First Full Day at Yellowstone, Continued

Old Faithful

Following our picnic in the minivan, Kakes, B-saurus, and I headed to the bathroom and then over to the viewing platform for Old Faithful.  The rest of our motley crew joined us and we settled in to watch the geyser erupt.  Kakes and Pat had a great view sitting on the edge of the platform.  Malone and B were not in the least bit excited to see the geyser and kept complaining that it was taking too long (15 minutes).  M was half way interested when the show started but B-saurus was ready to leave.  She didn't chime in with her usual, "Is it over yet?" until another little girl started asking.   The little girls were exhausted so we got back in the car and headed out on the lower loop drive so the kids could nap.

We didn't stop anywhere until we were past Fishing Bridge as all 3 girls were asleep 5 minutes after getting back in the van.  We thought Pat had fallen asleep too but 1/2 hour into the drive he popped up and said he couldn't sleep and wanted to read.  We had banned books and video games in Yellowstone because we wanted the kids to look out the windows but since the girls were sleeping we acquiesced and let Pat read his book.

 

Yellowstone Lake

Wildfire damage

Plume of smoke from a wildfire in the interior of the park

Another view of the lake

Heading north from Fishing Village, traffic almost came to a stop.  From our experiences the previous day, we knew it meant there was some kind of animal action.  Sure enough, there were bison on either side of the road and rangers trying to keep the traffic moving.  The girls woke up from their naps, lucky for us in good moods.

 

Bison near the car

We pulled off in to the Mud Volcano area and started walking up the walkways. 

 

The air was a little hazy from the smoke

The air also had that good ol' sulphur smell from the thermal areas

Kakes and Pat had run ahead of us and when we finally caught up they were excitedly pointing at all the bison around the mudpots.  There were easily a hundred and they were right by the walkways.

 

One male was either feeling amorous or aggressive towards another bison.  We didn't get a good look to see the gender of the other one.  The large male made loud belching like noises and chased the other bison across the walkway...maybe 10 feet in front of Papa.

 

Aggressive or Amorous?

It freaked us out and hit home the fact that these are wild animals.  As we left the area, another bison crossed the walkway and stared us down.  Kakes was even too scared to take a picture.  We slowly made our way back to the car.

 

Away from the bison

As we left the mudpot area there was ash in the air from the wildfire and the air was definitely smoky.  We headed back north through Hayden Valley.

It's amazing how the terrain changes while driving the outer loop.

On the way to Tower-Roosevelt area, we saw a look out crowded with cars parked badly.  And what does that mean?  An animal!  And this animal was...

 

A Grizzly Bear!

That was one of the animals we were hoping to see.  The kids (and I) were really excited.  B-saurus kept shouting, "Bear!  Oh No!  Scared!".  Obviously, we made it through our bear encounter unscathed. 

More changes in terrain

I'm glad that Papa drove on these twisty mountain roads

On our way into Mammoth from the east, we passed another strange grouping of vehicles.  There was a baby black bear playing by some trees.  We stayed in the car and didn't get a picture...I was a little concerned as to where Mama bear was.  Not long after that, I caught some movement in one of the fields out of the corner of my eye...

Coyote!

Kakes would have loved to see a wolf but a coyote was close enough.  That was the end of our first full day in Yellowstone.  We made it out of the park with out being pulled over and were back in the hotel room at a decent hour.