6/24-25/10: Yellowstone and the Tetons

(24) The 24th consisted mostly of driving, but we drove through some beautiful country as we stretched across Wyoming – from Rapid City to Yellowstone National Park. We made a stop in Cody near the park entrance, where we got some coffee from a local place and just enjoyed being out of the car.

Once we got closer to the park, Rachael was determined that she would see a bear. So from that point on she had on what we refer to as her “Bear Eyes.” On entering the park (which we were able to get a free pass due to the fact that we were staying with a good friend of Ali’s who works in the park – thanks Jen!!) we saw a moose!! We saw a crowd of people on the side of the road and Ali’s dad had said – “you see a crowd of people, stop! There’s something going on” – so we did stop and after tromping through some sticks we spotted the big Bull Moose. Cool :)



So we drove and drove, knowing that we would be able to see and enjoy the park at a slower pace the next day. But we did stop at Fishing Bridge, gape at Yellowstone Lake and we got a glimpse of some geysers. We passed through Yellowstone into the Tetons where the mountains reflected in the lakes and the trees were a vibrant green. Finally, after a long day, we made it to Jackson Hole where we met up with Jen at her apartment. She fed us really good pasta, we chatted for a good chunk of time and then we were all pooped so we crashed without hesitation.

(25) The next day we spent the whole day making our way around the park. We started out at the Tetons Visitor Center where Jen works and we took spin around the place, watching video clips and reading little info boards. She took us for a short hike outside, telling us some facts about the parks history as well as pointing out some cool plant usages. Then, after asking a few more bear facts (where to look for them, what to do if – and when – we see one, etc.) we headed back up towards Yellowstone.



Instead of taking a whole step by step of the whole trip, we’ll just hit on the stopping points. Jen had laid out a map of spots we would enjoy seeing in the one day we had (Jen was APPALLED by the fact that we were only there for one day – there was so much to see!) But she helped us out a lot by picking some beautiful spots and it was great to have someone who really knew the park to help us out.

Our first stop was the geysers. Before we watched Old Faithful “erupt” we drove over to the Black Sand Basin. It was so amazing!!!! The smell was awful, but it felt like you were back in the age of the dinosaurs – water bubbling, steam everywhere and the colors were so bright. We walked around the boardwalk, making sure not to fall off – Jen had mentioned to us how new geyser holes can pop up from time to time, unpredictable spots. So what looks like a solid bed, could actually be a thin layer of earth ready to break . . . creepy!!!



Then we watched Old Faithful which in the end turned out to be not all that interesting. It was cool, but we liked the Black Sand Basin better. Then we moved on and saw some more geysers on another boardwalk hike. We saw some huge bull elk and lots of geese. The landscape changed so much with just driving as well as with the changing light. By the time we go to the other end of the Southern part of Yellowstone, the sun was getting lower and the lighting was so beautiful. We saw a huge waterfall whose river stretched down a long canyon and as we headed back to Jen’s we drove by a huge open plain of bison. They crossed the road, weaved in and out of the cars and passed the traffic of people like they were part of the scenery. Yellowstone was pretty spectacular.

We ended up getting back to Jen’s very late, but we chatted a bit before bed and were up early the next morning to head to Bend. It was a great way to end the trip. Thanks for everything Jen!!!