Yellowstone
RV Trip; August 2008
Day 1; 8/11/08
We left Washington DC at 7:00 am on an AA flight to Jackson Hole, WY with a connection flight in Dallas, TX. We arrived in Jackson Hole around 11:00 am.
Landing in Jackson Hole was already a great beginning for the vacation since it is the only airport where commercial flights land inside a National Park. Jackson Hole Airport is located in Grand Teton National Park.
We took a taxi from the airport to Cruise America to pick up our RV.
This year we ordered a 30 feet long RV and we got a 2008 model which has more storage and living space than the older models. We drove with the RV to Smiths to buy groceries. Jackson Hole is a nice little town with a rodeo feeling to it. We had dinner, and continued to our RV campground in Grand Teton; Colter Bay Village. This is a full hook up campground and the camp site is nice shaded since it’s located in a forest and next to Jackson Lake.
Day 2; 8/12/08
We had set the alarm clock for 8:00 am but it was hard to get out of bed since it was freezing cold. The temperatures drop a lot here at night. During the day it’s around 80 F. and at night it goes down to around 40 F and even less.
After Nir was kicked out of bed to turn on the furnace and when the RV started getting nicely warm we all got out of bed, got dressed and started our day.
We drove south from our campground; we stopped at Willow Flats Overlook and continued to Oxbow Bend Turnout where we enjoyed a good breakfast in the RV with the most stunning view. From there we took Teton Park Road stopped at Jackson Lake Dam and Potholes Turnout to take some breath taking pictures from the Teton Range.
We started our first hike of the day at String Lake which is located just off North Jenny lake Junction. This is a 3.3 miles round-trip trail. The trail circles String Lake, just below Rockchuck Peak and Mt. John. The weather was just perfect for a hike and the girls had a lot of fun. Around this lake you can find a few tiny beach areas where you can enjoy a swim in the cold water since it is glacier water. When you look up to the mountain tops you can still see snow. The tallest mountain here at the Teton Range is the Grand Teton and its elevation is 13.770 Ft. (4197 m.) After the hike we had a good lunch which always tastes better when you are outdoors. We drove down to Jenny Lake Visitor Center and from there we took the shuttle boat to the other side of Jenny Lake, this is a 10 min. boat ride. We walked up to Hidden Falls and on the way to the falls we saw the first bear. It was a black bear and of course we got very excited to see a bear on our first day. From Hidden Falls Noa and I continued climbing the mountain to Inspiration Point while Nir and Liron took a rest since Liron could not climb any more she was too tired. The view from up there was just amazing and you can look all over Jenny Lake and the valley. Inspiration point is at 7200 Ft. elevation. While driving back to our campground we saw an Elk. Back at the camp side we had dinner, showers and the girls fell straight a sleep.
Day 3; 8/13/08
After breakfast at our camp site we drove to the Visitor Center at Colter Bay.
We saw a short movie “The Circle of Life” about wildlife in Yellowstone and Grand Teton. From the parking lot, at the Marina side, we started our hike; it was around 10:15 am.
We did Heron Pond and Swan Lake Trail. This is a 3 mile loop hike. It’s a nice hike along Jackson Lake then through the forest to Heron Pond and then you start the loop back along Swan Lake back to the parking lot. If you go pretty early it’s still quiet on the trail and you can find wildlife and many birds. We saw two deers, a beaver and many birds.
After lunch we left Grand Teton and started driving up to Yellowstone.
We entered from the South Entrance and drove to our campground; Fishing Bridge.
This is the only full hook up campground in Yellowstone. It’s located at the north part of Yellowstone Lake. This lake is North America’s largest mountain lake. Yellowstone Lake is 20 miles long, 14 miles wide, 430 ft. deep at its deepest point and at 7733 ft. (2357 m.) elevation.
While Nir and the girls went for a hike in bear country, I made some dinner. After dinner we went for an evening walk while it was still light since you are not allowed to walk at dark.
There are no picnic tables at this campground because every little bit of food that you’ll leave outside could invite bears, wolves and coyotes to come. Since we are at a high elevation it gets very cold in the evening so compared to last year where we sat outside and put our meat every evening on the grill, we now have to prepare and eat our meals inside the RV.
