We started out the day in America Falls were we had stayed the night, and drove a few miles up the freeway to Pocatello and washed some clothes and our car which had gotten enormously dirty in our first week of travel. After taking care of that business we drove on up to Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. We drove along the western loop and exited the park along the north (original) entrance and camped in the hills at Gardiner Montana overlooking a river and the northern reaches of Yellowstone.
Yellowstone has some amazing landscape. From fantastically beautiful vistas, to unbelievably weird formations. The animals were wonderful, and very accessible. We saw various species of deer, buffalo, and even a grizzly bear. Instead of trying to divide these photos into subjects, I am just going to display them in order with explanations where needed.
Soon you reach the Hot Springs and Geysers of the Norris Geyser Basin area of the Park. There are many small to large geysers in this area. It is hard to believe all the energy being expended here. There are many geysers that only shoot up inches to some that have the ability to shoot hundreds of feet into the air. The frequency between eruptions can vary from mere minutes to a century. Here is an overview of some of the sights along the northwest loop.
At this point (between Norris & Mammoth Hot Springs) we encountered some of the animals in the park including a somewhat rarely seen grizzly bear (just before roaring mountain).
From here the landscape again changes and we worked ourselves down through the town of Mammoths Hot Springs and out of the north entrance.
We stayed at a nice campsite on the hills overlooking the town of Gardiner, and the northern entrance to Yellowstone. We had this nice 3 sided "cabana" with a picnic table that was just marvelous. Especially when the wind that night wiped up to 30-40 mph. I put a couple tarps up temporarily and it was a very nice spot to cook and enjoy a good meal.
