We traveled from Grand Teton National Park to northern end of Yellowstone National Park today.
Our day started off with some wildlife (sighting) hunting. Our first attempt is the Jackson Lodge Wildlife Reserve. Result: failed, but we did get a group shot:
The next stop is Signal Mountain Summit, 800 ft above the Teton Valley. At this point, I'm still pretty optimistic about seeing some wildlife:
The view from the summit was spectacular! (but still no animals)
This is all we can see of the mountain ranges - they are almost all over 10,000 feet. Imagine the peaks are at the top of the photo somewhere in the clouds:
From there, we left Grand Teton NP and headed north to Yellowstone. This is somewhere between the two national parks:
Oblivious slow car in front of us is creating a traffic jam...
We crossed the Continental Divide three times:
Old Faithful was our first stop in Yellowstone. I can see why people prefer Grand Teton over Yellowstone. Look at all these tourists:
More tourists on our right waiting for the Old Faithful eruption. We got front row seats:
We were pretty surprised how close we were - we're no more than 50 yards away. Found out why in about half an hour:
Pretty underwhelming - the eruption was more steam than water. Why is this thing so overhyped? In case you need a little help, this is the direction of the underwater eruption:
On the other hand, the geyser basins are pretty amazing. Biscuit Basin:
Followed by Middle Geyser Basin's Excelsior Geyser Crater:
and Sapphire Pool:
The two geyser basins more than made up for the lame Old Faithful.
Weather was unpredictable all day - rained a little here, cloudy there... then HAIL! I endured hail to bring these photos to you, and I have photos to prove it. Yes, it blew in my face. Yes, it hurt.
This is no-no:
We FINALLY came across some wildlife! Deers by the road on our way north to Mammoth Hot Springs. You can always spot animal sightings by all the cars pulled over on the side of the road.
More steam from hot springs by the road:
We're spending the night at the northern end of Yellowstone, just 2 miles from Montana. The Mammoth Hot Springs look absolutely amazing, but that will have to wait until tomorrow when it's supposed to be sunny.
Oh yes, I had bison for dinner tonight - sausage and sirloin steak. It tastes a lot like beef.
Maximum elevation: 8,391 feet, Continental Divide (#3)
Miles covered today: 107
Road trip mileage count: 1,199
States visited: Wyoming, Montana
Miles to Columbus, OH: 1,731
1 comment:
the nice thing about yellowstone is that you don't have to worry about ppl calling doorknob on you, thanks to the sweet smellin' sulfur!
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