Day 3 in Yellowstone

I forgot the loop to Virginia Cascades on the way back from Canyon! It was so pretty and quiet. It was another of those places we normally would have missed, if not for the head's up from the Garners. There weren't many people there so it was lovely.

We originally planned on just 2 days in Yellowstone but we missed seeing the boardwalk loop behind Old Faithful when we were there on the first day. N had seen a picture of a pool there called "Morning Glory" and she really wanted to see it so Dilbert, N, H and I got up early and headed back to the Old Faithful area early in the morning. The fog was amazing at that hour. We made it to the Geyser Hill area and did the hike which ended up being 3 miles, round trip (check out the slide shows for pictures of this area). It was worth it, though.

After the hike we went back to West Yellowstone. We had planned on going rafting down the river or boating on Hegben Lake but it was far too cold. Instead, we gathered the rest of the group and headed to town to do some souvenir shopping. We all got hoodies and goodies and had fun looking at all the junk for sale. While we were in one store, bnlfan_1 and Teah were offered jobs for next summer so Yeah! we may be back next year!

Yellowstone Day 3

Another full day in the park, this time going north to Mammoth, Tower-Roosevelt and the Canyon area. The kids were THRILLED to spend another day in the car, driving around, looking at NATURE.

We started with another waterfall, Gibbon Falls, which was breathtaking. The pictures did not do it justice (but what pictures do?) Then on to the Norris Basin. We saw a lot of Elk and one cute fox along the way. Roaring Mountain was very neat, looking like an enormous pile of smoking poo, but still worth looking at (that is for the kids). The Sheepeater Cliff was another very interesting turn-out. We had fun scaring the kids at the Golden Gate, but we made it past without anyone dying. The view of the valleys up there was spectacular (I am running out of adjectives).

Mammoth has changed a lot since I was there, 20+ years ago. It has dried up a lot but it is still amazing to see. We saw this moose, yes, it really is a moose, and a very sickly deer on the way to Undine Falls.

I was disappointed the trail to the base of Tower Fall has washed out and is inaccessible but the kids were not disappointed at all. I must have overwhelmingly disappointed because I didn't take a single picture there! We also stopped at Wraith falls. From here, the Canyon country opened up with breathtaking views in every direction.

Again, I was disappointed that Artist Point was closed so we took a hike to a lower viewpoint of the Lower Falls. Wow.

After that we made our way back to West Yellowstone, exhausted. How lucky we were to have hosts who stayed behind to cook and clean for us. It was better than a hotel!

Artist's Paint Pots

Mammoth Hot Springs

I was tagged...

Players, you must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name.

If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would
have liked to have had. When you are tagged you need to write your own
blog post containing your own middle name game facts. At the end of
your blog post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your
middle name to tag. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Friends... who couldn't live without them!
Order... I crave it but it is elusive. It also implies going out to lunch... Yumm!
Robert... my baby who is 18 now and leaving for college this morning.
Daughters... I was blessed with five of these wonderful creatures who look vaguely like me but are vastly more beautiful, intelligent, creative, fun, talented, ingenious, etc...

Now let's see... who can I tag? Cory (because he is my favorite person in the wole world), Lana (because you've a way with words that inspire me), Janis (who never posts enough), Carol (another who needs to post more), and Rosalie (an unbelievable artist who graciously is storing my sons crap until he moves in today--thanks again!), and anyone else who will join in!

Old Faithful Area

Lower Geyser Basin