Entering Yellowstone

Today, we traveled to Yellowstone. It was about 50 miles from Cody to the East Entrance to Yellowstone, but then we had to go through the park to get to our campground in West Yellowstone.

Before we even got into the park, we saw a female moose with her baby. They were in a marshy area, and the mom was pulling plants from the stream. We also saw lots of mountain streams caused by melting snow on the peaks above.

After we got into the park, we stopped when there was snow along the roadway so the kids could throw snowballs. Both were surprised to see snow in July. We looked up and saw a waterfall high up on the mountain and could hear it as well.

 

We then drove along the shore of Yellowstone Lake for awhile. It's a big lake, and along its shores you can see some steam coming up out of thermal features. The smell of sulfur is pretty pungent, and the kids held their noses when they got outside of the RV. Along the drive we saw about 10 mule deer - male and female.

Yellowstone Lake has thermal
features that smell like sulfur

We then made our way to the Hayden Valley, which is marshy and lush with green grass. There are no trees there - the ground is too wet and low in nutrients to support them. The valley was spotted with bison. Some were really close to the road and some were off in the distance. We followed a bend in the road, and when we looked back, there must have been 100 bison - calves included! It was amazing. A few miles ahead, cars were stopped, and when cars are stopped in Yellowstone, it means someone saw an animal. As the cars started to move and we got our turn to look, we saw a male elk grazing on grass.

So here we were, only an hour into our Yellowstone visit and we'd already seen moose, elk, mule deer and bison! Pretty incredible. We made our way to the West Engtrance, and though we saw lots of steam popping up through thermal features along the way, we didn't see any bears. We did see a few more elk, though. We have a few more days to try to find some bears.

The kids wanted to go to the West Yellowstone July 4th parade, and although it wasn't as big, it was small town America at its finest. The veterans, firetrucks, the yellow truck/snowplow hybrid that take you through Yellowstone in the winter, and the National Park Service folks were out, along with entertainers from local musical shows out to drum up business. We found a restaurant along the parade route and had dinner just before the parade. The kids picked up more candy that was thrown by parade participants - a highlight for them.

We were too tired to go to the fireworks. The last few nights of staying up late have caught up with us, and the fatigue has made everyone grumpy, myself included. We got the kids to go to bed by 9 (still light out) and Jeff crashed before 10. I'm headed to sleep after I post this.

We asked the kids what they wanted to do tomorrow - geysers or animals. They voted for animals. So I think we'll head out to the Lamar Valley in the northeast corner of the park to see what we can see. Henry wants to get another Junior Ranger badge, so that means he'll have to get the booklet, fill it out and attend a Junior Ranger program or walk. They're for the entire family and really interesting.

Yellowstone sits at an elevation of about 6,000 feet with some windy and climbing roads, so once again we rented a car. Saves on gas and stress, and allows us to pull over quickly for an animal sighting.

Well, that's all for tonight. Will post some pictures tomorrow - I'm too lazy to get out of bed and get the camera's memory card.