Day 4; 8/14/08
This morning around 9 am we started driving to “Geyser Country”.
Yellowstone Park is so big that there are 5 “countries” within the park.
Geyser Country is located southwest on the border of the state Idaho.
From our campground, Fishing Bridge, to Old Faithful is a 40 mile drive.
You are not allowed to drive faster than 45 miles an hour so it took us about an hour.
Of the approximately 10,000 hydrothermal features in the park, the best known is Old Faithful.
This geyser erupts about every 90 min., an eruption lasts 1-5 min., expels about 5000 gallons of boiling water and reaches a height of 150 ft. It is really spectacular to watch. We walked a 3 mile loop trail along geysers and hot pools at the Upper Geyser Basin. This area has the largest concentration of geysers in the world. The girls where fascinated by all the different colors that are formed by bacteria, the steam, the sounds from the boiling water and of course to see the eruption of the geysers. While waiting for the eruption of Riverside Geyser we saw a coyote, which was pretty cool. Noa said it’s very interesting and she wished she could stay longer.
She had some good questions for the Park rangers and it was nice to see her so interested.
After this walk we had lunch in the RV and continued driving towards Madison to see some more geysers, hot- and mud pools. We did the Biscuit Basin loop; 0.6 miles, continued driving to Midway Geyser Basin where we saw Excelsior Geyser which is almost as big as a soccer field and 4000 gallons of boiling water falls every minute into Firehole River. We did the 0.5 mile Fountain Paint Pot loop which is a big mudpot. It was a great and interesting day that we really enjoyed. Back at the campground we had dinner, took showers and played some games together.
Day 5; 8/15/08
This morning we went to Fishing Bridge Visitor Center. We decided to stay today in the area of our campground so we have less driving to do and just to take it easy. We started at 10:00am with a nice hike that was led by a park ranger. We did Storm Point trail, this is a 2.3 mile round trip. It starts at Indian Pond pullout, 3 miles east of Fishing Bridge Visitor Center.
The trail starts in the open meadow over looking Indian Pond and after over looking Yellowstone Lake, through the forest till scenic “Storm Point”. We saw here yellow bellied marmots and again a coyote. B.t.w. Early this morning just in front of our RV was also a coyote, apparently there is a whole coyote family leaving in the area of the campground. They where crying like crazy! After our ranger hike we continued the road towards the east. We had lunch at Sedge Bay picnic area, this was on a little pebble beach on Yellowstone Lake. The girls had a lot of fun playing with wood, pebbles and the freezing cold water. After lunch we continued the road a little more towards the east. We stopped at Lake Butte overlook. This is a worthwhile place to stop since it has an amazing view over whole Yellowstone Lake all the way till the Grand Teton Mountain on a clear day as today. At Eleanor Lake we decided to park the RV and our plan was to sit outside and do some games, read a book but it was too cold so the girls played quietly inside while Nir and I took a little nap. When we woke up we drove back to our campground where I went to do the laundry, Nir made a yummy dinner and the girls where playing outside.
Day 6; 8/16/2008
This morning Nir and I woke up at 6:30 am. We left the campground at 7:20 am while the girls where still sleeping. We decided to drive up to Mammoth Hot Springs which is located Northwest in the park. It was very foggy this morning and it was beautiful to see the fog hanging above Yellowstone River. We drove through Hayden Valley where the bison where waking up. It was amazing to see so many bison at the same time. We had to drive very slowly because they stand also on the road. A few of them started running and I thought they would crash into our RV; it was really cool to watch how these huge animals can run so fast. We also saw a group of white pelicans swimming in Yellowstone River. From Canyon we drove towards Norris and from there to Mammoth. Nir went to the visitor center to check what we can do in the area.
