Yellowstone National Park, MT

Day #52 (September 21, 2022): During our final travel day to Yellowstone, we drove over one of the smallest rivers in the world, the Malad River (it’s only 2.5 miles long!), and across and along the Snake River, passing by more fields of potatoes and wheat, as we drove through southern Idaho’s yellow-grass-covered Snake River Valley of the Columbian Plateau, making our way back up into Montana. We stopped in West Yellowstone, MT, at the Visitor Center outside of the national park’s west entrance for maps, info, and passport book stamps. The ranger inside did a wonderful job of showing the kids various animal pelts and having them guess the animals accordingly. It was neat to touch and compare the fur and pelts of a buffalo, black bear, grizzly bear, beaver, river otter, coyote, fox, elk, moose, and probably other animals that I can’t remember. It was an impressive collection! From the west entrance, we drove another 1.5 hours to Fishing Bridge RV Campground. Having full hookups inside a national park is pretty much unheard of, so we were super thankful to have gotten such a fantastic reservation for a whole week in such an iconic park!

Day #53 (September 22, 2022): After morning schoolwork and a virtual music lesson, Emily and the kids set out to drive the entire Lower Loop, while Chris worked in a quiet RV. We stopped at the Old Faithful Visitor Center and spent the entire afternoon watching 2 movies, listening to 2 ranger talks, walking through all the exhibits, and watching 4 geysers erupt including Old Faithful, Grand Geyser, and their more elusive neighbor Beehive (our favorite). The fourth was a smaller one that I don’t know the name of. We also walked along a boardwalk to various steam vents and hot pools. As we continued driving the rest of the Lower Loop home, we spotted buffalo, elk, ravens, and the most exciting—a grizzly bear! It was really far from the road and hard to see much, but hey, it was a grizzly bear!

Day #54 (September 23, 2022): Chris had more work to catch up on, so after morning schoolwork, Emily and the kids decided to drive the Lower Loop again, this time stopping at different points along the way, all while continuing to look for more wildlife. We stopped at Grants Village Visitor Center to learn the importance of fire to Yellowstone’s ecosystem by watching its film and looking at its exhibits. Next, we attempted a bike path on Lonestar Geyser trail, but unfortunately, after technical difficulties with two of the girls’ bikes, we walked our bikes to the truck disappointed to not have completed the trail or reach the geyser. We briefly took in the beauty of the nearby Kepler Cascades before continuing our drive on the Lower Loop. We walked along the boardwalk at the Black Sand Basin to see more hot springs and geysers. The most exciting part of the day was stopping in Hayden Valley to admire the elk and listen to male elk bugling for females and then later watching from a distance through binoculars a buffalo carcass, hoping to see wolves or coyotes coming out for an evening snack at sunset. Although we didn’t see any wolves or coyotes, we took in a beautiful sunset over Hayden Valley, and that made it worth the stop.

Day #55 (September 24, 2022): Today we spent the day admiring the beauty of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and its nearby Canyon Village. First, on our drive from Fishing Bridge campground to Canyon Village, we stopped at Mud Volcano boardwalk trail to see its many mudpots, acidic lakes, the not-so-pleasant-smelling Sulfur Caldron, and the steamy Dragon’s Mouth Spring. Afterward, we enjoyed stopping at various overlooks and brinks taking in the different viewpoints of the picturesque Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and its 2 magnificent waterfalls—Upper Falls and Lower Falls. Our favorite viewpoint was Artist’s Point. Let’s just say, it is well-named! It’s gorgeous! From there, we hiked 3 miles (round-trip) along the rim to Sublime Point for more views of this beautiful yellow canyon. Afterwards, we rested in Canyon Visitor Education Center as we watched the 20-minute movie and looked at its exhibits, and then shopped for souvenirs and a few groceries at Canyon General Store. On our drive home, we stopped to look at buffalo and elk in Hayden Valley.

Day #56 (September 25, 2022): After four days of all-day driving and adventures, we were more than ready for a day of rest at home. For breakfast, we enjoyed Country Bakery’s locally-made “homemade” cinnamon rolls, which we bought yesterday at the Canyon General Store (we highly recommend these yummy treats if you are visiting). Delicious! After virtual church, the kids played in the woods making forts and “teepees” made from small fallen ponderosa pine trees and limbs. The highlight of the day was riding our bikes around the campground, spying (from a safe distance) on a lone bull bison who was grazing on the small pads of grass in between each campsite and watching fellow campers’ startled reactions when they first saw him so close to their campers! LOL!

Day #57 (September 26, 2022): After a lovely day of rest at home, we were ready for another day of exploring America’s first national park. First, Bethany and Emily woke up early to find a beautiful sunrise. They watched the sun rise over Yellowstone Lake, the largest high elevation lake in North America; they then walked a couple short hikes, hoping to see some wildlife (nope, but it was pretty). Afterward, the whole family headed to see the world’s third largest hot spring—Grand Prismatic Spring, a brilliant, rainbow-colored hot spring at the Midway Geyser Basin in Yellowstone. Grand Prismatic Spring is a mind-blowing display of the Master Artist’s creativity and handiwork. Hiking the 1.2-mile Grand Prismatic Overlook Trail (part of Fairy Falls trail) is a must-do in order to fully take in its surreal beauty. Afterward, we walked the Fountain Paint Pot boardwalk trail and then went to the Norris Geyser Basin Museum. By this point, the kids declared they had seen enough “bubbles and boardwalks”; they were eager to get back to their forts in the woods adjacent to our campsite. So, we headed back to the campground, where the lone bull bison from the previous day had returned to the campground to continue grazing (so cool!).

