Day 39–9/10/2024
This morning, we decided to drive around and see what we can see in Yellowstone. We wanted to go to Norris Geyser Basin to our north. So we got to Madison Junction and turned left toward Norris. On the way there, we made a few stops to see some things. We stopped at Gibbon Falls. It’s a waterfall that is wider than it is tall. We enjoyed a walk along the Gibbon River as well because we got to see several views of the falls.
We stopped at Beryl Spring. It was a small geyser. I put my face in the steam that was coming out. I really think it helped my cough. I wished I had access to it later as my cough seemed to hang around too long.
We also stopped at Artist Paintpot Trailhead. We walked to the overlook and saw lots of geysers steaming away in the cool morning air. Really nice views!
We got to Norris, and it was an absolute zoo!! There was no parking in the parking lot. There were cars and Class Cs as far as the eye could see down the road. We decided to skip Norris and went on to Mammoth. On our way there, we got into a bison jam.
Mammoth Hot Springs is one of our favorite areas of Yellowstone. We drove around in the Upper Geyser Terraces. Of course, we found some people when we stopped who had ties to Mississippi State. So we got to know some more people along the way. Here are some pictures of some of the scenes around the Upper Geyser Terraces.
We got there and found some parking by the Visitor Center. We got out and walked around in the visitor center. We walked around the old buildings of the old fort that used to be in charge of law enforcement in the park. The old residences for the higher ranking officers and their families were impressive. People are living in them right now. I heard they were going to renovate them starting next year. But they are really big. It’s going to take a lot of money and time to renovate. They are beautiful buildings, though.
We ate lunch there and then shopped at the gift stores. They had ice cream, so of course, we had some. I had the Moose Moss. It was mint chocolate chip with mini peanut butter cups in it. Delicious!
As we were eating ice cream, we met some fellow tourists and talked to a couple of couples. One was a young couple from Fort Collins. We talked about that city since that is where our daughter, Anna Marie, once lived. Another couple was an older couple visiting the area.
We talked to a ranger about when was the best time to see elk. He said they start gathering in that area at about 5:00 pm. Since it was way before that time, we decided to take a drive to the Gardiner entrance to see Roosevelt Arch, the original entrance to Yellowstone.
We enjoyed the twisty drive to Roosevelt Arch. We had never seen Roosevelt Arch before, and it was worth the drive! We had to go out of the park to see it. We took pictures of the arch.
We wanted a picture of us at the park sign. We saw a girl taking pictures of the sign. She had a really nice camera, so we assumed she would be a good one to ask to take our picture. We offered to take her picture. She gave Vince her phone, and he took her picture. Then he asked her to take our picture. She said she would, so Vince gave her his phone, and she took our picture several ways. We thought we had scored some epic pictures, but we found out later that the pictures were horrible. The composition was all off. She barely got the sign in the pictures. Sad.
We went back to Mammoth, but it was still too much time before the elk would come out. So we decided to go back to Madison and eat dinner. On our way out, though, we parked outside Upper Mammoth Springs to walk around and take pictures. We got some good shots and then headed back to camp.
After dinner, we decided to go down to the river for sunset. It wasn’t as nice as last night’s sunset as there are more clouds on the horizon. Here is what our campsite looked like. Weather is coming in.
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