for Daisy Geyser with the posted eruption time right around now. We took the little side trail, sat down on a bench and waited. We were the only spectators yet again. While waiting for the eruption, we admired the colorful wildflowers here right along the edge of the basin.
With little bubbling spouts Daisy Geyser gave a warning to us and then erupted into the air. Can you imagine how surreal it was to sit here and watch it all by ourselves?!
As we continued our walk, we noticed several people gathered around a lookout point near the river. They were all waiting for another geyser to erupt – the Riverside Geyser. This geyser’s eruption frequency was every 5.5-7 hours, and just by luck we happened to be here at the right time once again. As we were waiting, we watched the park chipmunks scurry across the woods and parking lot.
After some 10 minutes of waiting, the Riverside Geyser shot off into the air. It was very unique due to its setting right on the river, as well as the rainbow it formed in front of itself.
While many people at Yellowstone pre-planned their visits based on predicted eruption times and then sat around and waited (sometimes for hours), we just happened to get lucky and see 4 different geysers erupt simply by choosing to go for a walk.
The turnaround point of our hike was the Morning Glory Pool with its stunning array of green and orange colors. The water was completely see-through, and we could peek into the abyss of the underworld. It was somewhat frightening to imagine just how deep underground this acidic, boiling tunnel reached…
Although the Morning Glory Pool was our end point, we opted to walk back using a different set of boardwalks to not have to re-trace our steps and see the same sights we already saw. Even though there were no more erupting geysers, there were plenty of other interesting features to admire.
In total, we had spent 2 hours here with 4.2 miles (6.7km) walked.
Before leaving, there was just one more final stop to make, and that was the Old Faithful Inn. Although not a geothermal feature, it was mentioned as a must-see attraction in Yellowstone, even if one did not spend a night here. As a national historic landmark, Old Faithful Inn was the most requested lodging facility in the park. Built in 1903-1904 with local logs and stone, the Inn is one of the largest log-style structures in the world.
The towering lobby featured a massive stone fireplace as the focal point. It was impressive to see all the woodwork and such a massive structure built from logs. We found four unoccupied rocking chairs, sat down and just relaxed.
With about an hour’s drive to our next campground (Fishing Bridge RV Park), we did not have much time to spare before it would get dark. As we got back to our RV, we were astounded to see that local ravens had had a party with our bike seats! For whatever reason, they had plucked chunks out of the foam cushions. With holes in them, the seats were not protected from the elements anymore. We were equally mad, frustrated and just amused. What a day!
Although it was a long drive to the campground, we enjoyed the scenery along the way and even managed to grab a photo with the Continental Divide sign. The Continental Divide in Yellowstone National Park was a ridgeline that separated watersheds that drained into different oceans.
Fishing Bridge RV Park was my choice for the night due to the fact that it was the only campground in Yellowstone that had water and electricity hook-ups. And I figured by now we would appreciate (and be in need of) a hot meal and hot showers before bed. Because we arrived so late, we did not get to explore the campground.
HAYDEN VALLEY
June 26
Hayden Valley is a large sub-alpine valley along the Yellowstone River, famous for its wildlife spotting opportunities. And the best times for wildlife are always early mornings or late evenings. Therefore, we got up as early as we could possibly manage, had some breakfast and soon after hit the road in search of wildlife.
Although we had high expectations, I have to admit that besides some distant bison, we did not get to see any other wildlife here. There was one bison that had laid beside a thermal feature in search of some heat. It made for a great photo.
But apart from the animals, the whole green valley by itself was very scenic and different from the usually wooded landscapes of Yellowstone.
MUD VOLCANO GEOTHERMAL AREA
Although not on my list of must-dos, we were approaching the Mud Volcano area of the park. With still plenty of time, we decided to make a stop. Not wanting to fight for a parking spot in the lot, we pulled aside on the gravel shoulder along the road and left our RV there.
The Mud Volcano area had several mudpots, fumaroles and hillsides strewn with trees cooked by steam. The hydrothermal features here were some of the most acidic in the park, but not quite as impressive as in other thermal basins we had visited. Overall, this was a relatively small area with just about 1 mile (1.6km) of boardwalks which we completed in 30 minutes.
Once we got back to the RV, I glanced over to the river and saw something floating in it. We observed it for a few seconds and concluded that it was a log being pushed downstream by the river currents. But just as we were going to leave, the “log” changed direction. No, that could not be a log… What was it? The closer it got, the more we started seeing the details of this floating shape until we realized that it was a bear swimming across the river!
It pulled itself up onto the shore and walked into the grassy meadow right between us and the river. We could tell now that it was a grizzly bear. It sniffed some bushes, plucked some berries and started walking towards us on the little pathway.
