Awoke around 6AM with sun coming over the mountains. Want to get out early today to complete our tour of YELL and get back early to get ready for early tomorrow. We have a very long day of travel. We have to pass through the center of the park to get to the east entrance and then take secondary roads to Buffalo, Wyoming for the night. From there it’s a short trip to I90 and that will carry us home, straight controlled access 70 MPH. Didn’t know, tourists have 24-hour access to the park. Would be fantastic to view stars but don’t want another night of dodging bison on the road in the dark. And it is dark, no light whatsoever and many animals like coming out at night. Camping would be the answer inside the park.
As we enter
the super geyser areas they make dense fog in the 34 degree temperature. It makes travel slow; once past its sunshine
and clear skies. We are making our way
to Lake Yellowstone. The road in this
loop is not very good and there is construction and it mainly follows the
continental divide at 8800 ft elevation; they need to move it; snow is around
the corner. We stop at Grant Visitor’s
center near the southern gate. It is
located on Lake YELL and very beautiful.
It is not too far to Grand Teton Park outside this entrance. We move on to the West Thumb portion of the
lake. This is the result of a huge
historic volcanic explosion and is very deep.
This area still has active geysers, some are right along the shore. The really big geyser is blocked off from
tourists. They found a human foot in
there a few months ago and a police investigation is ongoing. We wish them luck. Some of the shoreline is very sheer rising up
out of the water leftover from the volcano, looks like the sides of a bowl.
Driving on
along the shore and it opens into Lake YELL, surrounded by mountains and very
blue. The YELL River has its headwaters
from the lake. We stop at Hotel Lake
Yellowstone. Incredibly beautiful turn
of the last century; huge multi story with lots of trim white and painted a
bright yellow. We tour around the inside
and it is just as beautiful as outside, many windows line the walls for full
view of the lake and mountains. A huge
fireplace is surrounded by handcrafted ceramic tiles, lots of dark wood but still
a light airy and elegant huge space and baby grand piano that is played
nightly. Have no idea what it costs to
stay here but guess it’s a lot.
On around
the shore to Fishing Bridge, a campground and large general store with food and
souvenirs, built in the 1930’s but playing Janis Joplin?
We head
north to the Hayden Valley where the YELL river runs through. It is known for many different wildlife sightings. We can only see bison on both sides. We were told this is big mating area;
thankfully the rut was July and August; the trees show signs of rutting bulls
punching them. At one stop there is a car from Richland County in Ohio, but
they get away before can find out who they are.
They are bound to know the Jarvis’s, especially Cheryl Jarvis.
As we drive
out of the park some rangers have trucks partially blocking the road. At first, we see about 5, 2–3-year-old bison
walking together and then the line goes on and on. Calves, cows, bulls all migrating to another
area of the park. They stay in an
orderly line following the leader; appears to be about 100 animals. We are able to carefully drive along side of
them as they are a bit off the road. The
rangers were monitoring their movements, if they crossed the road it would have
to be temporarily closed.
Arrive in town
of West YELL and finally get the car washed.
Didn’t do a great job but dirt, dust and grime are mostly gone. Don’t even ask about the interior. CSI could use it for teaching classes. Stop in one shop, owner says the summer has
been very hit and miss, not happy about it.
With all the souvenir shops etc. and we only go to one! But manage to investigate the shops inside
the park. On the way to our hotel, we
can just see the pointy peaks of the Grand Teton Mountains in the
distance. It’s hot at 76 degrees. Back at our hotel we walk to dinner across
the river at Café Sabor, Mexican food, and have a nightcap on the hotel patio
as the sun sets. Someone boogey boards
past us and another one is fishing; the trout are thick in this water. Our hotel is exceptional so good respite in
last travel days. The next days will be demanding and no sightseeing. Arriving home will require adjustment to our
reality with rest and time. NOT! October
calendar is already filling.
Four days to
go.
Nighty
night.
Miles Driven Today: 190
Total Miles Driven: 3633
Views Today
