Preparing for our journey to Yellowstone... Before we left the ski resort we made Tuna fish sandwiches 🥪. This allowed Rob to try his Leatherman (I wanted to buy a can opener). It worked pretty well.
Once we knew we were traveling west (month's ago) Yellowstone has been on our list to visit. As we were making our way towards Yellowstone we heard the park was closed. Heavy rainfall had washed out several roads and we started rethinking our visit. When I began looking for a place to stay, some hotels were not open and others were charging high fees.
We made reservations in West Yellowstone thinking we would leave the ski resort and make our way through Idaho and hopefully we would at least be able to see Old Faithful. Within days of arriving to Yellowstone, roads had been repaired and it was completely open except for the northern entrance and we decided to take the scenic route. Our route took us into Idaho and back down the mountain through Wyoming.
 |
| Road Trip! |
 |
| Be Bear Aware |
 |
| Watch for Falling Rocks! |
 |
| Avalanche Control |
 |
| Steep grade, check brakes. |
 |
| This one was the best, truck ramp for right side of road was on the left. Watch out oncoming traffic. |
We made our way through Jackson Hole 🕳, which was very touristy, but a place we would like to check out in the future.
We stopped at the Grand Teton Lodge Company, they had a beautiful view from their balcony.
Our next stop was for a little hike around Colter Bay. The Bay was named for John Colter, discoverer of the Teton Mountains.
Our next visit to Grand Teton's will include spending a little more time and more hiking 🚶♂️ 🚶♀️.
We entered Yellowstone at the South Entrance. We were given a handy little map, a travel and entrance advisory notification.
We had some spectacular views along our drive.
They were definitely working on the roads in several areas of the park due to the flood.
We entered West Yellowstone, which is located in Montana.
We were staying at the Alpine Motel.
Our room setup was a little strange, the bathroom sink was located on the opposite side from the bathroom. You were not allowed to cook anything in the room, including using a crockpot and there was no coffee maker. You had to get coffee from the lobby. Otherwise, the room was perfect. Great location and the owners, Brian and Patty, were the sweetest people. Upon check, in Brian provided us with a map of West Yellowstone and gave us his recommendations for several restaurants. He also called everyone, "Buddy" which cracked Rob up.
We had dinner at Bullwinkle's.
 |
| Bison Burger |
 |
| Montana Meatloaf |
We walked around and checked out the town, another touristy location. T-shirt shops, gem stores, restaurants, the usual tourist shops.
On July 9th, we went back to the park, to see the geysers and so much more. This was our view driving in towards Old Faithful.
We were timing our visit with the estimated time of eruption. We arrived early so we could explore the area and be able to get a front row seat. We saw our first Bison 🦬 inside Yellowstone. He had a nice cozy spot that prevented us from taking a trail 👣 and had a Park Ranger blocking the way.
So we took the inside path that went along the backside of Old Faithful. On this path we were able to see springs and geysers.
 |
| Blue Star Spring |
 |
| Chinese Spring |
 |
| Beehive Geyser |
We got our seats 💺 👀 in the sun 🌞 with a lot of other people and patiently waited for the special event. Old Faithful is not the largest or most regular geyser eruption, but it's eruptions are more frequent than the other big geysers in the park. Old Faithful, was not on time, but worth the wait.
 |
| Lots of people! |
Yellowstone was set aside as the world's first National Park because of it's hydrothermal features. These features are the visible expression of the supervolcano. The heat 🔥that fuels ⛽ these geological wonders is given off by the partially molten magma body deep in the earth.
 |
| OMG 😲 |
We checked out the Old Faithful Inn.
We saw the Spouter Geyser on our way to the Black Sand Basin. Black obsidian (volcanic glass) "sand" gives this Geyser basin it's name. Oranges 🍊, greens, and other colors in and around the hot springs comes from the thermophiles (heat-loving micro organisms). In this basin we walked the path to see the Cliff Geyser, the Green Spring, the Emeral Pool, the Rainbow Pool, and Sunset Lake.
 |
| Spouter Geyser |
 |
| Cliff Geyser |
 |
| Eruption of Cliff Geyser |
 |
| Green Spring |
 |
| Emerald Pool |
 |
| Emerald Pool |
 |
| Rainbow 🌈 Pool |
 |
| Sunset Lake |
Biscuit Basin was named for the Biscuit shaped mineral formations created when the Sapphire Pool began to erupt violently, blowing away the large rock biscuits around the crater.
 |
| Sapphire Pool |
 |
| Avoca Springs |
 |
| Black Opal ⚫ Pool |
Mystic Falls Trail
 |
| Me after hiking to the falls! |
On September 14, 1985, Excelsior Geyser roared back to life with forty-seven hours of major eruptions, after being dormant since 1890.
 |
| Excelsior Geyser Crater |
Everytime we see a spring, a geyser, or the beautiful landscape we think it possibly cannot get any better and then we see the next spectacular sight.
The Grand Pristmatic Spring is the largest and one of the most brilliant of Yellowstone's many colorful hot springs. The high temperature 🌡 of it's water 💧 160° ensures that the Spring is often cloaked in steam. Prismatic means brilliantly colored.
