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PB&J Adventures' Wild West Tour 2014 - Part 9
2 adults, 4 kids, 1 cat, 20 states, 20 days
 

Day Nine- Yellowstone National Park - Southwest - June 7, 2014

Yellowstone Lake - West Thumb
After a good night's sleep at Fishing Bridge Campground, we departed on another adventurous day. This time we headed southwest on Grand Loop road which took us along the northwest coast of Yellowstone Lake. We stopped at Bridge Bay Marina where we encountered a family of elk leisurely enjoying the morning sun in the crisp cool air. We could see steam rising from several vents around the lake's coastline and snow capped mountains beyond. It made us anxious to see more. We proceeded along Yellowstone Lake's "West Thumb" then pointed the RV north towards the continental divide and Yellowstone's upper geyser basin.

Old Faithful and Friends
As we gradually climbed in altitude, the sun began to disappear behind the clouds. It was starting to look like it might rain. There were some beautiful sites along the road to Old Faithful, but nothing prepared us for what we saw once we arrived. The Old Faithful Lodge is a massive log structure with a beautiful rustic interior, and on the other side is the main attraction: Old Faithful. There is also a large expanse of walkways, some wooden, some paved, weaving through various other geysers, springs, and steaming pools. Old faithful was already erupting as we rounded the corner of the Lodge. The morning air was still pretty chilly, so the geyser produced massive amounts of steam. So much steam, in fact, you could barely see the water shooting into the air. It was not a disappointment though. It lasted for a few minutes, then we had to decide how much walking we wanted to do.

We're Gonna Do What?
From the back of the Old Faithful Lodge, it looks like miles of walkways stretching across many acres of geothermal activity. When we announced our plans to walk "way down there," we got a bit of blowback from the kids. "How many geysers do we really have to see? Surely they all look alike, no?" After a few encouraging words (threats and bribes), we were on our way down one of the wooden walkways. It didn't take long before we realized that all geysers DO NOT look the same. We were amazed there are many variations of geothermal activity in this relatively small area. There are signs warning visitors to stay on the pathways because of the questionable stability of the ground.

Firehole River
The Firehole river runs through the upper geyser basin and is constantly fed steaming hot water  from the various geysers and springs in the basin. The river's water is crystal clear and is teeming with life. Because of the hot water feeding the otherwise icy water, fishing is more productive in this river this time of year. We made plans to try our hands at some fly fishing in Firehole before we left the park.

Old Faithful Eruption - Take Two
As the day progressed, the clouds burned off and the air warmed a good bit. Jackets came off and sun block went on. We couldn't help but notice that there were many foreign tourists in the park, and many of them were very careful about covering their entire bodies with clothing. Not us man! We were loving us some sun! We spent around three hours exploring the Old Faithful area, and we saw one very nice eruption from the Daisy geyser. We arrived back at Old Faithful just minutes before another eruption. This time the air was warmer so we got to see the water shooting very high into the air. Very impressive!

Moving On

We'd spent a lot of time in the Old Faithful area, but we knew we had to get moving to see some more sites. We stopped at numerous pull offs throughout the day. Again we were impressed with the fact that around every corner was something different. We were seeing plenty of wildlife and evidence of wildlife. We saw some animal tracks by one of the geysers that were obviously from a grizzly bear. We also met a young elk buck walking along the road heading the other direction. At least he was on the correct side of the road.

Grand Prismatic Spring
I can't emphasize enough the importance of stopping at all the pull offs. You may think you've seen it all, but trust me, you haven't. A great example is Grand Prismatic Spring. By the time we reached this part of the park, we'd seen lots of colorful pools and steaming springs. But as we approached this unique feature, we could see something very different. The sunlight shining down through the steam was changing colors. Not slightly, but dramatically. The mist would change from a rich blue to green, yellow, and red. It was one of the most incredible things any of us had ever seen.

West Yellowstone, Montana  

By the end of the day we were ready to find our campsite and explore our home for the next couple of nights. We had reservation at an "RV park" in West Yellowstone, Montana. We thought it was walking distance from downtown, but it was not. We went ahead and checked in (had to pay cash, and way too much) and took the motorhome downtown so we could eat. This was one of the rare times we wished we'd had a second vehicle. I won't mention the name of the RV park because I don't want to give them publicity. The campsites, not much more than a parking lot, are barely wide enough for our rig with the slides out. The "playground" consists of a single rusty sears swing set. We paid a premium price for a sub par site.

The town of West Yellowstone is actually very quaint. There are numerous shops and restaurants, all with the "old west" feel. There are also several fishing outfitters, so we found out first-hand where the best fishing was in the park. Most of the rivers are "blown out" as a result of the snow melts, but the Firehole river was fishable. That confirmed our plans for later in the week.

Rest-up - Big Plans Tomorrow!
We turned-in a little earlier this night because we had some really big plans for the next day, but that's another story.
 

Scroll to bottom for the entire gallery.



Early morning sun across Yellowstone Lake



Old Faithful's chilly morning eruption
 

No two geysers look the same and they all have names. This one is called "Grotto Geyser."


Firehole River runs through the Upper Geyser Basin and is fed hot water from the springs and geysers.


Morning Glory Spring

 


Old Faithful in all its glory


Grand Prismatic Spring, a must see!

 


Stop at all the pull offs or you'll miss something!


We saw these guys fishing the Firehole River
and decided we must!



West Yellowstone Montana

 

 

 

Please scroll down to view all the entire gallery of photographs from each of these destinations.