Golden Gate

Lillies on South Twin Lake

Fri, 7/11/08

Yellowstone NP; WY: Since Mike still not feeling so great, we thought we’d just drive the part of the Grand Loop Road between Norris and Mammoth Hot Springs, which we haven’t done yet. Another spectacular day—sunny and cool—highs only in the mid-60s. When we left it was in the mid-50s but there were people in tank tops and shorts. I had on jeans, a turtle neck and a sweatshirt. The humidity has been really low too—15-20%. This drive was another spectacular display of rugged bluffs, deep canyons, sparkling streams, beautiful water falls, and wide, lush valleys. The feature they call Golden Gate was spectacular with beautiful bluffs, obsidian creek running along, and a road that was suspended over the side of this cliff. When we got to Mammoth Hot Springs we had lunch again at the lodge there. All the lodges and hotels have great food—so far anyway. After lunch we decided to drive out to the western entrance of the park and check out West Yellowstone, MT. The road follows the Madison River which is a wide, shallow river that winds through this pretty valley. We saw several herds of elk. West Yellowstone is a really neat little town. It’s a mix of the old, the really old, and the new that’s built to look old. They have this beautiful, old stone train station in the middle of town. Not sure when it was built, but the only entrance in the 1800s was the north entrance. But the only purpose for it would be to bring people to Yellowstone. They probably had to take a stage coach from W. Yellowstone to the park. Drove back which took 2 hours. About a 9 ½ hour day.

Lake Hotel

Thu, 7/10/08

Yellowstone NP, WY: Mike feeling better this morning and it looks to be a beautiful day, so we decided to take a cruise on Yellowstone Lake. Really windy though and it was rough on the lake. Was a beautiful cruise though and a totally different perspective of the lake. Some salient points:

· The lake has 141 miles of shore line.
· The average depth is 140 feet and the deepest point is 430 feet.
· There is more thermal activity on the bottom of the lake than the rest of Yellowstone combined.
· The park is 80% forest—and 80% of those are lodge pole pine, which require fire to spread its seeds.
· The “grand loop” figure 8 road through the park covers only 6% of the park.
· The area south of Yellowstone Lake is the largest uninhabited area in the lower 48.

Before we went on the cruise we went over to Grant Village and had lunch at one of the restaurants there. Grant Village is really pretty and much newer than the other, historic areas—also much quieter and less congestion. We had a great lunch with a great view of the lake. After the cruise we went back to the campground and sat outside reading for a while. Think tomorrow we’ll take the Beartooth Scenic Byway and the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway.

Wed, 7/9/08

Yellowstone NP, WY: Mike still not feeling well. So I decided to drive into Cody. I left at 10:00 and my first stop was the Holiday Inn in Cody for lunch and taking advantage of their wi-fi. Left there and tried to get my hair cut but the proprietor was out. Did the grocery shopping and then stopped and got the truck washed. Back at the campground by 4:30. Such a beautiful drive though—especially through the Shoshone National Forest. There was a traffic jam where we saw the three grizzlies in Yellowstone, so they must still be hanging around there. Thought they moved around a lot. Another beautiful day—70s here in Yellowstone, 80s in Cody. On the drive over Sylvan Pass, the guard rail was out—someone didn’t quite make the turn. Hope they didn’t go over. It is a long way down. People are in such a hurry.