Yellowstone Day 2

Enjoying a short rest at Mammoth Hot Springs

Saturday didn't start real early, but it was packed full of a lot of sightseeing and driving. We decided to go to Mammoth Hot Springs because I don't ever remember going there. As I think about it I'm sure I've probably been there before, but not that I remember. We left the trailer around 9:30 and headed to the upper loop. We had to stop and take in the view near Dunraven Pass and then we headed to Tower Falls.

Look'n at the view

Here's a funny story that happened along the way to Tower Falls. Kenny had commented on all the people stopping to take pictures of the Bison. Sarah Kate was so beyond Bison at this point. She had to give us a lecture about how dumb it is to waste all your time taking pictures of Bison, there everywhere. I mean really, how lame is that. :) She has a point, there are Bison everywhere around the fishing bridge area, but I still find them cool.

Tower Falls

Tower Falls is yet another beautiful waterfall that graces Yellowstone. Again, I don't remember ever having been there, so it was new to me. As soon as we walked the hundred yards or so to the lookout point Kenny decided he wanted to go down to it. The trail to the base of the waterfall only went about half way and there were signs along the trail with notes that read something like this, 'Due to current washout conditions the trail to the base of the waterfall is closed.' Of course being Kenny he didn't think it applied to him, so when he tried to climb over the fence blocking the rest of the trail I told him no. He wasn't happy with me and decided to go down to the river below instead. I was OK with this, as there were may fishermen down there, so we all headed down to the river. Again, he really wanted to go to the waterfall so he decided to walk along the bank of the river and get to the waterfall that way. On we went, following Daddy to the base of the waterfall. I will say it was very beautiful and I'm glad I went, but I still feel guilty about going where we weren't suppose to be. The worst part was walking up the trail and climbing over the fence at the end with all the people watching us. I know I'm a baby, but I really don't like disobeying rules like that.

Sarah Kate and Ben at the base of Tower Falls.

Walking to the base of the waterfall took a lot of time and my in-laws were nice enough to watch Gracie while we went down. Again, Gary and Helen, sorry it took us so long. We had a quick sandwich lunch in our cars as we drove on to Mammoth Hot Springs.

Mammoth Hot Springs (without the water)

Mammoth was very pretty, but very cold. The wind was blowing and it was just simply colder there. We bundled everyone up and headed up the walkway to look at all the pretty sights. Most of the hot springs were dried up and I think they would have been much prettier had they had water running down them, but they were neat anyway. We also got to see some elk hanging out around the houses that have been constructed there. All in all, I'm really glad we went that way. It was a different view of Yellowstone as it contained the fort built for the Army in the 1880's and the current park headquarters with houses and apartments. Not things you typically see in Yellowstone. And the hot springs were really cool too.

All bundled up ready to see the hot springs.

We drove on down toward Old faithful and stopped at a few neat spots. Artists Paintpots were really cool with stunning views. Hannah was sound a sleep in the car (not something our kids typically do) and Grandpa was kind enough to sit with her while the rest of us took the mile or so walk around the paintpots. The kids liked the bubbling mud and I like the blue blue water and red rocks, not to mention the view.

View of Artist Paintpots

Our next stop was Fountain Paint Pot, another walk to see some geysers and beautiful bubbling mud. The kids really enjoyed listening the the sound of the splatting mud and the steam that would completely engulf them. I'm really glad my kids enjoy the great outdoors so much. I guess it's good because they happen to be our kids which means they'll be spending a lot of their time outdoors.

We took the Firehole Lake Drive, but the kids were mostly happy to just sit in the car and watch a movie for this drive. It was pretty and they got out a few times, but it was getting late in the day and they were all pretty tired.

The streams from Grand Prismatic Spring running into the Firehole River.

Our last stop was Grand Prismatic Spring. This was really cool. Big pools of hot boiling water in amazing colors of blue, green, red and orange. They created streams that ran into the Firehole River and sent up mist as their hot water touched the colder water of the stream. There was a lot of steam coming from the hot springs, maybe because it was getting late and colder, but the pools were still stunning. Everyone enjoyed the walk, but near the end we decided the kids were all getting tired (and whiny) and it was probably time to start heading back to the trailer. Old Faithful would have to wait until tomorrow.

Grand Prismatic Spring

We started the long drive back to Fishing Bridge and on the shore of Yellowstone Lake we discovered a family of elk. There were 2 females, 2 babies (I think, or was there only 1), and a bull. It was very cool, we HAD to stop and take pictures. The sun was going down, the moon was coming up over the lake, and there were these beautiful animals walking along the lake. The bull was gorgeous, a little intimidating, but absolutely beautiful. What a way to end a wonderful day.

The bull elk walking along the shore of Yellowstone Lake.

I again have too many wonderful pictures so please enjoy this slide show as well.