We also went to check out the campground but since it isn’t a full hook up we decided to drive back down to Fishing Bridge. We are sleeping with the heating on, last night it was
32 F, this morning the RV windows had ice on them. Anyway in Mammoth we went to see the hot springs. Hot water comes through the surface, because of tiny earthquakes, and builds terraces of the minerals; travertine. The hot pools have all kind of different colors because of the different bacteria that live in the boiling water; clear, white and blue is colder water and green, brown and orange is warmer water. Around noon we continued towards the Northeast. When we crossed the bridge of the Gardiner River we suddenly saw a Bull Elk. These are huge and beautiful animals with enormous horns. We drove into the Lamar Valley with the hope to catch a glance of some more wildlife but unfortunately we didn’t. When you go to the Lamar Valley in the early morning or late afternoon you can find wolfs and grizzly bears. We enjoyed a nice lunch next to the Lamar River. We drove then back towards Tower Roosevelt junction and stopped at the Tower fall. Tower Creek flows here down into Yellowstone River, tumbling 132 feet. We drove over Dunraven Pass which crosses Mount Washburn at 10243 ft. (3122 m.)
Spectacular view! We drove again through Hayden Valley and this time all the bison where in the meadow on the other side of the road trying to cross back towards the riverside. Bison’s are great swimmers. The rangers had warned us for traffic in the Hayden Valley and not because of cars but because of Bison traffic. This was definitely the favorite part of the day seeing all the bison. Tomorrow we will go and visit Canyon country so we will have to go again through bison traffic, and we do not mind this at all! J
Day 7; 8/17/08
This morning we left the campground at 8:30am. We wanted to leave earlier but we had to cancel our reservation at Colter Bay Campground at Grand Teton since we decided to stay in RV campground in Jackson Hole for our last night.
Today we decided to visit the Canyon area which is only a 16 mile drive from Fishing Bridge.
We passed again the bison’s in Hayden Valley. It is so cool to see these huge animals; over and over again you feel that you want to take pictures. When we arrived at the Canyon area I went to the Visitor Center to get info while Nir prepared breakfast.
The North Rim of the Canyon is closed for constructions so unfortunately we could not see that side but we drove to the South Rim via the Chittenden Bridge that crosses the Yellowstone River. We parked the RV at the parking lot at Uncle Tom’s Point and started our hike of the day from there. We did Clear Lake Trail, which is a 4 mile loop and definitely the nicest hike we have done in Yellowstone. This hike takes you through the meadows, forest, Clear Lake, and hydrothermal area till you reach Artist Point on the South Rim. This is a stunning view from the colored Canyon and the Yellowstone River. This overlook is one of the most photographed views in Yellowstone. We continued the South Rim Trail which is a paved trail. You wind in and out of forests between striking viewpoints of both falls and the canyon. We did Uncle Tom’s Trail as ending of our hike. This takes you about 55 feet down into the canyon to a platform from which you can see, hear and feel the power of the Lower Falls. This is a very short trail with paved inclines and 328 steps to take. It is not so bad going down but you have to be in good shape to climb back up. The girls were excited to be back at the RV. We drove back to the Visitor Center where we had lunch in the RV. After lunch we went into the center since this is a new educational center. We saw 2 movies and walked through the exhibition halls.
Very interesting and worth the visit! We had promised the girls that they could get a souvenir from Yellowstone so we went to buy that and we did some groceries before heading back to Fishing Bridge. Back at the campground the girls met 2 nice kids and they started playing with each other till dinner. After dinner at 9 p.m. we went with those kids and their parents to the amphitheater at the campground to listen to a ranger who spoke about the fires and the ecosystem. It was pretty interesting. The kids exchanged email addresses and after their showers they fall asleep. It was a nice but tiring day. I believe that the area around the Canyon is one of our favorite areas in the park.
Day 8; 8/18/08
This morning we checked out from Fishing Bridge Campground one day earlier than planned.
We had the feeling that we saw most of Yellowstone and that for the first time there we got a good impression of the park. Yellowstone is huge and we can always go back to do more hiking since that’s endless in this park but at least we did the whole “8 loop” that goes through the park.
We saw all main “attractions” in the park and besides that we did every day a nice 3 or 4 mile hike. We drove towards Canyon again because there were still two places that I wanted to see.
On the way there we stopped at LeHardys Rapids. This is a beautiful short walk along the Yellowstone River where many trout swim against the stream and jump out of the water.
