Yellowstone National Park

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Step one of winging it meant roughing it at a highway truck stop. After a noisy night and an early start we battled the queues of impatient (and terrible - see photo) drivers and made it into Yellowstone National Park, feeling slightly smug about not having to pay the $35/day fee due to our annual parks pass (bargain of the century).



After dodging vehicles stopped on the main road with passengers bothering some of the MILLIONS of sunbathing bison we made it to the first of many thermal features, Beryl hot springs (very hot at 89°c and Amy was good and didn't dip a toe in to confirm). 


Next up was a selection of different pastel coloured boiling mud pools called "artists paint pots" where the hot sun gave way to yet more rain, just as we were a long walk away from our coats.




Then we went for a walk around a geyser basin, home of the famously erratic Steamboat geyser, where we overheard a man saying he had been here for 3 full days waiting for it to erupt and was planning to stay for another full week! The row of occupied deck chairs showed he was not alone in this hobby of determination and patience. (Steamboat or bust apparently..) 



 
A long wait in roadworks rewarded us with a lovely view of bison sunbathing peacefully by a lake with a mountain backdrop.

After inspecting some steam vents, a "roaring mountain" and lots of bubbling mud we headed up towards North Yellowstone and caught a glimpse of a young grizzly bear!

And a canyon! 

And a valley rainbow! 

The travertine terraces of Mammoth Hot Springs did not disappoint.


However back in the parking lot disaster struck (in the form of a sneaky tow hitch on a sign and the rear of the van).


Once over the initial panic there was nothing left to do but head north back into Montana and drown our sorrows with a humongous elk burger and huckleberry milkshake. The next day dawned with a mission to find either WiFi or a pay phone to ring the van hire company, happily the nearest town was the other side of the aptly named paradise valley. One phone call later all was sorted and we could relax and enjoy our trip again. 

 
Our route back to Yellowstone would take us over one of the countries highest mountain passes, so as the wind picked up and a storm blew in we decided make camp earlier than planned and try the weather the next day instead. 
 
The next morning the weather seemed to be behaving so we went on a hike up a mountain first thing (more like 10am but still early for us!). On the way back down we kept our eyes peeled for the large bull moose spotted by fellow hikers but again the mysterious moose eluded us. 

Onwards then to Bear Tooth Pass, complete with pink hued snow piled higher than the van! Some highlights of this, other than the stunning views, are captured in photos below:
The "do not feed wildlife" signs were not in evidence here and it seemed to be a family outing to hand feed the chipmunks and ground squirrels. This also meant that thanks to a small bribe of granola we got some amazing photos of a marmot. 

The highest point of the pass is 11,000ft and still had over 10ft of snow! Needless to say we were very glad we didn't try to cross it the day before! 


 Lamar Valley is along the road we would take as our next entrance into Yellowstone so we had a super early start in the naive hope of catching some of Yellowstone's most infamous and controversial inhabitants, the re-introduced wolves. Despite keeping our eyes peeled and swapping political discussions for a go with a spotting scope, we only saw herbivores (lots and lots of bison in particular). 



After a quick oggle at a petrified tree (the original 3 had been chipped away by tourists to leave one lone stump remaining) we headed up along Yellowstone canyon. 


 


A very long and steep hike gave us some spectacular views of the falls. 

 
A visit to the mud volcano area rounded off this leg of Yellowstone and we headed back out of the park towards Cody. 

 

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