After dark, we went stargazing on Fishing Bridge near our campground. We thought stargazing at Crater Lake was unbeatable, but…we were wrong! Let’s just say, “the stars were aligned” for us tonight, and we experienced the most epic night of stargazing! First of all, there was zero moonlight because the moon rose and set 30-45 minutes after the sun. Second, the sky was crystal clear with zero cloud coverage. Third, Jupiter was the brightest and closest to earth than it had been in 50+ years. How awesome is that?!!! We were blown away when we saw Jupiter’s 3 Galilean moons and Saturn’s rings by using Neil’s Celestron binoculars! Yes! How cool is that?!!! With the help of the SkyView app, we identified the Pleiades, Pegasus, Big Dipper, Little Dipper, and Cassiopeia, among others. Standing on the bridge over the Yellowstone River, we had nearly a 180 degree view of the sky; our minds were blown when we could see the Milky Way running across the sky from horizon to horizon. To make it even more amazing, the river was so calm that it acted like a mirror, and we could see the stars and the Pleiades reflecting in the Yellowstone River!!! And…we were witnessing this beauty all while listening to bull elk bugling in the background! We went to bed on top of the world with our minds blown at the surreal beauty we had experienced firsthand today!

Day #58 (September 27, 2022): Today is our last day in Yellowstone. We have had an amazing week, witnessing very unique beauty that isn’t found anywhere else on earth. Yet still, the kids have one Yellowstone wish to fulfill—they want to see a black bear in the wild! Chris stayed behind to work, while Emily and the kids went on a bear hunt. We stopped and talked to a couple rangers to get some tips on where we would be most likely to see a black bear. They said there hasn’t been much bear activity reported because of how unseasonably warm it still is. (I didn’t mention earlier that it snowed on us on our drive home from Old Faithful just five days ago!) Nonetheless, they recommended we drive to Mammoth Springs since black bears tend to be spotted more commonly on the Upper Loop. We drove north via the east side of the loop, which is very scenic and so different from the landscape of the Lower Loop. This place is gorgeous! We stopped at some overlooks to take in the beauty of the drive. We drove to Mammoth Springs Visitor Center and got a kick out of the huge bull elk just resting and hanging out in the yards of all the buildings! Seriously?!! Hilarious! We didn’t spend much time in the Mammoth Springs area though, since the kids were eager to continue on our black bear hunt.

We were advised to drive the Blacktail Plateau Drive, a side dirt road off the main road that is more scenic and less traveled. As we slowly drove the bumpy dirt road, we noticed all the berries along the road. We joked and repeatedly chanted, “Where there are berries, there are bears,” hoping and praying for a black bear to come into sight. The next thing we know, Lily calmly says, “There’s a bear. There’s a bear right there.” Sure enough, right beside the road on the driver side of the truck was a small black bear. What?! Really?! We were so excited! Our dream and prayer for the day had come true! We still laugh at the subsequent debate between Mom and Neil (our walking-talking-no-wifi-needed family “google” on most things science and history) about whether or not the bear was a “baby bear” with a mother bear nearby. Emily was certain it was a baby bear and that a mama bear would be nearby if we just waited long enough, but Neil was positive that although it was a young bear, it was not a baby bear. We were all disappointed when 3 other cars soon drove up behind us and thus we couldn’t stop and wait for the mama bear to appear. (There was nowhere to pull over and you aren’t supposed to block the road. Sigh.) The black bear crossed the road behind our truck and went off into the woods! Although brief, we were ecstatic at how close we had been to the bear while in the protection of our vehicle, which by the way was the best-case scenario for Emily who had faithfully carried bear spray but prayed she never had to use it.

Next, we drove to Lamar Valley, another recommended area for black bears. Seeing cars pulled to the side of the road, we pulled over and got out to see what the rangers and fellow tourists were seeing. Sure enough, about 80 yards from the road, was another young black bear. After talking to the ranger, we agreed that the first black bear was a similar size and the ranger estimated it was about 3 years old. Baby black bears stay with mama bear for 2 years before going off on their own, so….Neil was right—the first bear was a young bear, but not a baby bear, and thus a mama bear was likely not to be seen at the previous spot. Well, that’s a relief; maybe we didn’t miss much after all. We continued our drive into Lamar Valley, where we were thrilled to witness a male pronghorn chase off another pursuing male in protection of his harem of 6 or so females; some fellow tourists told us that this was the third time in about 1.5-2 hours that this had happened. We had arrived just in time to see the trespassing male’s 3rd pursuit and then the chase away. Well, that was cool! It was like National Geography live in person! Then on our drive back out of the valley, we saw a bison rut and a bison lip curl (Oh my goodness! Tis the season!). We were so excited and so thankful for all the wildlife and action that we had seen in the last couple hours.

As we drove back home, the sun was setting; it was a gorgeous drive home. As we approached Calcite Springs, Emily exclaimed that there was another black bear! It crossed the street just ahead of us and then crawled down over the wall next to the road. She pulled off the road at the nearest pullout to see if they could still see it, and yes, there it was, foraging for dinner. The bear then came back up the wall, crossed the street, and went back into the woods from which it had first emerged, paying us no attention at all. We couldn’t believe it…3 bears in one day! How thrilling!!! What a memorable way to end our Yellowstone visit!