We had our breakfast there and then continued to the Mud Volcano area. This is a short trail, 2/3 mile, on the boardwalk along hydrothermal features. Liron didn’t want to come because she was fed up seeing more geysers and mud pools. I wouldn’t walk along all the thermals but there are 3 that I recommend; Churning Caldron, Mud Volcano and Dragon’s Mouth Spring was definitely our favorites. It truly made the sounds of a dragon and smoke is of course coming out of the “mouth”. On the other side of the road you can see Sulphur Caldron which is one of the most acidic springs in Yellowstone. From there we drove south to Bridge Bay where we did a 3 mile hike; Natural Bridge. The natural bridge is a 51 foot (18m) cliff of rock cut through by Bridge Creek. It goes through the forest till you get to a short but steep switchback trail to the top of the bridge, above the bridge the trail crosses the creek through a narrow ravine and then continues along the cliff before rejoining the road. This was a nice hike and our last in Yellowstone for now. After the hike we continued driving more south where we stopped at West Thumb.
West Thumb is another geyser basin one of many in the park. I was the only one who did this trail on the boardwalk because Nir and the girls couldn’t see any more geysers…
This trail is ½ mile. It was for me by far the prettiest geyser basin from the entire park and I thought it was a pity they didn’t see it. At the same time that I enjoyed my walk, Nir was preparing lunch for us. The boardwalk goes along Yellowstone Lake and my favorite geysers where the ones in the water. The lake has very clean and clear water and seeing the geysers in the lake was amazing. I can understand that it is tiring to see over and over again geysers but that is Yellowstone and you should take that into consideration when you go to visit. On the other hand it is so amazing to realize that Yellowstone is an active volcano; you see all the steams and boiling water and you hear it boiling under the earth that you walk on, this is a unique experience. We drove to the south entrance from where we left the park but first we stopped at Lewis Falls. This is a picturesque little fall and the girls enjoyed walking in the Lewis River. We drove all the way through the Grand Teton again and we would love to go back there once more because we believe it is such an amazing park. Very green, lots of water and animals, good hiking and the mountains with the snow tops and the glaciers are just spectacular to see. I think we could have spend one day less in Yellowstone and do at least one more day in Grand Teton. That evening we arrived at Virginian RV Campground in Jackson Hole.
We decided to stay here because tomorrow we are booked for a whitewater rafting tour on the Snake River that leaves from Jackson Hole. We are very excited!
Day 9; 8/19/08
This was the first day that we didn’t set the alarm clock to wake us up.
We just took it easy this morning. We slept till around 8:30am and slowly we started getting dressed, had breakfast outside with the view of the mountains surrounding Jackson Hole, and walked around the campground. We enjoy watching all the different kind of trailers and RV’s. Around 11am we drove to Smith’s Supermarket to return a few items that we didn’t use.
At 11:30am we had to be at Mad River Company for our rafting adventure. This is located next to the supermarket and close to Virginian campground. We had to drive for about 30 min till we got at our drop off location which is south of Jackson Hole. We did the whitewater rafting on the Snake River. Our instructor was Ross and we were in an 8 pax boat. Nir and I set on the front, Liron in between us and Noa wanted to paddle so she sat on the side behind Nir. He explained us quickly the safety procedures and his instructions on how to paddle. In the beginning it was very mellow but after a while it became wilder and wilder. The water was freezing; the last snow fall here in Jackson was on June 11th. . When you sit in the front you get of course the wettest so Liron was so cold that she and I swapped places with a lady that came with her mother and 2 sons. Noa had so much fun and couldn’t get enough of it, Liron had mixed feeling. She didn’t like the bigger rapids that were a grade 3 but she had fun with the smaller rapids. We did the rafting for 2 hours and then we drove back again with the bus. Noa couldn’t stop talking about it and she would love to do it more and longer the next time. We went back to our campground where we parked the RV, changed our clothes and took the shuttle to town. This is a free bus ride within the town boundaries. Jackson Hole is a nice little town, with nice shops, and many restaurants. We had asked a few locals for the best place to eat a steak and everybody recommended the Gun & Barrel. As it turned out it was a block away from the campground. After walking around downtown we took the bus back and we went straight to the restaurant. It was indeed a very good restaurant, very clean, nice service and great food. You can get here bison and elk meat as well.
I didn’t try it but Nir took the bison steak and it was delicious.
This was our last day and a great grand finally for our trip. We are not ready to go home and to leave the RV but work and school are waiting for us... There will always be a next time!
