Yellowstone was beyond words. The scenery in some places is phenomenally beautiful. In others, the scenery is phenomenally weird...and beautiful. It was unlike any place I had seen on earth.
Favorite moments...
Old Faithful is fantastic. I watched it erupt five different times over the five days we were there. We also saw the Great Fountain Geyser and Volcano Geyser erupt. The Great Fountain is even more impressive than Old Faithful in some ways. We saw many eruptions of several geysers. It never got old.
The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is unbelievable. Artist's painting of it look hyperbolic. But it really is that spectacular. We hiked the rim and just couldn't believe our eyes.
The wildlife in Hayden Valley. Bison, Elk, bears and more!
Bison and bears blocking traffic. Worth every minute of stoppage.
Hiking to waterfalls.
The wagon ride and cowboy dinner.
The mudpots and painter's pots and all the other strange bubbling and gases and emanations of the earth. The clear, crystalline blue/green pools and springs that will scald if you get too close. The Grand Prismatic Spring. Wow.
In the park we stayed at Grant Village. Our accommodations were pretty nice. I would definitely recommend staying near Yellowstone Lake, Grant or Old Faithful area, if you can get a room.
Some of the drives were quite harrowing, steep cliffs and switchbacks. Other drives were peaceful and smooth. There were places that were crowded. But we never had a problem parking since we made it a point to be up early. Places got really crowded after lunch. We planned the popular hotspots in the morning and did our more remote hiking in the afternoons. This worked out great for us.
I know I'm leaving some great stuff out. Yellowstone was one of the most magical places I've ever seen.
Tons of photos on my flickr site
