I open the door as quietly as I could as two thirds of the family are still sleeping.
Stepping out onto the balcony I scan the rapid river below, more its banks than the water itself.
Today we started in – Gardiner, Montana
We finished in – Yellowstone’s Canyon Village, Montana
Miles travelled today – 139
Miles so far this trip – 1207
Tonight we are staying at – Canyon Lodge & Cabins, Yellowstone
No sign of any wildlife. Disappointed but not surprised I sit down and review yesterday’s photos.
A couple of hours later we are loading the car up and heading out.
Fuel and air for the tyre was joint top of the list with breakfast.
Mission accomplished, we head back to Yellowstone entrance.
Mammoth Hot Springs our first stop. A mountain of white and gold towers over us. The difference in colour determined by bacteria and temperature.
This was a short stop and the heat and a painful knee meant we saw just about enough to scratch our Mammoth itch.
Click to enjoy full screen:
Then, it was down to Norris Geyser Basin. A hot but pleasant walk around the pools. Bubbling holes in the dry ground along with colourful pools meant we saw a bit of everything. Nothing quite up to the Grand Prismatic (coming up) but still pleasant.
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The car’s air conditioning was welcomed like an old friend not seen for years and we travelled down to Beryl Spring, which turned out to be one of the easier stops. Heading south, meant the car park was on the right just after the lively energetic spring. A park up, 1 minute walk and a few photos meant another stop was ticked off.
Gibbon Falls was slightly more challenging but we got lucky with the parking. For me, the view down river after the water had poured over the falls is far better than the falls itself.
Here are a couple of photos. You can be the judge too, as always, click to enjoy!
Firehole Canyon road winds, dips and drops alongside the river of the same name.
Other than the one way drive, (north to south) we had wanted to visit the swimming area for Max to have a splash about.
The main swimming area is unfortunately closed, but a smaller area nearer the start of the road had access to the water and several people were cooling off in the shallow but rapid-like water.
As the road was one way we had to circle around, hoping we could get one of the 6 or so parking spaces. We get lucky and before long Max is splashing away. I join him in more but just paddling, the coolish water chilling us both under the now partly cloudy skies.
One of the highlights of the day if not the whole trip is up next. Grand Prismatic Spring.
Unsurprisingly the was a queue to park, and when we reach the parking lot itself, a wait for a car to leave.
It turned out to be not as bad a we thought and before long we are walking over a short bridge.
To the left hot water pours down the river bank into the Firehole River.
We walk on. And soon the boardwalk becomes one way. The light and colour , aided by the sunshine makes for some of my favourite photos of this trip.
Click on the below to enjoy full screen.
We can’t really appreciate the colours at ground level so we decide to seek out the Overlook.
A short drive south to Fairy Falls car park, followed by a 2 mile return hike gets us those overlook views.
The knee struggled here, mainly with the downhill return but we were never not going to do this. It was worth the 1 hour hike for the 5 minutes at the overlook.
Once back in the car we made the decision to stop at the Old Faithful geyser for food as it was now gone 6pm.
With the Geyser going off every 90 mins or so, we agree we’d only see it today if the timing was right. It isn’t as by the time we arrive at 18:45, it erupted 15 mins ago. The next one was not until 20:11, so we eat and head off for the 90 min or son drive to the hotel.
A wolf and elk siting in the near dark means we do not arrive at our hotel, the Canyon Lodge & Cabins until well after 9pm. Shattered and grubby, we shower before heading off to bed with the intention of an early start to head back to Old Faithful.