We left Rocky Mountain National Park heading west through
Wyoming. Wow did we have some really
gusty winds. Some of the hardest ever
encountered. I had made reservations at
the Green River KOA, which was nothing to boast about. Should have splurged, I
guess, for a patio site with a little privacy.
But we are finding it harder to reserve a camping spot nowadays. Not
sure if it’s due to these pandemic campers or the time of year and the retirees
are out and about.
Our destination was Bear Lake, which traverses the Utah and
Idaho borders. We made a stop off at
Fossil Butte National Monument which was pretty cool. No pictures.
Unfortunately, it is really hazy from the wildfires so it is hard to see
the beautiful turquoise lake. We did
enjoy a ride around the wildlife refuge. We found a spot on the lake to enjoy a
happy hour and watch folks skiing and toobing and I’m thinking……Man it sure is
cold for this! We did see some trumpeter
swans and they were beautiful!
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Fossil Butte National Monument
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Beautiful turqoise Bear Lake
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Pretty water
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Trumpeter swans
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Reminded us of Aunt Gladys lol
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Sitting on the lake and enjoying
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Our next destination was Lava Hot Springs in Idaho and I
think we scored an absolutely beautiful spot right across from the hot springs and
on the Portneuf River bank. It was just
a little old campground behind a hotel.
30 or so years ago we happened upon this place with our girls and we
still talked about how much of a gem it was.
We watched toobers all afternoon float by on the river. After dinner we
went and enjoyed the hot springs. So
good!
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At our campsite watching folks toobing
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A historic Mormon tabernacle in Paris
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A view of where you go to soak in Lava Hot Springs
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The next day was a travel day to West Yellowstone. It was also our 41st
anniversary! We really liked our
campsite at Yellowstone Holiday. It’s 14
miles outside of town on Lake Hegben. We
had a lakeside view. Unfortunately,
though, there’s that wildfire smoke. We
weren’t that far from the Earthquake Lake site.
I remember this place from traveling through here with my family and
cousins and I remember that the whole time we were there I was scared another earthquake
would happen. This earthquake happened
in 1959. I can’t imagine being all tucked into a campsite and around 11 pm a
mountain cracks and breaks and falls down on your campsite. Immediately the Madison River is cut off and
starts backing up creating a flood. It’s a cool site to visit.
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| Smoky view of Earthquak Lake. Dead trees still there. |
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Another view of Earthquake Lake
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| One view of where the mountain sheared off during earthquake. |
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Another view of the mountain that sheared off during earthquake.
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| Madison River and fall foliage |
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The beautiful tree at our campsite
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| View of Hegben Lake from our campsite. |
The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is 800 to 1200 feet deep
and 1500 to 4000 feet wide. It’s length
is 24 miles. The upper 2 ½ miles is the most colorful. There are still steam
vents and geysers here. This is where we
toured on our first trip into the park.
It’s just as beautiful as I remember, albeit a little wildfire smoke
hazy. We made a stop at Gibbon Falls, saw Steamboat Geyser from a distance as
there was a traffic jam getting there. Also stopped at Virginia Cascade and
Beryl Springs.
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First view of wildlife in the park is a herd of elk
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Gibbon Falls
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Gibbon Falls
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Beryl Springs
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Traffic but still got a view of Steamboat Geyser, even if we didn't make it there to see.
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Virginia Cascade
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Lower Yellowstone Falls. Too bad it's so hazy.
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The grand canyon of the Yellowstone
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| The Upper Falls of the Yellowstone |
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Upper Falls
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A very hazy, smoky sunset on Lake Hegben at our campsite.
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The next day was going to be our wildlife tour, which meant
going to the north east section of the park.
We weren’t disappointed! We also
explored around Mammoth Hot Springs.
Still smoky, so pictures aren’t always that great.
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| Norris Basin |
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| Was cool to watch them come down to the river. |
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| One of many traffic jams. |
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Looking at Mammoth Hot Springs.
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Mammoth Hot Springs
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Town of Mammoth in the distance.
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Angel Terrace
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| Coyote |
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| Roaring Mountain |
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| This was a shot of our smoky sunrise today. |
Our third day here we drove the southern part of the
park. So smoky. We did get to watch the Great Fountain Geyser
erupt which was cool. Decided not to
watch Old Faithful. We’ve seen it
several times before and just didn’t feel up to dealing with a crowd at the
moment.
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| Ugh another traffic jam....... |
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All because of elk .....
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| Firehole River |
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| Firehole |
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Firehole River
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Sandhill cranes
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Fountain Paint Pots
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Mud bubbling up
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Fountain geyser
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Great Fountain Geyser getting started. Erupts about once a day.
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| Part of Biscuit Basin |
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So cool to look at this
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| Bright yellow |
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Look close. On the right you see a dead bull elk. To the left of him is a black spot which is a bear sleeping and guarding his kill. I just didn't have the right camera lens on....boo.
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Firehole River
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At our campsite we have met some really cool folks. One group was from California. They are really embarrassed about their state’s
politics. They are strong Trump supporters.
They like their California wine.
They gifted me with 2 wine glasses from a winery one of them worked at
and a bottle of good red wine from another’s children that owned a winery. The other couple we met were from Billings
and we shared a campfire a couple of nights.
He is the fire chief there and totally has our admiration for the job he
does.
Our last day here near Yellowstone found us tired from the
National Park traffic jams. It was cold and we had some good rain showers. So
we cleaned house and then went driving on some national forest roads.
Next up will be Billings Montana and Theodore Roosevelt
National Park in North Dakota.