By now, several other tourists had noticed us standing and looking at “something” and had come over to see what we were looking at. The crowd grew by the second with people acting like… people. Once the bear picked up its eyes, saw the rowdy crowd and assessed the situation, it decided to change direction and turned towards the woods instead. Soon it disappeared behind big logs around the bend and into the forest.
THE GRAND CANYON OF YELLOWSTONE
CANYON SOUTH RIM
After the bear left, so did we. I had planned to dedicate the rest of the day to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone area. It was another part of the park that did not compare to anything else around. The canyon got formed by the Yellowstone River eroding the mineral rich mountains around it. The canyon is around 10,000 to 14,000 years old; about 20 miles (32km) long; over 1,000 feet (300m) deep; and 1,500 (450m) – 4,000 feet (1220m) wide.
We started with the Canyon South Rim and parked at the Upper Falls Overlook.
Instead of driving to each and every overlook in our RV, we picked a hiking trail that would take us along many of the overlooks and then deeper into the Yellowstone wilderness along secluded lakes and valleys. The trail was called ‘Canyon South Rim, Wapiti and Ribbon Lake trail’ and it was close to 6 miles (9.6km) in length. This was the first overcast afternoon, with occasional rain, since we left Sioux Falls 10 days ago. It was drizzling on and off often enough that we even had to pull out our rain ponchos. However, the dramatic sky with intermittent sun rays peeking through made for some colorful scenery along our walk. The canyon with the Yellowstone River below looked massive!
Eventually the trail veered towards the woods and led past other thermal features hidden deep within. Nobody else was there. Just us. And although I wanted to see bears, unfortunately, they were not here either.
Wapiti and Ribbon Lakes were showing off their bright colors to us in all their glory! Unfortunately, we did not get to linger in these spots for too long, as we could hear thunder far out by the horizon. We did not want to be caught off guard in a thunderstorm in the middle of the woods, so we kept our pace quite quick.
Once we made it back to the South Rim, the rain picked up strength. We got back to the RV right before a huge downpour hit the area.
CANYON NORTH RIM
After the long and wet hike that we had just completed at the South Rim, we opted to be more “touristy” at the North Rim and just pull off at the overlook areas vs hiking the whole length of the rim. We stopped at all the major stops – Brink of the Upper and Lower Falls and Inspiration Point; went to the Canyon Overlook and hiked down into the Red Rock Point.
Each one of the areas gave us a different perspective of the canyon. And the play between the late evening sun and dark, cloud covered sky brought out bright colors of the canyon along with rainbows.
Our campsite for the night was right here at the Canyon Campground, so no extra driving was needed. Unfortunately, the day’s rain had also brought along muddy conditions and wet, dripping trees, so we did not get to enjoy the campsite or picnic areas much. However, it was late when we pulled in, and we were all too tired to do much of anything else anyways. I think the boys were first to fall asleep, while I still tried to find some spots in our tight RV to hang all the damp clothes…
Besides, I had some important logistical issues to discuss with my husband. When originally planning the itinerary, I had left the next day empty in case any of our previous days got rained out or if we did not manage to see something on our list. But we had been blessed with perfect weather, and we had seen everything we planned to see. So, what were we going to do tomorrow?! There was one area of the park we had not been to yet – the Lamar Valley. But that required crossing the Dunraven Pass at almost 9000ft (2745m) in elevation. Although the RV had been a true champ so far cruising all the mountains with no issues, I was still a little worried – it was a lot to ask of our RV. My husband, on the other hand, had no concerns whatsoever, so we decided that we would give it a shot and head out to the Lamar Valley bright and early.
DUNRAVEN PASS
June 27
I think we were one of the first people to pull out of the campground that morning. The sun wasn’t even fully peeking above the horizon yet when we were already on the road by 5AM. The best chances for wildlife spotting were early mornings, so we had to plan accordingly. The drive would take us at least an hour. The clouds and fog were still hovering above the forest as we gained elevation.
Along the road there was a big parking lot for Tower Falls overlook. So early in the morning there was just one other car in the lot besides us. My kids were still half asleep in their pajamas and too sleepy to go look at the waterfalls, so I walked off alone. It was so tranquil. The waterfall plunged 132 feet (40m) down from a cliff edge above. It got its name from the rock pinnacles / towers at the top of the fall.
As we drove along, our first animal of the day was a lonely elk by the roadside. Bison, elk and 1 grizzly had so far been the only animals we had seen at Yellowstone.
