Nine Nights in Yellowstone

Yellowstone National Park!

Day 19 & 20 - Bridge Bay Campground Yellowstone!

Friday: I used the flannel blanket for the first time of the trip. The heat works great, nice & quiet with the exception of the knocking noise in the middle of the night. Turning it off then back one seemed to stop it. Not sure what caused that. 

We were on the road by 7:30AM headed to Norris Geyser Basin. Today was the only day Steve let me drive. Yellowstone is so big that you spend hours in the car trying to get to all the major sites. On our way we stopped at Mud Volcano area & walked the boardwalk loop. This area was super smelly but also very interesting. We made a couple other short stops on the way to Norris Basin. We arrived at 9:30AM & got super lucky to get a spot in the main parking lot. We spent two hours walking all the boardwalks. There is so much to take in. When we left we were shocked to see how many cars were parked along the road in the overflow parking. This is a very popular spot.

Our First of Many Stops in Yellowstone

Oh the smell! Mud Volcano Boardwalk

We then drove to Roaring Mountain to have our PB&J sandwiches for lunch. After lunch we drove up to the upper terrace loop of Mammoth but didn’t stay long. We decided to come back the next day so we could get back to the dogs. We got back to camp at 3PM & the dogs did great. We took them for a long walk around the campground then Steve & I walked over to the marina. This campground closes for the season within a few days after our stay so most things were winding down.

Saturday: Low of 26F, frost on the truck! Again we were the road by 7:30AM. We arrived at the Albright visitor center just before they opened at 9AM. We got our stamps then went to Gardiner for breakfast at Yellowstone Perk. First time in Montana. I ordered the Veggie breakfast sandwich which was really good & was able to save half for lunch. 

Definitely pack your patience!

"For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People"

We made a quick stop at the Roosevelt Arch then went to Mammoth Lower Terrace & walked the roughly 2 mile boardwalk. Not as much to see as Norris but still really cool features.  On our way back to camp, we the the east side of the Great Loop. We got stuck in some construction traffic at the intersection of Lamar Valley for about 20 minutes. I doubt we will do Lamar Valley on this trip. We saw one black bear & several bison.

Photos really don't do it justice!

Back at camp again by 3PM, we walked dogs then took $6 showers at Fishing Village RV park which were totally worth it! We then stopped at the General Store for huckleberry ice cream. It was good but like everything in the park, it was overpriced. We spent what was left of the day at camp.

Day 21 - Bridge Bay Campground to Grant Village Campground Yellowstone

• Left: 10:45AM MT
• Arrived Grant Campground in Yellowstone: 11:25AM MT
• Rating 4/5
• Asphalt sites
• I317 - Back In, no hookups
• Very quiet overnight
• Nice site with lots of pine trees. 
• Solar won’t be great but the site back up to the lake with trail down to the water.
• Lots of sites but ours is in back cul-de-sac. 
• Road conditions: Wyoming roads are smoother
• Weather: Sunny, high upper 60s. Low in the 30s
• Gas: No fill up needed

We had an easy day at camp since checkout wasn’t until 11AM & check in wasn’t until 1PM. The drive would only take us 30 minutes tops. We made pancakes at camp, took the dogs for a walk & slowly packed up. We left camp around 10:15AM then waited in line for the dump station. Once dumped & we had our water refilled, we were on the road by 10:45AM. We got to Grant Village by 11:15AM. Our first stop was the visitor center for stamps & a couple of souvenirs, t-shirt for Steve & sweatshirt for me. Afterwards we had lunch in the parking lot then went to the shower/laundry house to wash all of our clothes. 

We got to camp by 2:15PM. I was’t able to pick our site, it was assigned to us but we got a great one this time! We are in I-317 which is at the back of a cul-de-sac. The sites are still pretty close together but there is decent privacy with all the pine trees. We also have a large site with a trail down the the water. We are happy to be here 6 nights since we are both tired of all the driving!

We took the dogs around the loop & then I took a nap. While Steve was birdwatching & taking photos an elk walked down to the water. Later another elk, possibly the same one, walked right behind our site. Later it walked into our site. Thankfully I had the dogs in the camper but it was quite the sight!  It later walked down the bank & across the water. What an amazing thing to see. Steve got some really good photos. He hung out by the water until sunset taking photos. 

Day 22-26 - Grant Village Campground Yellowstone

Monday: Slept OK, rained overnight & of course we didn’t feel like putting our chairs up so they are wet this morning. We got up & walked the trail to the lake to watch the sunrise then made breakfast back at camp. Taking an easy day today since we want a break from so much driving. 

Sunrise over Yellowstone Lake

Around 10AM we drove over to West Thumb basin. There were so many people there already. It’s really hard to believe this is the shoulder season! We walked around the basin than did the Duck Lake trail which had only 2 other people. Duck Lake was nothing special but nice to get away from the crowds. West Thumb basin was really cool as the thermal features were right up next to Yellowstone Lake. Really beautiful.

