Craters of the Moon

We left Yellowstone on Sunday morning and headed to Craters of the Moon National Monument where we spent the night. The next morning before leaving, we drove around the Loop Road. They had many of the side trips blocked off because of road construction, so we were only able to travel the main loop.

Last Day in Yellowstone

Remember the Bison from the previous day who caused the backup on the road between the West Yellowstone entrance and Madison? Well, this morning he was headed back in the opposite direction! This time, however, the Park Service was along to keep traffic moving.










Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and the Lower Falls:



























Hayden Valley Bison Herd:

More Yellowstone Pictures

We went back to Yellowstone today, this time driving down to Old Faithful, stopping along the way to take the Firehole Lake Drive, where many of these pictures are from.

Shortly after entering the park, traffic came to a stop for quite a while. We knew there wasn't any construction on this stretch of road, and people weren't pulled over to the side like they usually are for animal sightings, so we couldn't figure out what was holding up traffic...until we saw a bison ambling down the road (picture below). He was just taking his sweet time going where ever it was that he was headed and he didn't give a fig about all the cars stopped along the roadway!

It was lunchtime when we got to Old Faithful, so we stopped at the lodge for lunch...$30.52 for two salads, two soft drinks, a chicken wrap, and a slice of carrot cake!!!

Just as we were finishing up lunch, Old Faithful went off (bottom picture).

Yellowstone

We got a late start yesterday morning...didn't leave the campground until around 10:30 to 11:00 AM. We stopped at the Madison Information Station and Bookstore to visit friends of the Monroe's who are hosting there. I got my Passport Book stamped and bought a 2011 calendar of Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks.

It took us about an hour just to get through the construction area on the road that goes from Madison to Norris, a distance of only 14 miles. In addition to the construction, there were the usual delays as everyone stopped along the road to take pictures of wild animals spotted, some going so far as to walk out into a field to get a closer picture of a mother Grizzly and her cub!

By the time we got up to Mammoth Hot Springs it was after 3:00 PM and Earl and I were too exhausted to stop and take the boardwalk...fortunately, our friends were coming back to the area today, so they'll walk it then (although we told them we wouldn't mind if they stopped to walk it then...we'd go on ahead).

Our original intent, in order to avoid going through the construction area again, was to continue on the road south of Canyon Village and go through Fishing Bridge, West Thumb, Old Faithful, and back up to Madison, a trip of around 70 miles. But by the time we got to Canyon Village, we could tell that it would actually be quicker to bite the bullet and go through the construction again to get back to the campground, which is what we ended up doing. As it was, we didn't get back to our space until nearly 8:00 PM...and then had to have dinner.

Today we're resting up. Tomorrow, Earl and I will drive down to Old Faithful and perhaps to West Thumb, depending on how late it gets. I'd like to go back up to Mammoth Hot Springs to walk the boardwalk, but we don't want to go through that construction area again, so we'll save that for another trip...either early in the spring before kids get out of school or in the fall when they've gone back. Hopefully, at those times the park won't be so crowded!

In the meantime, here are some pictures from yesterday's trip: