Journey With MJ: 2015 Yellowstone

August 10, Monday

730AM We walked into town to pick-up our Budget rental car, as we wanted to get an early start into Yellowstone National Park. Our first stop was at Fountain Paint Pot (or Lower Geyser Basin). We were enjoying the sights, but it quickly became crowded with bus tours. We headed to Old Faithful to try and get ahead of the crowds and the anticipated eruption time was 1117AM. We walked around the area while Joe held our spots to watch the eruption. Old Faithful kept teasing us (Joanne had 11 failed video attempts) and it finally erupted at 1130AM.

Fountain mud pots

Star Geyser

Old Faithful

Upper Geyser Basin

Old Faithful

Coyote on hunt

We then proceeded south to go through the Grand Teton National Park. We stopped at Coulter Bay Visitor Center and drove along the Snake River and headed to the Craig Thomas Discovery & Visitor Center with a final stop at the Jenny Lake Visitor Center. We thought we would see animals in the Grand Teton National Park, but were not successful; however, we enjoyed the fabulous views of the mountains.

Grand Teton's

Grand Teton

We then head north to go back through Yellowstone National Park and hoped to

possibly see Old Faithful one more time. Jim, the tour guide successfully got us back just

in the nick of time (700PM) and Old Faithful went off at 704PM (no waiting time there)!

Then it was off to see the Midway Geyser Basin and we were so impressed with this

amazing geyser area. We made a quick photo stop at the Firehole Falls and it was time

to head home. We had just given up hope of seeing animals and then we spotted a lone

buffalo, followed by a deer, then we saw 2 herds of elk. We arrived home at 9PM and

grabbed a quick bite to eat. It was a long….long day (250 miles), but we were pleased

with all the scenery and animals that we saw.

August 11, Tuesday

815AM We headed into the park with our rental car for another day of sightseeing. We

saw a herd of elk (15-20) near Madison junction (same location as yesterday). We

stopped along the way for a photo stop at the Gibbon Falls (located on the Gibbon River.

Our next stop was Norris to see the Norris Geyser Basin and the opportunity to see

Steamboat Geyser (the world’s tallest active geyser – up to 300 ft.), with its last major

eruption in September 2014. The sulphur smell is incredibly strong near the geyser

areas. We also saw the Emerald Geyser (looked like a Caribbean blue) – so beautiful.

Jim & Joe

Steamboat Geyser

Emerald Geyser

We drove past the Roaring Mountain with emitted steam everywhere.

Our next area that we chose to tour was the Mammoth Hot Springs with stops at the

Upper Terrace Area and the Lower Terrace Area. These geyser areas were incredibly

different from anything we had seen before. They created a tremendous waterfall and

displayed various colors.

Mamoth Hot Springs

Mule deer

Next we headed out for Lamar Valley, as the park ranger told us we would see buffalo in this area. Yes, we saw Buffalo by themselves, in herds, close by the road and far into the distance. Several times the cars were stopped by the Buffalo crossing road. The park ranger did not steer us wrong!