Day 1; 8/11/08
We left Washington DC at 7:00 am on an AA flight to Jackson Hole, WY with a connection flight in Dallas, TX. We arrived in Jackson Hole around 11:00 am.
Landing in Jackson Hole was already a great beginning for the vacation since it is the only airport where commercial flights land inside a National Park. Jackson Hole Airport is located in Grand Teton National Park.
We took a taxi from the airport to Cruise America to pick up our RV.
This year we ordered a 30 feet long RV and we got a 2008 model which has more storage and living space than the older models. We drove with the RV to Smiths to buy groceries. Jackson Hole is a nice little town with a rodeo feeling to it. We had dinner, and continued to our RV campground in Grand Teton; Colter Bay Village. This is a full hook up campground and the camp site is nice shaded since it’s located in a forest and next to Jackson Lake.
Day 2; 8/12/08
We had set the alarm clock for 8:00 am but it was hard to get out of bed since it was freezing cold. The temperatures drop a lot here at night. During the day it’s around 80 F. and at night it goes down to around 40 F and even less.
After Nir was kicked out of bed to turn on the furnace and when the RV started getting nicely warm we all got out of bed, got dressed and started our day.
We drove south from our campground; we stopped at Willow Flats Overlook and continued to Oxbow Bend Turnout where we enjoyed a good breakfast in the RV with the most stunning view. From there we took Teton Park Road stopped at Jackson Lake Dam and Potholes Turnout to take some breath taking pictures from the Teton Range.
We started our first hike of the day at String Lake which is located just off North Jenny lake Junction. This is a 3.3 miles round-trip trail. The trail circles String Lake, just below Rockchuck Peak and Mt. John. The weather was just perfect for a hike and the girls had a lot of fun. Around this lake you can find a few tiny beach areas where you can enjoy a swim in the cold water since it is glacier water. When you look up to the mountain tops you can still see snow. The tallest mountain here at the Teton Range is the Grand Teton and its elevation is 13.770 Ft. (4197 m.) After the hike we had a good lunch which always tastes better when you are outdoors. We drove down to Jenny Lake Visitor Center and from there we took the shuttle boat to the other side of Jenny Lake, this is a 10 min. boat ride. We walked up to Hidden Falls and on the way to the falls we saw the first bear. It was a black bear and of course we got very excited to see a bear on our first day. From Hidden Falls Noa and I continued climbing the mountain to Inspiration Point while Nir and Liron took a rest since Liron could not climb any more she was too tired. The view from up there was just amazing and you can look all over Jenny Lake and the valley. Inspiration point is at 7200 Ft. elevation. While driving back to our campground we saw an Elk. Back at the camp side we had dinner, showers and the girls fell straight a sleep.
Day 3; 8/13/08
After breakfast at our camp site we drove to the Visitor Center at Colter Bay.
We saw a short movie “The Circle of Life” about wildlife in Yellowstone and Grand Teton. From the parking lot, at the Marina side, we started our hike; it was around 10:15 am.
We did Heron Pond and Swan Lake Trail. This is a 3 mile loop hike. It’s a nice hike along Jackson Lake then through the forest to Heron Pond and then you start the loop back along Swan Lake back to the parking lot. If you go pretty early it’s still quiet on the trail and you can find wildlife and many birds. We saw two deers, a beaver and many birds.
After lunch we left Grand Teton and started driving up to Yellowstone.
We entered from the South Entrance and drove to our campground; Fishing Bridge.
This is the only full hook up campground in Yellowstone. It’s located at the north part of Yellowstone Lake. This lake is North America’s largest mountain lake. Yellowstone Lake is 20 miles long, 14 miles wide, 430 ft. deep at its deepest point and at 7733 ft. (2357 m.) elevation.
While Nir and the girls went for a hike in bear country, I made some dinner. After dinner we went for an evening walk while it was still light since you are not allowed to walk at dark.
There are no picnic tables at this campground because every little bit of food that you’ll leave outside could invite bears, wolves and coyotes to come. Since we are at a high elevation it gets very cold in the evening so compared to last year where we sat outside and put our meat every evening on the grill, we now have to prepare and eat our meals inside the RV.
