We woke up a bit earlier on day 17 so we were able to spend more time in Yellowstone. We also had to haul the trailer with us through the park today. The RV park that we stayed at our first 2 nights in Montana only had openings for us to stay 2 nights. We made reservations at another campground for our third night in Montana, but had to haul the trailer because check in time was later in the day than check out time at our other campsite. I was worried that it was going to be a hassle, but it wound up being fine. Since we were hauling our kitchen with us, we were able to stop and have a picnic at one of the many pull through areas in the park.
Since we spent our day yesterday exploring the lower, midway, and upper geyser basins, we decided to head the opposite direction to check out the travertine terraces, water falls, and the canyon. This is the route we took on day 2:
We didn’t make as many stops on this drive as we had made the previous day. It was rainy on and off all day, plus we knew we had a longer drive than we did the day before and had to just pick the major spots on the map that we were interested in seeing.
Our first stop was at Gibbon Falls. This was an easy stop with a small parking area. The falls were visible from the road so we didn’t have to hike in. I love to hike, but it’s hard with 3 small kids who aren’t necessarily fans.
Our next stop was also a short one. This is Roaring Mountain, a mountain that has several fumaroles on it. According to our app guide, before there was the ambient noise of the road and people in the park, the mountain sounded like it was roaring. We were not able to hear anything, but it did look pretty cool.
We continued along our path and made it to Mammoth Hot Spring., which is the home of the travertine terraces. This was our long hike of the day and began with Atticus throwing a huge tantrum because he could not walk. I mean, he could, but he was choosing not to. That’s what he likes to say, “I CAN NOT WALK!!!” Emphasis on the NOT, haha.
Eventually Atticus realized that I wasn’t going to be able to carry him and Lorelei at the same time and he started walking to find Chris and Logan, who had walked ahead.
Logan is still working on his photography skills. Not too bad!!
Here is a good wide shot of the travertine terraces. These formations are created when the water from the hot springs rise up through the ground and deposit limestone. They resemble a frozen waterfall, or a cave turned inside out. The different colors are from heat loving bacteria that have adapted to live at such high temperatures. Bacteria are so freaking cool.
While we were enjoying the views, we realized that a storm was rolling in, so that cut our time short. We didn’t hike in with our rain gear and didn’t want to risk getting soaked–or getting the camera wet!
We drove for a ways and found an area to pull over and have lunch. It was nice being able to pull over where ever we wanted and have lunch in the trailer with this as our view:
After lunch, we began the drive to the Canyon area of Yellowstone. There are several waterfalls in this area that we were interested in seeing. But first, our drive took us up through some mountains.
And when we got high enough to start seeing roadside snow, we had to stop! Yes, it was old and pretty dirty, but we are Texans and haven’t had a good snow in 2 years! Plus, Atticus has been begging to go to a snow mountain since this trip began. I’m happy that he got his snow!
Our last official stop was the Upper and Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River, which is in the Canyon Village area of Yellowstone. And holy crap. It was so amazingly beautiful. These first few photos were taken from Artist Point.
Then we hopped in the car and headed towards the Brink of the Upper Falls lookout area. Atticus was all done with walking so Logan pushed him in the stroller.
The photos from the brink of the falls don’t look as cool as the photos of the falls from a distance, but it was such a neat experience being that close to the waterfall. The sound of the rushing water, feeling the vibrations of the falls through your entire body, the smell of the water– it was almost overwhelming. This was probably my most favorite part of this day.
On our way out of the park, I managed to catch photos of a few things that I wanted to get before we left. First off were these trees: lodgepole pines. These are the predominant trees in Yellowstone. Since they are shade intolerant, any branches left in the shade below the canopy will wither and fall off. I thought these trees were super interesting because they produce cones that require the high heat of a forest fire to release their seeds. Also, they get their name lodgepole because some Native American tribes used them to construct the frames of their tipis, or lodges.
I also managed to get up close and personal with a raven. These birds were funny to watch. They’re huge and strut around like they own the place.
I finally got a photo of a bison semi-upclose. This one had caused a huge bison jam because people were stopping to take photos of it while it was taking a dump. Ha.
And lastly, this sweet baby deer and his Momma.
Yellowstone is absolutely amazing and we will definitely be going back when the kiddos get a little older and can appreciate it!