Next up the Fountain Paint Pots Trail, a half mile walk through geysers, hot 🔥 springs, fumaroles and mud pots. The Red Spouter was created in 1959 by the earthquake that rocked Hebgen Lake, Montana, 25 miles northwest of Yellowstone. Jolts rippled through Yellowstone and in the aftermath Red Spouter was born.
 |
| Silex Spring |
 |
| Vat of bubbling mud |
 |
| Red Spouter |
 |
| Clepsydra Geyser |
 |
| Fountain Geyser |
Bright orange heat-loving bacteria known as thermophiles populate the run off channels. These microbes contain colorful pigments that allow them to make energy from sunlight and thrive in the hot conditions of the spring.
Fairy Falls Trail 👣 was a 2.5 miles trail to the falls.
 |
| Yellowstone Lake |
We stopped to see LeHardy Rapids and to take a nap. When we got out of the car there were Salmon flies everywhere 😩. Apparently, in mid May these rapids fill with Yellowstone cutthroat trout heading upstream to spawn. There are not as many since trout was introduced to Yellowstone Lake in 1980 but fish can still be seen jumping every 10 to 15 minutes during the annual migration. The Salmon Flies were so bad I couldn't get back in the car fast enough.
 |
| Salmon Flies |
 |
| ReHardy Rapids |
Mud Volcano 🌋 trail is a 2/3 of a mile loop around pungent Sulphur-smelling muddy hydrothermal wonders. The trail supposedly is less steep if you walk around clockwise, I'm not sure is was really less steep, but I made it.
Mud Volcano 🌋 an explosive change. In 1870, an explorer stood in awe as Mud Volcano spewed mud into the treetops, shaking the ground with each eruption. Two years later it was a Pool of bubbling, muddy water. Mud Volcano had blown itself apart.
 |
| Mud Geyser |
 |
| Sizzling Basin |
Churning Cauldron is scalding hot, but not boiling. Gases rise through vents opened by earthquakes, then rumble and bubble to the surface, causing the water to roil.
Sulphur Cauldron is the most acidic Spring in Yellowstone.
Black Dragon's Cauldron and Sour Lake:
Grizzly Fumarole changes from day to day, and season to season, reflecting recent weather conditions. During dry weather, steam rises from the mostly dry vents. Rain or snow transforms the fumarole into mudpots. A single, large mudpot often appears in Spring.
.
Rob was so close he could have reached out and touched him. Rob was rolling down the window, grabbing his phone, and recording this Bison 🦬 (large & in charge) walking right past us. He even stopped and looked right at us. I'm like roll up the window, OMG!
Sorry! Forgot to take a picture of the pizza 🍕. Must have been good. No leftovers.
The Mud Volcano area was very interesting!
We had a black bear 🐻 and our first elk sighting as we continued our drive.
We did the Virginia Cascade drive, a scenic one way spur off of the main road.
So, we have seen a lot of Bison 🦬 during our travels through Yellowstone, the best was today. We were sitting in traffic and Rob was a little annoyed because traffic just comes to a standstill and we could not see what was the cause. Well, there was a Bison 🦬 just walking down the middle of the oncoming lane.
Traffic starts moving and we go past and Rob goes to play the video and discovers he did not record it. Boy was he was pissed! Actually, he was beyond pissed! I felt so bad for him! It would have been the perfect video, at least I got some photos, but a video would have been spectacular. We passed the Bison's 🦬 friend walking down the side of the road.
More elk just laying in the field.
We had dinner at The Wild West Pizzeria. This was recommended by Brian the owner of Alpine Motel. We really enjoyed this place and wished we would have come here the night before.
 |
| Pizza 🍕 was excellent 👌 |
Sorry! Forgot to take a picture of the pizza 🍕. Must have been good. No leftovers.
We really enjoyed Yellowstone National Park and West Yellowstone. This is a trip that I wished I would have done with my children. It was such a great experience. I would come back and spend more time here.
When we left Yellowstone our plan was to head north to St. Mary, Montana and then travel the Going-to-the Sun Road in Glacier National Park. Well, I found out you need to obtain a pass which would be issued the day before our intended travel. The pass only allowed travel so far since the Going-to-the Sun Road was not completely opened and was still being plowed! I did not try to obtain a pass as we would not be using that route. We still headed north and made a stop in Choteau for the night.
 |
| Earthquake Lake |
We stayed at the Stage Stop Inn
 |
| Sheep Wagon |
 |
| Bear Traps |
I used the crock pot again as we were driving. We had chicken, tomatoes, capers, and Spaghetti with a side salad. 😋
We took a scenic route and went through East Glacier and Walton/Essex/Goat Lick areas. We stopped to see the goats 🐐 🐐 that lick the side of the mountain for salt and minerals. We did not see any goats and did not get to enter the West entrance to Glacier National Park. We needed the pass that we didn't get (for the Going-to-the-Sun Road) to enter the park so we were turned away. We did get a picture and a guide book. We will definitely come back to explore Glacier National Park.
We arrived in Libby, considered the City of Eagles, and spent the night at the Venture Inn.
 |
| City of Eagles |
Our next stop Kootenai Falls and the Swinging Bridge 🌉. We decided to do the bridge first. You know how much Rob likes heights! At first he was not going over but he did it!
 |
| Trail to the bridge |
 |
| The look of you really want to do this? |
 |
| If I live I think I might kill you! |
Next stop the falls. The river is named for the Kootenai People that lived and hunted in this part of Montana.
We had lunch at Roosevelt Park in Troy, Montana. Sometimes, we eat while driving 🚗, but I decided it would be nice to be in a park by the water 💧. Well, this detour that we took led us to a small one lane bridge we could drive over.
Washington here we come!