Day 4; 8/14/08
This morning around 9 am we started driving to “Geyser Country”.
Yellowstone Park is so big that there are 5 “countries” within the park.
Geyser Country is located southwest on the border of the state Idaho.
From our campground, Fishing Bridge, to Old Faithful is a 40 mile drive.
You are not allowed to drive faster than 45 miles an hour so it took us about an hour.
Of the approximately 10,000 hydrothermal features in the park, the best known is Old Faithful.
This geyser erupts about every 90 min., an eruption lasts 1-5 min., expels about 5000 gallons of boiling water and reaches a height of 150 ft. It is really spectacular to watch. We walked a 3 mile loop trail along geysers and hot pools at the Upper Geyser Basin. This area has the largest concentration of geysers in the world. The girls where fascinated by all the different colors that are formed by bacteria, the steam, the sounds from the boiling water and of course to see the eruption of the geysers. While waiting for the eruption of Riverside Geyser we saw a coyote, which was pretty cool. Noa said it’s very interesting and she wished she could stay longer.
She had some good questions for the Park rangers and it was nice to see her so interested.
After this walk we had lunch in the RV and continued driving towards Madison to see some more geysers, hot- and mud pools. We did the Biscuit Basin loop; 0.6 miles, continued driving to Midway Geyser Basin where we saw Excelsior Geyser which is almost as big as a soccer field and 4000 gallons of boiling water falls every minute into Firehole River. We did the 0.5 mile Fountain Paint Pot loop which is a big mudpot. It was a great and interesting day that we really enjoyed. Back at the campground we had dinner, took showers and played some games together.
Day 5; 8/15/08
This morning we went to Fishing Bridge Visitor Center. We decided to stay today in the area of our campground so we have less driving to do and just to take it easy. We started at 10:00am with a nice hike that was led by a park ranger. We did Storm Point trail, this is a 2.3 mile round trip. It starts at Indian Pond pullout, 3 miles east of Fishing Bridge Visitor Center.
The trail starts in the open meadow over looking Indian Pond and after over looking Yellowstone Lake, through the forest till scenic “Storm Point”. We saw here yellow bellied marmots and again a coyote. B.t.w. Early this morning just in front of our RV was also a coyote, apparently there is a whole coyote family leaving in the area of the campground. They where crying like crazy! After our ranger hike we continued the road towards the east. We had lunch at Sedge Bay picnic area, this was on a little pebble beach on Yellowstone Lake. The girls had a lot of fun playing with wood, pebbles and the freezing cold water. After lunch we continued the road a little more towards the east. We stopped at Lake Butte overlook. This is a worthwhile place to stop since it has an amazing view over whole Yellowstone Lake all the way till the Grand Teton Mountain on a clear day as today. At Eleanor Lake we decided to park the RV and our plan was to sit outside and do some games, read a book but it was too cold so the girls played quietly inside while Nir and I took a little nap. When we woke up we drove back to our campground where I went to do the laundry, Nir made a yummy dinner and the girls where playing outside.
Day 6; 8/16/2008
This morning Nir and I woke up at 6:30 am. We left the campground at 7:20 am while the girls where still sleeping. We decided to drive up to Mammoth Hot Springs which is located Northwest in the park. It was very foggy this morning and it was beautiful to see the fog hanging above Yellowstone River. We drove through Hayden Valley where the bison where waking up. It was amazing to see so many bison at the same time. We had to drive very slowly because they stand also on the road. A few of them started running and I thought they would crash into our RV; it was really cool to watch how these huge animals can run so fast. We also saw a group of white pelicans swimming in Yellowstone River. From Canyon we drove towards Norris and from there to Mammoth. Nir went to the visitor center to check what we can do in the area.
