Yellowstone National Park is America’s first National Park and includes amazing wildlife, natural hot springs, hundreds of miles of hiking trails, and the world’s largest concentration of geysers.
Geyser in Yellowstone
Kids walking on the boardwalk to look at the Geysers
Gettting up close and personal.
Trev and Akaisha walking near the Geyser
We entered the park and went on wildlife Loop straight away. We found the West Thumb Geyser Basin. These were the first of many geysers to be seen in Yellowstone. Apparently this exotic thermal feature owes their existence to superheated magma chambers. When the surface water seeps close to the chambers, it heats up and rises, erupting in a variety of ways, from mud pots to bubbling hot springs to spouting geysers and steam vents. It was pretty clear that humans were not to walk close to the geysers because of the hot water and thin crust. But everything was very well set up with boardwalks and information for the excited tourist.
Yellowstone Lake
Small, medium and big geysers everywhere.
The West Thumb Geyser basin overlooked Yellowstone Lake, the largest lake at high elevation in North America. We were pleased to see some Elk crossing our walkway, then heading down to the Geyser basin.
"Will I or won't I?"
"I'll give it a go."
"Sure are a lot of folks watching!"
"Well....if she can do it!......"
"....so can I!"
"Nothing to it"..... "I know, I know!"
Trev and Akaisha watching the elk in the Geyser Basin.
Quite a wondrous sight.
We travelled on and came across the Continental Divide. (A series of mountain ridges extending from Alaska to Mexico forms the watershed of North America. Most of it runs along peaks of the Rocky Mountains and is often called the Great Divide in the United States).Yellowstone, Glacier and Rocky Mountain National Park lie on the Continental Divide. It is the point where water feeds two different river systems and flows in opposite directions.
The Continental Divide in Yellowstone.
Water flows in two different directions, feeding two different rivers.
There are about 300 waterfalls in the Park. All of the waterfalls were picturesque and worth photgraphing.
Another picturesque waterfall.
The stream and waterfall
We had the "getting in, getting out" process down pat!
As we were visiting the “Old Faithful” Geyser, we saw a herd of bison (buffalo in Oz) or Katanka (traditional Indian name). They were feeding near the Geyser, which we were beginning to discover, attracted a lot of wildlife.
A herd of Buffalo
See the Geyser spurting water behind the buffalo.
The Old Faithful Geyser was pretty cool. On average, Old Faithful erupts about every 90 minutes and shoots water 135 feet into the air. The Tourist Information centre was set up very well. There were people everywhere, so I’d hate to see how crowded it would be at summertime.
The Geyser in the background before it's explosion.
"Old Faithful" Geyser.
A crowd had gathered to watch the Geyser erupt.
Water starts bubbling, then......
........There she blows!
The crowd enjoyed the spectacle.
A guy painting the Geyser
Geyser in the background, painting in the foreground.
On way out of visiting the Geyser for two hours, we saw an unbelievable rainbow, which I took about 60 photos of. We saw more geysers on the way to our campground for the night at Madison.
What an amazing rainbow!
Many cars stopped to take photos of such a beautiful sight.
More Geysers on the way to our campsite.
Our campsite at Madison.
Madison River ran right by our campsite.
You can just make out the fishermen in the river.
Fishing was a very popular pasttime here.
Saw more buffalo on the road…a real traffic stopper. Then found the Dragon Cave geyser. The smell was like rotten eggs, so the kids only ventured to it for a short while.
Heaps of buffalo.
Buffalo get right of way when crossing the road.
Looking into the Dragon Cave
This had been a volcano that erupted many years ago and left just the outer cone.
Coyote in the wild at Yellowstone
We even saw a coyote due to the keen spotting by Trevor as we drove past some open plains. Coyotes are very shy and don’t often show themselves, so even though it is hard to see the coyote in our photo, we were pleased to get the opportunity to see one in the wild.
We stopped for breakfast by the river. Kids had fun skimming rocks across the surface of the water, whilst I sat with an ever vigilant eye out for a bear that may come ambling out of the forest.
A lovely picnic spot for breakfast.
Jai and Flynn having skimming competitions.
Eeeeewwww!
We came across the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, which was an awesome sight. Apparently it is a former geyser, created by rhyolite lave flows, heat and faulting. Scientists believe that at the end of the last glacial period, melting ice dams at the mouth of the Yellowstone Lake caused catastrophic flooding and erosion that lead to the formation of the canyon as it exists today. The Lower Falls plunge 308 feet into the Yellowstone River. Upper Falls cascades 109 feet into the Canyon. This is the area we saw and we were certainly impressed.
The Grand Canyon Of Yellowstone
Looking at the canyon in awe.
What a waterfall!
We didn't expect these views.
Amazing views from any direction we looked.
We continued driving, heading towards Dunraven Pass, when suddenly there were cars banked up in front of us. We couldn’t see why until Tev yelled, “A bear…..a black bear!” And so there was, our first bear in the wild……….seemingly oblivious to the commotion it had caused.
Could it be?...............
