After leaving Coulter Bay we headed in to our next camping spot in West Yellowstone, MT. On the way we stopped at Old Faithful and the Upper Geyser Basin and spent the entire day walking around the area and watching various geysers go off! It was breathtaking and amazing and one of the most unusual days I think I’ve ever spent sightseeing.
We stayed at a nice campground called the West Yellowstone KOA. The grounds were immaculate, the staff was friendly, and the spaces were level! What more could you ask for?
There were several things that really helped us prepare for this trip. One was meeting with good friends who have visited there before. Their advice was invaluable. We also enjoyed listening to a podcast called, Explore Yellowstone Like a Local. We even ended up purchasing his guidebook. Because of this we figured out how to catch many of the different geysers going off:
The second was listening to the Gypsy tours while inside the park. This is an app that you can download to your phone and it works based off of a GPS system. So the guide knows where you are at all times during your travels through the park and will just come on and start giving you information about that area. It’s very cool and we learned and saw a lot of things that we probably wouldn’t have if we were not using the tour. Yellowstone is a huge place! We were there for six nights and even with that amount of time we didn’t see all the things that we wanted to.
There were two pieces of advice from the guidebook that we took seriously after being in the park for the first day and seeing the crowds. Number one is get in the park early. And by early he means 6 AM! It was a bit brutal but we did it almost every day and were able to avoid some of the crowds that were in the park. We did get stuck in traffic several times trying to get out of the park. One evening it took us almost 2 hours of sitting in stopped traffic. They said it was caused by an “elk jam“! In the evening the elk (and bison) will just come out and spread out all across the road and not move! And you pretty much just have to wait for them to clear out!
The second advice was to not go into the park without a “plan“. So every night we would look at the maps and guidebooks to decide what was important for us and what we wanted to see the next day. We broke the park down into manageable pieces and went to a different area each day.
There is so much to like and do in the park it’s hard to say what our favorite was. But after the geysers, an area they called the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone had to be right up there. We did several difficult hikes in the area that took you down to the falls. It was pretty hard but so worth it.
Seeing wildlife was often an unexpected thing. There were certain areas that you could pretty much always see bison. But finding elk was a different story. A couple of funny stories about seeing wildlife. One day we are at the dump station of all places for the RV and this beautiful male elk with a huge rack just walks up with several females and they’re eating grass right next to us! Of course by the time I got back into the RV to grab my phone to take a photo they had moved off. Another time we were using a scope that a friend lent us and looking across the field at a bison. When I looked to my right to talk to Bob there is literally a bison standing about 5 feet from him! We both froze and watched him walk off. We did see one grizzly bear while we were driving and another place we saw a coyote. But I did not get good photos of them. The animals had a way of showing up when you were not ready with your camera! But here are a few we took.
We packed a picnic lunch to bring into the park every day so we wouldn’t have to try to fight the crowds to find sandwiches somewhere! We found some really amazing places off the beaten path for a relaxing lunch.
One day we decided we needed a break from going into the park. On the podcast we had been listening to the guy recommended a place called Wade Lake. It was about a 45 minute drive from where we were staying but so worth it! Honestly one of the most beautiful paddles we have ever done. The water was Caribbean blue and we were the only ones out there. It was so peaceful and relaxing after the hectic pace of visiting the park.
Another day we took a drive around Yellowstone Lake, or at least the section that you can drive by! It’s a huge lake and very beautiful. After passing the lake we ended up in a section called the Hayden Valley and stopped to watch a large large herd of bison.
The last day we were in Yellowstone it snowed most of the day. We drove around some of the park just to enjoy the snow. Amazing! I don't think I have ever seen snow is September. The snow was beautiful mixed in with the fall colors.
We hated to leave this beautiful area, but excited to head to our last stop before being with Mary & Ty as they prepare for their Oct. 9th wedding. We will be spending 2 weeks in Boise before the wedding helping them with any wedding preparations they need but also just enjoying some precious time with them before all the family and friends arrive. We will be staying at a nearby campground so we can also give them some space while they are still working and not to impose too much. But you can believe I will be bringing my laundry over to their house! I have always dreamed of the day I could do this after all those college years when she would show up with a car-full of dirty laundry! Payback time! HAHAHA