We got up early because we were going to drive Beartooth Highway and Chief Joseph Scenic Highway. Beartooth Highway is a National Scenic Byway and crosses the highest elevations in both Montana and Wyoming. Beartooth Pass reaches an elevation of 10,947 ft.

On the way to Beartooth Highway we had several good wildlife sightings. We saw two elk on the side of the road with large racks. Next, as we were heading east we saw a lot of cars pulled over so we knew we had to stop and see what they were looking at. It was a grizzly bear and we were finally able to get some good pictures of one. He just sat in the grass and once and a while would look up and pose for us. The ranger said grizzlies forage in the early mornings so he probably was done and would be resting for most of the day.

We moved on to Beartooth Highway. It is such a beautiful drive, lots of switchbacks as you climb to over 10,000 feet. We stopped all along the way to take pictures. The road had only opened to traffic about 3 or 4 days before we drove it. There was lots of snow on the way up and as you can see, snow banks of 20 to 25 feet along the highway. The view from the top was breathtaking and we decided to stop and eat lunch there.

We drove to Red Lodge, Montana, which is named for the Crow Indians’ custom of decorating tepees with red clay from the nearby mountains. It is a small quaint western tourist town.

As we headed back toward Yellowstone Park and before we reached the ChiefJoseph Scenic Byway we stopped at Bear Creek which is a little town of about 100 people and we ate the best banana cream pie at Hungry Bear Café. The book I’m using for a guide said don’t miss this stop. The pie was delicious!

As we continued our drive, the first part of the drive on Chief Joseph Highway was red rock formations similar to those of Sedona, Arizona. The road climbed to over 8000 feet and the view was beautiful once again. This side of the drive goes around the other side of the Beartooth Mountains. It also has more trees (lodgepole pines and aspens).

When we got back to Yellowstone we spotted a big horn sheep on the side of the road. Then we saw another black bear and more elk, deer and bison.

We were tired and thought we might have to move Friday morning because we originally only had 4 days reserved, but we woke up Friday morning and David went down to the campground office. As David walked into the office a lady asked if he was Mr. Howell saying that she had taken care of him. She went on to say she had overheard the conversation the night before with the other park employee. After we left she went in to the computer system and arranged for us to keep the same site for our remaining time here. It turns out she was from Slidell and said that she always takes care of her fellow Louisianans. She introduced David to her husband and we got an update on the LSU baseball playoffs. They offered us a free campsite to work here for the rest of the season. We are wondering if gas would be cheaper in September to get us home?

We decided to see the geysers, fumaroles, hot springs, and any other thermal activity today. We drove over to the Norris Geyser Basin which is the hottest bed of thermal activity in the park. In fact, according to some guide books, it may possibly be the hottest thermal area in the world.

We walked both the Porcelain Basin & the Back Basin. The paths and boardwalks pass through hot springs and spouting geysers. We had to stay on the paths because the ground around us was very active, hot and changing. There are warnings throughout the park not to get off the paths or touch the water because it is so hot that it will take the skin off your body. It was very tempting to put your hand in one and feel the water temperature, but decided we didn’t want our skin to be taken off of our hand so we refrained from this.

Also, many pools of the hot springs were beautiful color, bluish, green, rust, and many other various colors.

We went to the Midway Geyser Basin and the Fountain Paint Pot area. At the Fountain Paint Pot area there was always some geyser spouting and mud pots gurgling, but never erupting.

We went back to Old Faithful to walk the Upper Geyser Basin, but it started raining so we just waited by the Old Faithful Inn until Old Faithful erupted which was quite a sight. It probably went as high as 100 feet and behind it was a rainbow which David was able to photograph. It was a much better eruption than on Tuesday.

We were really tired because we have not stopped since we have gotten here. We are up early and stay up late to watch for wildlife and sunsets. We slept in a little on Saturday and decided to stay in the Fishing Bridge area.

We hiked Elephant Back trail which is a 3 mile trail to the top of a mountain that has a spectacular view of Yellowstone Lake and the surrounding area. The hike had a lot of switchbacks about half way up, but we made it! The view was beautiful and we ate lunch up there. The hike back was much easier on our breathing, but tough on our toes.

We hiked another trail and then headed back to the camper to get ready for out boat tour on Yellowstone Lake. We really enjoyed that too.

After the boat trip we went back to Lehardys Rapids to see if we could catch sight of the cutthroat trout jumping up the rapids to spawn upstream. We were so blessed to see that. It was something to watch the trout jumping up the rapids. We had to be patient because you watched for a while before you saw a trout jump up the rapids.

Cutthroat Trout Jumping the rapids



One other thing we wanted to mention was all the people we have met here from all over the country and world. We have met people from New York, California, Malaysia, Russia, and so many other places. All of them have been so friendly and nice.

We hope all of you are doing well and we will write in another few days. We are on our way to the Grand Tetons
and will be there until Saturday, June 28


MORE PHOTOS

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Yellowstone Lake from our boat ride.


LA Pelican fishing on the Yellowstone River!




OK, WE ARE DOWN THE ROAD TO THE GRAND TETONS!  We will get another update in a couple of days!
Love ya,