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Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Yellowstone and Old Faithful

We couldn't wait to see Yellowstone.  We are camped at Henry's Lake State Park which is about 25 miles from West Yellowstone, MT which is the location of the West Entrance to Yellowstone National Park.

Yellowstone is the oldest of the National Parks in the U.S.  It was made so when established by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant in 1872.  It is primarily in the state of Montana but also extends into both Idaho and Wyoming.

What impressed me initially was the great highway going through the park.  I had the mental image that the road through the park was old, slow and winding.  I was pleasantly surprised it is in great shape and fairly wide in spots.  In addition to a number of pullouts and observation points, the road is wide enough in many places to pull over while other traffic passes.

The flagship of the nation's oldest park is Old Faithful and we made our way to it for a look at the spectacle.  There is a great Visitor's Center there with plenty of parking, and we stopped and took a look around.  Then we went outside to view the Geyser.  We had about 20 minutes before the next eruption.  We waited and waited and then…

It was an overcast day but it was still beautiful.  From the West Entrance we stopped at a number of observations points to take some pictures along the Madison River.
I took a lot of pictures of the pristine valley by the river.
The soggy weather probably was the reason it was not real busy.  This time of year it is usually packed.
From there we continued our drive and made a few stops in the direction of West Thumb Geyser Basin along Yellowstone River.
We found an RV park at Fishing Bridge and took a drive through it to check it out.
The spaces look a little tight but there were a few big rigs in there.  And quite a few empty spots.  We decided we like where we are (20 miles away from the park entrance).  Sometimes the road gets busy when wildlife want to share the road.  When I see the big rigs in the park, I am glad we are in our little Honda.

There are more pictures from our time at Yellowstone.  We will save that for another post.  We are thoroughly enjoying our time here.

Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles.  And thanks for our comments.  We always appreciate those!

Until next time...

8 comments:

  1. have a great time at Yellowstone!..looks like it is an photo op at every turn!..you and Pam are so lucky!..one day we will visit this fine park!!

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  2. Loved your photos and story... We have visited Yellowstone several times and I can say I never tire of it!!! It is a winderful park with so many wonderous things to see... Have fun!
    Travel safe
    Donna

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  3. Really nice post, Randy. Nice to see Old Faithful do its faithful thing. When I visited Yellowstone as a kid in 1958 the thing was to count bears. I was 13 and counted 263 bears in the 4 days we were there, including one who ripped up our tent. Things have definitely changed.

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  4. OH! You are in our very favorite spot! But I must say, Yellowstone is mostly in WY and a little bit in MT and ID ~ Sorry!

    And we do n.o.t. recommend the campground at Fishing Bridge! We have a 40' MH and are great at parking it, but it took four peeps to get parked in there and then the slides were almost touching any neighbors we had! What a nightmare! Plus, there are short poles to mark the spots that you can't see when backing or pulling forward in your toad and why, yes, I did hit one...

    Have an awesome time!!! If you've never gone over Bear Tooth Pass, we do recommend that! Check road conditions first!! And if you get to Red Lodge, go to the bakery!!!

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  5. Sorry we weren't there yesterday, Randy and Pam. Your pictures are great--can't wait to see it all for myself. This will be our first trip to Yellowstone.

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  6. It is a great park. We were there last fall, thanks for the memories.

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  7. A few years ago we snowmobiled for a week in and around the park - it was AWESOME!!! If you ever get a chance to return there in the winter - go for it you will never regret the experience.

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  8. Yellowstone is beautiful no matter the time of year or the weather ... though I have to say spring and fall are our favorites; winter time comes next.

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