As we climbed up and over the Dunraven Pass and eventually emerged on the other side, I was secretly relieved. My husband reassured me that the RV had done great and hadn’t had as much as a hiccup. That was great to hear because we definitely did not want any more RV troubles.
LAMAR VALLEY
Located in the northeastern corner of the park, the Lamar Valley, along the Lamar River, was often called America’s Serengeti for its large and easy-to-see populations of large animals. Among its most famous inhabitants are the resident wolf packs, large herds of bison, pronghorn, badgers, grizzly bears, bald eagles, osprey, deer, and coyotes. We were excited and we were ready for them all!
Many pullouts lined the Lamar Valley road. But so far, we had not spotted any animals. Slowly we kept rolling forward, keeping our eyes open and looking out through all the windows – which we had many of in the RV. Even the kids were tasked with a look-out duty. A large crowd of people had gathered in one of the roadside pullouts. They had scopes, telephoto lenses and binoculars. We stopped to ask what they were looking at. Someone had spotted a wolf pack far out by the horizon, so they were waiting for the wolves to possibly come back. There was no room for our RV here, so we continued forward.
Shortly after we got stuck in a bison jam – the first one here at Yellowstone. And what made it even more special were all the cute, little bison babies running around with their mommas keeping a close eye on them. We were not at all upset by being stuck here for a while waiting on the huge herd to cross the road. The morning was beautiful, the scenery was serene, and the animals were the ones determining the pace here. And this is what we came here for, anyways!
After the bison left, we kept driving ahead until we started entering the forest again. This is where we had to turn around and start heading back. We had driven the whole length of the Lamar Valley. On our way back, the bison were still hanging around and the people with their scopes were still in the same spot waiting for wolves. Seemed like the wolves still had not come back.
We kept driving until we found a secluded pull-off with nobody else around. There were just valleys and mountains. It was a perfect place to finally have some breakfast. We had left so early in the morning that we had not had time to eat. But this was the most epic breakfast spot. We made hot coffee, breakfast sandwiches, and yogurt with fruit and enjoyed the quiet morning. While there, I noticed a bald eagle sitting near a rock outcrop. I grabbed my camera just in time to catch it lift up and take off.
Although our trip to Lamar Valley was not too rich in animal sightings, I was still glad we did it. We saw the scenery and got to experience a special part of Yellowstone. I know I would have regretted not seeing it. But now my heart was at ease.
WEST THUMB GEYSER BASIN
After leaving the Lamar Valley, we had a long 70-mile (112km) drive through Yellowstone, back up over the Dunraven Pass and towards the West Thumb Geyser Basin. We made a short stop at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone one more time for a few quick overlooks to stretch our legs. And we made a slow drive through Hayden Valley where, yet again, we did not spot much other than elk and bison.
Finally, we had reached the last thermal area of Yellowstone National Park that we had not explored yet – the West Thumb Geyser Basin. It was the only thermal area situated along the shores of Yellowstone Lake. This backdrop made it unique and different from other geothermal areas we had explored on all the previous days.
West Thumb was a small area with only 1 mile (1.5km) of boardwalks, yet it did not lack impressive features, including dormant geyser cones in the lake, and colorful hot springs.
The most amazing of them all was the Black Pool. Interestingly enough, the pool was nowhere near black but rather bright teal and orange. However, when Yellowstone was founded, the water here was indeed black, hence the name. In 1991 shifting thermal energy caused the pool to heat up and change its bacteria growth which later gave it its current colors.
Out of many thermal springs that we had seen in Yellowstone over the last several days, Black Pool was definitely in my Top 5 and one of the more memorable hot springs. Partially also due to its scenic setting by the lake.
With this, however, our time in Yellowstone National Park had come to its end. We had managed to see and explore more than planned. We had hiked and biked many miles. We had seen geysers, hot springs, fumaroles and mudpots. We had admired canyons, mountains, rivers and valleys. And in between all that we had spotted wildlife – bison, elk and even a grizzly bear. And it truly showed why Yellowstone became America’s first national park in 1872, long before the National Park Service was even established. There is so much to protect, admire and preserve here!
As we pulled out of West Thumb Geyser Basin parking lot, we pointed our RV south to drive towards our last national park of the trip – Grand Teton National Park.
Our campgrounds:
Sun Outdoors Yellowstone North – site #20, water / electric. $71.60 for 1 night
Madison Campground (inside Yellowstone NP) – no hook-ups. $20.54 for 1 night
Fishing Bridge RV Park (inside Yellowstone NP) – full hook-up. $117.53 for 1 night
Canyon Campground (inside Yellowstone NP) – no hook-ups. $23.96 for 1 night
