Buffaloes, Snow, and Yellowstone

North gateway into Yellowstone National Park

Mammoth Hot Springs in the upper basin section

Jeff and I in Norris Geyser Basin
(picture taken by Ron and Meg from LaGrande, OR)

Picture I took up at Artist Point
Overlooks the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and Lower Falls

These two guys held up traffic for at least 5 minutes

This is the line of cars due to the two guys above

Today, Jeff and I set out for Yellowstone National Park from Bozeman, MT. After a biscuits and gravy breakfast, we entered the park through the north entrance from the town of Gardiner. We were able to see a lot of north and west sections of the park including Mammoth Hotsprings, Norris Geyser Basin, and the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone (we also visited the visitor centers in those areas as well). There was also some pretty interesting hot springs we found just off the sides of some of the roads. We had a chance to get out and hike around each of these great areas for a decent amount of time before heading out of the park in the evening to West Yellowstone (actually in Montana, not Wyoming).

We definitely had some pretty interesting weather in the park. I see why most visitors come in July and August. It was either raining or snowing for most of the time we were there. Thank goodness I am an Oregononian. It didn't feel too cold at all too. I noticed that the majority of the people in the park at that time were mainly from the western states (a lot of Washington, Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, and Utah license plates). Very few were from elsewhere. I guess only those used to the cold and wet were willing to brave the weather. I found it somewhat of a coincidence though that the first people I talked to there were also Oregonians (from LaGrande!). It is a small world!

This is the second time I have visited the park, so I was able to see some of the changes that have occurred in about a decade or so. A lot of things were similar (like the high prices in the cafeterias and shops), and some things have changed (Mammoth's hot springs are not really hot springs anymore, and are more like hot ground spots that used to have water in them). I did a lot of driving in the park today. I spent a lot of time dodging potholes and cars stopping in the middle of the road to look at the bison sitting on the side of the roads. It was a lot of fun and tomorrow, I hope to see the rest of the park including Old Faithful and Yellowstone Lake.

On another note, due to heavy snow and a few avalanches, the two eastern routes in and out of the park are now closed, and I had to change my plans a bit. Initially I was hoping to go through Wyoming to get to South Dakota (to continue my journey to Maryland), but I due to the closures, I decided I would go through Montana instead. This is good, since I will be able to check out Billings, MT, where my teammate Brian is from. I hear the restaurant that his dad part-owns has some pretty good eats! I will find out tomorrow.