A bear! A real bear in the wild!
Feeling very chuffed with ourselves that we had finally seen a bear in the wild, we continued on the Yellowstone Loop towards our next campsite for the evening. There were still some pretty hairy roads with almost 90 degree drop off, but the spectacular views were worth the trip.
Some narrow roads with very steep dropoffs.
Lovely views all through this area.
Another rainbow against a lovely backdrop
We found our second campsite in Yellowstone called Mammoth Hotsprings Campsite. In the evening, we saw elk crossing through, unperturbed by the number of cars and people stopped for them. There were still signs saying not to get too close as male elk in particular can be very dangerous (especially in rutting season).
A photo opportunity for many tourists (including us)
A male trying to "interest" the female.
Left forlorn and alone as the lady wasn't interested.
Even Chaye wasn't that interested in what was going on.
But the females weren't worried about any males...four legged or two legged!
Our campsite was their favourite haunt as they travelled between hills.
Spent an evening playing cards and Monopoly, then left Yellowstone the next day. We drove through the town right near the National Park and continued to see steep hills along the way. We could also see snow that had fallen and settled on the peaks of the mountains……… so we did have snow after all!
Akaisha clearly enjoying the Monopoly game.
Our campsite
We had snow in Yellowstone!
Nearing the exit. You can see the town nearby.
Farewell Yellowstone
Loving the pics! Yellowstone…another amazing place! A beautiful one of Trev and Akaisha near the geyser. Must have been the day for bears…Phyl saw her first black bear yesterday too…they are in Fort Liard in the North West territories. Looks like it is getting colder….but still looks like a wonderful time to visit.
Back to work tomorrow…tho spent time there Fri and again today just getting ready for the SDD.
Love and Sunshine
Aunty Trace XXX
Hi Trace,
Where exactlyis Phyl? It was exciting to see a back bear. We really wanted to see a Grizzly as well, but unless you go to their favourite haunts, it is hard to see one. We did, however, see lots of wildlife and we’re happy about that. Hope the start to the term is smooth. Take care.
Love Cath and family
Great travel log. The geysers reminded us of the ones we saw in New Zealand. There the whole town smelt of sulphur.
Obviously black bears are hard to find in the wild. We only saw one in Canadian Rockies last year.
The photos are excellent and the commentary as well.
Love
Mum and Dad
Hi Mum and Dad,
The cars were all banked up around a bend, so very dangerous, but obviously everyone wanted to get a shot of the bear! The geysers were quite amazing. The smell was very strong….obviously doesn’t put the animals off. I would like to see your pictures of the ones in New Zealand. I’m enjoying your emails re your travels.
Love Cath and family
Finally after “Going on a Bear Hunt – Howitt style” you’ve found a bear. Well done!! Nice pic’s. Keep having fun.
The Burnetts.
Hi Burnett family,
Yay! A real live bear…..finally.
Love Cath and Howitt clan
What beautiful photos of Yellowstone has this park been one of your highlights…so many I imagine!
The kids seems so happy and relaxed…what about their education – where’s the classroom! 😛 (LOL) Love reading the captions beneath your pictures, they make me smile! Look forward to the next adventure!
God Bless and Keep Safe
Denise
Hi Denise,
Yellowstone was a highlight, but to be honest, there’s too many to pinpoint just one. I think the people we meet are amazing, so I enjoy that. Trev loves the National Parks. The kids love the playgrounds! 🙂 …….along with everything else. I just love the whole adventure.
The kids are happy and relaxed. Not a heap of “formal” homework, although we give them fun quizzes to see what they’ve learnt….and yes, probably more than they would out of a textbook! Hope all is well with you and your family.
Love Cathy
Greetings Howitt Family
Tetons and Yellow Stone wonderful!!! I’ve never seen elk in the wild. You are sooo lucky to see all the wild life in the wild. So happy that you saw a black bear. Love the pictures. All of the waterfalls so pretty. I can’t imagine being able to see all the cool places that you have been. So do you get snow at home. The weather says we are to get some light snow this evening into morning. It won’t stay. The ground is still to warm. We had so many mild fall days in the last 2 weeks I’m a bit spoiled and NOT looking forward to the snow anytime soon. Richard said to say hi.
Take Care, Sandy R MN
Hi Sandy and Richard,
We loved seeing the wildlife and the gorgeous scenery. We don’t get snow where we’re from, so the kids would ike to experience some. I think we’ll see heaps when we head back to Pennsylvania for Xmas. 🙂
Hope you get to see some of these places one day. I know you’d love them.
Cath, Trev and the kids.
Fantastic blog guys – worth the wait. Some amazing views – especially from the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. Great to see you got your photos of the bear, elk, and moose.
Love Scott
Hi Scott,
You really would love to take your camera to Yellowstone. Maybe a plan for a future trip!
The moose and bear were rare to get photos of (as we found out later), so we’re pretty pleased as well.
Cath and family xx
Love keeping track of you all. I bet Disney Land was fun kids! Or was dad the biggest kid of all lol.
Take care, all well here.
Janine