Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons

Day 5

Our rental on Belgrade, MT was a cute above garage apartment. We sat out on the deck and enjoyed the view while planning our route through Yellowstone. Seth’s favorite part was the bunkbeds.

Our 1+ hour drive to the north entrance didnt disappoint, and we saw several heards of Elk along the road.

Our first stop was Mammoth Springs, amd then a drive into Lamar Valley toward the East entrance. The springs were cool and weird. The ground is so unstable you can’t walk on it. Seth had no problem running up the boardwalk to the top. The sulpher is really stinky so having our face coverings was actually helpful. Grandma had seen it before so she stayed with the car, and kept a lookout for wildlife.

The drive to Lamar valley was amazing. We stopped at a beautiful waterfall, and got some photos.

The animals love Lamar Valley as well, and we got some great views of the bison and anteloupe. We were so close to the bison you could hear them grunting at each other to communicate

As we headed west back out of Lamar Valley Seth was hoping to play in a creek, and we found the perfect spot

Our route took us back through Mammoth Springs toward the west entrance. We saw a lone moose having a snack and some elk had come into town.

We were staying in West Yellowstone outside of the west entrance, and grabbed some dinner. Seth was happy they had a pool.

Day 6

We started out the day at the Grizzly and Wolf discovery center. They rescue orphaned or problem bears, wolves, birds, and river otters. It was a neat experience to learn about the evolution of bears in Yellowstone. Until the 60s and 70s, they used to have garbage dumps to draw the bears and some people even feed them…lots of injuries occurred as you can imagine.

We headed back into yellowstone with Old Faithful on our agenda. Before we got to the geyser, we found a beautiful lunch spot. Seth made a friend while Arlene and I made lunch..

We got to Old Faithful shortly after an eruption, and waited about an hour for the next. I couldn’t find my suncreen, and ended up with a bit of sunburn, but nothing a little aloe couldn’t fix.

We still had a long drive ahead to our next destination of Bear Lake, UT. Our route took us through the Grand Tetons which didnt disappoint. We stopped in Jackson Hole for dinner. While we waited for our carryout, Seth and I walked around. Jackson Hole was really crowded, but we found some space in a park.