Yellowstone Trip May 2018

Trip for my 50th birthday later in the year. We flew into Bozeman, MT, drove down to West Yellowstone, and stayed in a rental apartment. Each day we picked a section of the park and drove around looking at the sights and for the animals that were very active this spring.

Favorites

This is a shorter collection of just my favorite pictures from this trip.

Sat 19 - Arrival Day

We stopped for groceries in Bozeman then headed down along US 191 from to West Yellowstone. We stayed in Arrowhead Lodge Suite 5 in the town of West Yellowstone. The apartment was perfect for the two of us - well equipped and located very close to the west entrance to the park.

Sun 20 - Lamar Valley and Canyon Areas

We started the first morning driving in along the Madison river, across the middle of the park, and up the east side to Lamar Valley. After a morning of animal spotting, including a visit to the daily Tower black bear jam, we headed back down to Canyon to see the sites. A few areas were closed for construction or winter. We then headed back over to Norris Basin where I took a hike to see some of the geysers. On the drive back home a pair of Grizzly yearlings crossed in front of our car.

Mon 21 - Lake Areas

Our day started well with a sighting of a mama Grizzly bear and her two yearlings (same ones from night before?) crossing the flats of the Madison river. We drove back across the middle of the park then started south along the Hayden valley area looking for waterfowl. We headed out the east entrace road to see the lake and stopped for our picnic at Sylvan Lake. After lunch we came back in to the park and visited the Yellowstone Lake Hotel where I took some photos while Kellie sat and sketched the mountains. We finished the day with a trip to the very busy West Thumb geyser basin, then headed back home around the south side of the park.

Tue 22 - Mammoth and Northern Areas

We started driving up the west side of the park, through the road construction, to Mammoth. There I hiked around the terrace and saw a few birds and a fox. We drove through town, saw the elk, and headed out the north entrance road to Gardiner to see the Roosevelt Arch. We came back in and drove across the north of the park to catch a waterfall and have our picnic lunch. Continuing on we visited the Lamar valley in the afternoon and went far enough out to see some Mountain Goats in the cliffs. Our second trip through the Tower black bear jam saw two of her cubs with her. We stopped for Tower falls then headed home. On the way we found a Bull Moose and two more pairs of Coyotes.

Wed 23 - Rainy Day

It rained pretty steadily for most of the day on Wednesday. We drove down into Idaho to Big Springs but saw no animals. Next we headed back up to Montana to Quake Lake, but that visitor center didn't open until Memorial day. We came back home, had lunch in town, and crashed at the apartment for naps. By late afternoon the rain had let up so I took a solo trip down the west entrance road. At one seemingly empty pullout I heard a Coyote howling. I found him and his mate sitting on the far side of the river and started my own Coyote jam. There was a Elk there and a Raven watching all the crazy people with cameras too.

Thu 24 - Geyser Basins

With an early start to get ahead of the crowds, we went in and visited Midway and Biscuit Basins before heading over to Old Faithful Lodge. Kellie settled in to knit in the lodge with a view of Old Faithful, while I hiked Geyser Hill to take photos from there. We drove further south to find a nice spot for our picnic. On our return, we tried Black Sands and Fountain Paint Pots, but both were full with people and no parking. We decided to spend the busy part of the day with a drive down to Colter Bay in Grand Teton NP, then headed back to the basins later. Black Sands was open for a hike, but a thunderstorm was rolling in when we left. We skipped Fountain Paint Pots in the rain and went home.

Fri 25 - Looking for Animals

Our last day started much like the first - with an early start to drive straight through the park to Lamar Valley on the northeast entrance road. This time we saw some female and young Bighorn Sheep, and stopped for a Fox jam on the way back out. We reached the Tower bear jam just as Mama Black Bear and the Tower Triplets were wandering across the road blocking traffic. We parked where we were and I got their pictures. After that we headed down the Hayden Valley side and looked for more waterfowl, then drove back across and up to Roaring Mountain again just before the road construction. Nothing much to see up there so we decided to head for home, but Yellowstone wasn't quite done. On the way out we stopped for two more Coyotes on the Madison river, a new duck we hadn't seen before, and an Osprey soaring overhead.

Kellie's Pictures

Kellie asked me to pick through her photos and process the ones that I liked. She took a lot of these from the passenger seat while I was driving.