Yellowstone

We headed south on U.S. 191 toward West Yellowstone. This is beautiful country and that was accentuated by the clouds hanging low over the hills. Since we were unable to make reservations in Yellowstone and the remaining campgrounds had only a few sites that could fit our 26’ trailer, we’re staying outside that park at the West Gate KOA. This is a nice campground with a lot of summer activities, treed sites, and even breakfast and dinner possibilities. But as Mary said, not staying in the park campgrounds is like not staying on Disney properties at Disney World. We’re faced with the huge line of cars everyday trying to enter the park. West Yellowstone entrance is the second busiest National Park entrance, next to the South side of the Grand Canyon. 

We decided to visit the Lower and Middle Geyser Basins as well as Biscuit Basin. It’s cloudy and we had intermittent rain. The crowds are heavier than we've ever seen. One of the rangers said that visitation is up by half a million visitors each summer for the last three summers. We get lucky and manage to find parking at each basin. With the wet weather, the steam coming off the thermal features is heavier than normal. We’ll see if any of the pictures come out. But Yellowstone continues to fascinate us – all the colors, browns, yellows, greens, oranges, and reds. The deep blue or green pools and the fun water action, whether hissing, gurgling, or shooting up in the air. 

Sapphire Pool Midway Geyser Basin

 We arrived at Great Fountain Geyser at 3:45 and the sign said it should erupt between 12:15 and 4:15. There was a crowd so we knew it hadn't erupted yet. We waited, and it began to rain. Mary stayed in the car, I watched from the boardwalks. Several times, the pool started to boil hard, but nothing. It was 4:15, then 4:30, the rain began to pour. I was already wet from the steady rain, and now my socks were starting to get wet. 4:45 – no geyser – time to give up. On the way home, we were delayed twice – once for one lonely elk off the road and then about a 15 minute delay because two bison had settled right off the road, everyone wanted a picture and there was nowhere to park other than the middle of the road. Not our best Yellowstone day!

Great Fountain Geyser