We reentered through the West Yellowstone gate and made our way towards Mammoth Hot Springs. We were planning to make a large loop through the north and eastern portions of the park.
WE ENTERED THE WEST GATE, MADE A LEFT AT NORRIS JUNCTION AND TOOK THE LOOP CLOCKWISE
We had taken the lower route on Thursday so this was new territory.
Our first stop was Gibbon Falls. There is a fairly large parking area and a nice walking path along the edge of the canyon created by the falls. The path has a good wall to protect folks from themselves. As is always the norm, some are dumber than others and they chose to sit, stand and hang over the wall. One dad was even letting his toddler stand on the wall. He had what he thought was a good grip but....these people wear me out. Either way, the falls are pretty and worth the stop.
We got back in the car and our next stop was Artists Paintpots. The trail out to the paintpots is less than a mile and the hydrothermal areas are amazing.
THEY ARE CALLED PAINT POTS BECAUSE THEY LOOK LIKE BUBBLING PAINT
BLOOP
The trail through this area is short but there is a bit of uphill involved. The view from the top gives you a very different perspective of a hydrothermal field.
We hiked back to the car and continued north to Mammoth Hot Springs. We had a few wildlife sightings along the way.
SWEET LITTLE BUFFALO CALF
MOMMA BUFFALO
We also saw two black bears but they were close enough to the road that the park rangers were not letting anyone stop for photos. Makes sense.
We drove on to Mammoth Hot Springs and walked on the boardwalk. There are two trails and both are loops. The trails take you right into the middle of the hydrothermal field.
As you leave Mammoth Hot Springs and drive towards the North Entrance, you will come to a fairly busy area called Albright Visitors Center. We kept going and started heading east towards Tower Roosevelt. The drive from Mammoth, past Tower and on to Canyon Village is curvy and has some elevation increases. We came upon a short delay due to a small snow slide.
We also saw lots of evidence of the Yellowstone Fire of 1988.
The Yellowstone fires of 1988 together formed the largest wildfire in the recorded history of Yellowstone National Park in the United States. Starting as many smaller individual fires, the flames quickly spread out of control with increasing winds and drought and combined into one large conflagration, which burned for several months. The fires almost destroyed two major visitor destinations and, on September 8, 1988, the entire park was closed to all non-emergency personnel for the first time in its history. Only the arrival of cool and moist weather in the late autumn brought the fires to an end. A total of 793,880 acres, or 36 percent of the park was affected by the wildfires.
THERE ARE STILL A FEW CHARRED TREES STANDING AND THERE ARE MILLIONS OF DEAD LODGEPOLE PINES SCATTERED ON THE GROUND LIKE TIDDLYWINKS
THE NEW GROWTH IS BEAUTIFUL AS IS THE PARK. I WOULD IMAGINE THAT THE FIRST FEW YEARS AFTER THE FIRE REALLY CHANGED THE LANDSCAPE OF THIS BEAUTIFUL NATIONAL PARK
We finished our loop and made our way back to the girls. Friday is pizza night so I made homemade pizza and we watched game 4 of the NBA finals.
Saturday dawned cool and blustery. We had decided to take the girls and take a drive to Big Sky Montana. Big is only about 45 miles away and it is a place we have always wanted to see. We have also talked about skiing Big Sky so we thought it was a great opportunity to check it out.
The resort area is amazing and we now know that we could really enjoy a ski week at Big Sky.
We decided to drive up the mountain a bit and go for a hike. There is a trail called Beehive Basin so we drove to that trailhead grabbed our gear and got moving.
WELL OK
The hike started out cool but comfortable. We had not been out more than 10 minutes and it started snowing. The path was well marked and we had our bear spray, food, water, emergency blankets and an air horn so we kept going.
A SMALL LOG BRIDGE. IT WAS FUN WATCHING ROB AND PENNY LANE NAVIGATE
ANNIE WAS NOT HAPPY
We hiked for an hour or so and then decided to turn back. The snow was coming down harder and we were hiking into the snow line as we ascended. We got back to the car and we had two happy dogs. One was happy because she was a filthy mess and the other was happy because she was no longer out in the cold. They had a bonding moment when we got back in the car.
HAPPY TO HAVE SURVIVED BEAR COUNTRY
ME AND MY BIG PUP
We are now back at the RV. It is cold and windy outside but we are warm and cozy in our little home on wheels.
Another great day in this thing we call life.
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