Duck Lake

We had lunch at the Grant General Store grill. I had a black bean burger which was good although would have been better if the bun was hot. Afterwards we went back to camp. I took a nap then eventually we went to the showers when they reopened at 3PM. The showers were decent. Hot water & good pressure but the shower house was chilly.  These showers are included with our campsite. 
We spent the rest of the day relaxing at camp.

Tuesday: Today we were up at 6AM & on the road by 7AM to go to Grand Prismatic. It was 24F when we left so there was a very good chance it would be too foggy to see it. On the way we stopped at Old Faithful at 7:25AM and got there just in time to watch it erupt!  We then went to Grand Prismatic & as expected it was fogged in. We walked the boardwalk anyway & got some cool moody shots but couldn’t see the colors.  We then stopped at the overlook but didn’t go since it was still foggy. 

Old Faithful - 7:30AM Crowd

We decided to go back to Old Faithful & on the way we saw a trail to Daisy Geyser. We parked in the Black Sand Basin lot & walked to Daisy. On our way we came up on a bison right along side the trail! Scared the crap out of us! We backed up then went around. We still made it to Daisy in time to see it erupt.  Afterwards we went to Old Faithful Inn to pee & got there just in time to see Old Faithful erupt again! We then grabbed a snack & sat in the cool lobby for awhile.  SO MANY more people at 10:30AM than 7:30AM. Crazy.

Daisy Geyser

Bison Close Encounter

Old Faithful - 10:30AM Crowd

We then headed back to our car & stopped at Daisy to see it erupt again from the other side. Back at our truck we had snacks then walked the Black Sand Basin boardwalk. 5 miles in total. 

We tried to go back to Grand Prismatic but it was insanely busy so we went back to camp. Once back, I had a Sammie mess to clean up. Afterwards, had lunch then headed to do laundry & showers. 

We decided to go back to Grand Prismatic Overlook later in the day. We got there around 6PM & after hiking the mile to the overlook we made it in time before the sun went down behind the mountain. There was still some steam but it was way more visible than the morning.  We got home around sunset. There is so much to see & there is so much driving. 

Grand Prismatic

Wednesday: Up even earlier at 5:30AM & on the road by 6:40AM to Old Faithful. We got there around 7:15AM but the geyser had already erupted. We walked around a bit then went for breakfast at the Old Faithful Inn dining room. We got the buffet but probably should have ordered off the menu. It was meh at best. It’s a real shame that these beautiful, historic inns at National Parks are so mediocre in their food yet charge a fortune for such mediocrity.  Captive audience I suppose. 

Still Steaming

Afterwards, we walked the Upper Geyser loop to Morning Glory Pool. Along the way we saw so many geysers & pools and they all had unique features. We walked back to the Visitor Center & got our stamps then grabbed our lunch to head back to Riverside Geyser. It was estimated to go off between 11:15AM & 12:45PM. It actually went off at 12:48PM but it was worth the wait. It went on for almost 20 minutes. On our way back we saw Castle Geyser erupt.  They are all so different to one another with so many features. So much to see including another bison in the distance.  

Bison in the gypsum

Castle Geyser

Riverside Geyser

Probably the same Bison

Morning Glory

Giant Geyser

We stopped at the General Store to check to see what they had for produce.  They had a few Taylor Farms salad bags for $9.50...no thank you.  We got back to camp again around 3PM. Sammie did good today. We walked the dogs & took showers then hung out at camp the rest of the day. We made bacon & eggs for dinner. 

Thursday: Up at 6AM & on road by 7:30AM to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. Drive took about 75 minutes to the visitor center. It was a rainy & chilly morning. We got our passports stamped then headed to the North Rim loop. We walked to the Brink of the Lower Falls then followed the trail to Lookout Point & Red Rock Point. We then drove to Inspiration Point before heading back to Canyon Village for lunch. We got there just in time as the rain started coming down. We ate at the Fountain Grill & got a bowl of chili which was perfect for the rainy day. Bonus it was good too! Afterwards, we went to the South Rim to stop at the Upper Falls & Artist Point overlooks. We got back to camp around 3:30PM, another full, exhausting day.  Sammie did good again today. We spent the rest of the day at camp.

Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

Friday: Started raining overnight. I forgot to put up Sammie’s stroller so it is soaked. Rained on & off all day. We didn’t have much planned other than explore the Grant area. We decided to do laundry since the weather was so puny. We got a break in the rain mid afternoon & walked the camp trail to the Grant Village Visitor Center & General Store. Picked up a couple of thank you gifts & got Huckleberry Fudge ice cream before walking back to camp. We spent the rest of the evening on the computers catching up on things before heading to the Grand Tetons in the morning.

Keeping the pups out of the way while we do laundry

Up Next: Nine Nights in the Grand Tetons