We also went to check out the campground but since it isn’t a full hook up we decided to drive back down to Fishing Bridge. We are sleeping with the heating on, last night it was
32 F, this morning the RV windows had ice on them. Anyway in Mammoth we went to see the hot springs. Hot water comes through the surface, because of tiny earthquakes, and builds terraces of the minerals; travertine. The hot pools have all kind of different colors because of the different bacteria that live in the boiling water; clear, white and blue is colder water and green, brown and orange is warmer water. Around noon we continued towards the Northeast. When we crossed the bridge of the Gardiner River we suddenly saw a Bull Elk. These are huge and beautiful animals with enormous horns. We drove into the Lamar Valley with the hope to catch a glance of some more wildlife but unfortunately we didn’t. When you go to the Lamar Valley in the early morning or late afternoon you can find wolfs and grizzly bears. We enjoyed a nice lunch next to the Lamar River. We drove then back towards Tower Roosevelt junction and stopped at the Tower fall. Tower Creek flows here down into Yellowstone River, tumbling 132 feet. We drove over Dunraven Pass which crosses Mount Washburn at 10243 ft. (3122 m.)
Spectacular view! We drove again through Hayden Valley and this time all the bison where in the meadow on the other side of the road trying to cross back towards the riverside. Bison’s are great swimmers. The rangers had warned us for traffic in the Hayden Valley and not because of cars but because of Bison traffic. This was definitely the favorite part of the day seeing all the bison. Tomorrow we will go and visit Canyon country so we will have to go again through bison traffic, and we do not mind this at all! J
Day 7; 8/17/08
This morning we left the campground at 8:30am. We wanted to leave earlier but we had to cancel our reservation at Colter Bay Campground at Grand Teton since we decided to stay in RV campground in Jackson Hole for our last night.
Today we decided to visit the Canyon area which is only a 16 mile drive from Fishing Bridge.
We passed again the bison’s in Hayden Valley. It is so cool to see these huge animals; over and over again you feel that you want to take pictures. When we arrived at the Canyon area I went to the Visitor Center to get info while Nir prepared breakfast.
The North Rim of the Canyon is closed for constructions so unfortunately we could not see that side but we drove to the South Rim via the Chittenden Bridge that crosses the Yellowstone River. We parked the RV at the parking lot at Uncle Tom’s Point and started our hike of the day from there. We did Clear Lake Trail, which is a 4 mile loop and definitely the nicest hike we have done in Yellowstone. This hike takes you through the meadows, forest, Clear Lake, and hydrothermal area till you reach Artist Point on the South Rim. This is a stunning view from the colored Canyon and the Yellowstone River. This overlook is one of the most photographed views in Yellowstone. We continued the South Rim Trail which is a paved trail. You wind in and out of forests between striking viewpoints of both falls and the canyon. We did Uncle Tom’s Trail as ending of our hike. This takes you about 55 feet down into the canyon to a platform from which you can see, hear and feel the power of the Lower Falls. This is a very short trail with paved inclines and 328 steps to take. It is not so bad going down but you have to be in good shape to climb back up. The girls were excited to be back at the RV. We drove back to the Visitor Center where we had lunch in the RV. After lunch we went into the center since this is a new educational center. We saw 2 movies and walked through the exhibition halls.
Very interesting and worth the visit! We had promised the girls that they could get a souvenir from Yellowstone so we went to buy that and we did some groceries before heading back to Fishing Bridge. Back at the campground the girls met 2 nice kids and they started playing with each other till dinner. After dinner at 9 p.m. we went with those kids and their parents to the amphitheater at the campground to listen to a ranger who spoke about the fires and the ecosystem. It was pretty interesting. The kids exchanged email addresses and after their showers they fall asleep. It was a nice but tiring day. I believe that the area around the Canyon is one of our favorite areas in the park.
Day 8; 8/18/08
This morning we checked out from Fishing Bridge Campground one day earlier than planned.
We had the feeling that we saw most of Yellowstone and that for the first time there we got a good impression of the park. Yellowstone is huge and we can always go back to do more hiking since that’s endless in this park but at least we did the whole “8 loop” that goes through the park.
We saw all main “attractions” in the park and besides that we did every day a nice 3 or 4 mile hike. We drove towards Canyon again because there were still two places that I wanted to see.
On the way there we stopped at LeHardys Rapids. This is a beautiful short walk along the Yellowstone River where many trout swim against the stream and jump out of the water.
