Days 1 & 2: Getting there via Billings and the Beartooth Highway
Day 3: visiting the Norris Basin and the Artist Paintpots; hiking the Beaver Ponds Trail
Day 4: Exploring Mammoth Hot Springs; visiting Lamar Valley and hiking to Slough Creek
Day 5: Conquering Mount Washburn; visiting the Mud Volcano; leaving Mammoth for Yellowstone Lake
Day 6: hiking the lower rim of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone
Day 7: visiting Old Faithful and the other geysers; leaving Yellowstone Lake for the Grand Tetons
Day 8: hiking to Two Ocean Lake; visiting Signal Mountain
Day 9: hiking to Taggart and Bradley Lake; leaving Colter Bay Village for Grand Targhee
Day 10: running the Grand Tetons trail marathon
Day 11: Leaving Grand Targhee for Bozeman, MT
Day 12: returning to Boston
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Day 3 was our first full day in Yellowstone, and we were eager to physically exhaust and temporarily cripple ourselves, our parents, and Little Boy. Mr. P got up slightly before dawn to go running. I planned on joining him, but my legs had spotty twinges of tightness; normally this would not hold me back but I was also suffering from severe bear paranoia that not even the hefty canister of bear spray could assuage. It felt much nicer to stay snuggled in the cabin, resting for our busy day.
First up: a trip to the Norris Geyser basin, about 30 minutes away, for the free 9am ranger talk. On the way out of Mammoth Hot Springs, we saw the striking terraces of travertine that the area is famed for, so we could not resist pulling over to walk a bit of the boardwalk. It was our first view of Yellowstone’s geological wonders, and we were all awed.
Mammoth Hot Springs
As lovely as the photos are, they cannot convey the onerous smell of sulfur that accompanied every spring and fumarole. It was otherworldly.
Mammoth Hot Springs
Mammoth Hot Springs
Mammoth Hot Springs
Mammoth Hot Springs
But, as I mentioned, we had a free ranger talk to get to, so we hurried back to the car and continued onto Norris Geyser Basin. We were learning that one must factor in an extra 15 minutes to get anywhere in Yellowstone. If it’s not the lumbering RVs, it’s the freaking bison.
Congestion!
We were five minutes late, but joined the group easily on the boardwalk to listen to the ranger effusively talk geysers, springs, steam vents, and mud pots as we visited various features.
Gorgeous spring in Norris Basin
Otherworldly
Pearl Geyser (my favorite)
Norris Geyser Basin
We saw scores of amazing geothermal things. Really, just amazing. The talk ended at 11am, just as the crowds were started to build up, so we headed out and stopped somewhat spontaneously at the Artist’s Paint Pots down the road — a one-mile loop that toured boiling holes of multicolored mud. All naturally occurring!
Artist's Paint Pots
Artist's Paint Pots
All of this before lunch! We had our picnic on the porch of our cabin — bread, cheese, sandwich meat, fruits, cherry tomato, wine — and then got ready for the first significant hike of the trip. It started in Mammoth Hot Springs and was only 5 miles, but the altitude was kicking our butts a bit, so the 5 miles felt much harder.
Beaver Ponds Loop
When we finally did get to the Beaver Ponds, we saw absolutely no trace of beavers, so we were a little resentful of the hike, what with its rolling hills and seemingly-constant uphill. By the end, we were exhausted. We got back to the cabin just in time to avoid a spat of rain and thunder. But, we were ridiculously “Yea, Yellowstone!”