We had our breakfast there and then continued to the Mud Volcano area. This is a short trail, 2/3 mile, on the boardwalk along hydrothermal features. Liron didn’t want to come because she was fed up seeing more geysers and mud pools. I wouldn’t walk along all the thermals but there are 3 that I recommend; Churning Caldron, Mud Volcano and Dragon’s Mouth Spring was definitely our favorites. It truly made the sounds of a dragon and smoke is of course coming out of the “mouth”. On the other side of the road you can see Sulphur Caldron which is one of the most acidic springs in Yellowstone. From there we drove south to Bridge Bay where we did a 3 mile hike; Natural Bridge. The natural bridge is a 51 foot (18m) cliff of rock cut through by Bridge Creek. It goes through the forest till you get to a short but steep switchback trail to the top of the bridge, above the bridge the trail crosses the creek through a narrow ravine and then continues along the cliff before rejoining the road. This was a nice hike and our last in Yellowstone for now. After the hike we continued driving more south where we stopped at West Thumb.
West Thumb is another geyser basin one of many in the park. I was the only one who did this trail on the boardwalk because Nir and the girls couldn’t see any more geysers…
This trail is ½ mile. It was for me by far the prettiest geyser basin from the entire park and I thought it was a pity they didn’t see it. At the same time that I enjoyed my walk, Nir was preparing lunch for us. The boardwalk goes along Yellowstone Lake and my favorite geysers where the ones in the water. The lake has very clean and clear water and seeing the geysers in the lake was amazing. I can understand that it is tiring to see over and over again geysers but that is Yellowstone and you should take that into consideration when you go to visit. On the other hand it is so amazing to realize that Yellowstone is an active volcano; you see all the steams and boiling water and you hear it boiling under the earth that you walk on, this is a unique experience. We drove to the south entrance from where we left the park but first we stopped at Lewis Falls. This is a picturesque little fall and the girls enjoyed walking in the Lewis River. We drove all the way through the Grand Teton again and we would love to go back there once more because we believe it is such an amazing park. Very green, lots of water and animals, good hiking and the mountains with the snow tops and the glaciers are just spectacular to see. I think we could have spend one day less in Yellowstone and do at least one more day in Grand Teton. That evening we arrived at Virginian RV Campground in Jackson Hole.
We decided to stay here because tomorrow we are booked for a whitewater rafting tour on the Snake River that leaves from Jackson Hole. We are very excited!
Day 9; 8/19/08
This was the first day that we didn’t set the alarm clock to wake us up.
We just took it easy this morning. We slept till around 8:30am and slowly we started getting dressed, had breakfast outside with the view of the mountains surrounding Jackson Hole, and walked around the campground. We enjoy watching all the different kind of trailers and RV’s. Around 11am we drove to Smith’s Supermarket to return a few items that we didn’t use.
At 11:30am we had to be at Mad River Company for our rafting adventure. This is located next to the supermarket and close to Virginian campground. We had to drive for about 30 min till we got at our drop off location which is south of Jackson Hole. We did the whitewater rafting on the Snake River. Our instructor was Ross and we were in an 8 pax boat. Nir and I set on the front, Liron in between us and Noa wanted to paddle so she sat on the side behind Nir. He explained us quickly the safety procedures and his instructions on how to paddle. In the beginning it was very mellow but after a while it became wilder and wilder. The water was freezing; the last snow fall here in Jackson was on June 11th. . When you sit in the front you get of course the wettest so Liron was so cold that she and I swapped places with a lady that came with her mother and 2 sons. Noa had so much fun and couldn’t get enough of it, Liron had mixed feeling. She didn’t like the bigger rapids that were a grade 3 but she had fun with the smaller rapids. We did the rafting for 2 hours and then we drove back again with the bus. Noa couldn’t stop talking about it and she would love to do it more and longer the next time. We went back to our campground where we parked the RV, changed our clothes and took the shuttle to town. This is a free bus ride within the town boundaries. Jackson Hole is a nice little town, with nice shops, and many restaurants. We had asked a few locals for the best place to eat a steak and everybody recommended the Gun & Barrel. As it turned out it was a block away from the campground. After walking around downtown we took the bus back and we went straight to the restaurant. It was indeed a very good restaurant, very clean, nice service and great food. You can get here bison and elk meat as well.
I didn’t try it but Nir took the bison steak and it was delicious.
This was our last day and a great grand finally for our trip. We are not ready to go home and to leave the RV but work and school are waiting for us... There will always be a next time!
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