Yellowstone National Park

As we drive out through Jackson Hole, the Grand Tetons are there - just waiting for us to marvel at them again! It is truly a special and unique place. With no foothills to obstruct your view, the jagged peaks and deep canyons of the Teton Range rise abruptly from the valley.  Grand Teton covers 310,000 acres and includes the Teton mountain range, glacial lakes and part of the Jackson Hole valley. The summit of the Grand Teton is the highest elevation at 13,770 ft.

We have set out early and arrive at the entrance to the Grand Teton National Park at 9am. Another $25 entrance fee saved with our National Parks card. We are in the lower elevations of the Tetons surrounded by pines, douglas fir, lodgepole pines and spruce. The sky is grey and overcast and it is raining on and off.

About half an hour later we arrive at the entrance to Yellowstone National Park. We are climbing again; we will cross the Continental Divide 3 times whilst in Yellowstone. Hey! that rain looks like snow flakes on the windscreen. Sure enough we are getting the lightest of a snowfall - magic!

Yellowstone was established in 1872 and is the world's first national park and one of the largest in the US. It contains more than 2.2 million acres of geysers, lakes, waterfalls and panoramic views. It is also one of the world's foremost wildlife sanctuaries.



We stop at the Old Faithful Inn, check out the Visitors Centre and watch the geyser blow. Called Old Faithful Geyser for its precise 90 minute eruption cycle, it is the park's icon. Its steaming plume shoots as high as 120-180 ft and lasts 2-5 minutes.













There are a lot of visitors in the park. It is difficult to find a car - oops RV - park! We see the benefit of having made reservations well beforehand - I am sure that we would not find a place to stay otherwise.

We visited Yellowstone in 1986 on our  first trip to the US. We stayed at the Inn at Old Faithful. It looks the same, but there are newer buildings around it. And ... there is a coffee shop with espresso coffee!

We are not too difficult to find!

Old Faithful Geyser

We spend several hours driving a loop in the Park. It is not too difficult in the RV but with so many visitors in the park it is almost impossible to get in to the car parks for several of the attractions. Where possible we park on the side of the road. Of course when there is wildlife on the road, everyone stops to have a look.

There IS a mountain goat in the centre!

We see a lot of wildlife including bison, mountain goats, deer and an elk. No bears!

We have a reservation at the Bridge Bay Campground. There are no services at all but that is OK. We have our own water, gas for heating water for showers and to run the frig and the hotplates ... and we have a generator for power. It is only for 2 nights; it feels good to be 'camping'- the bikes are off!

Reflecting the natural surroundings of Yellowstone, television, radio and air conditioning are not available at in-park lodging. We are also unable to get a signal for the mobile thus no wifi.

Taken from our bedroom window!

On our second day in Yellowstone we go bike riding around Yellowstone Lake, the largest high elevation lake in North America with a shoreline 141 miles long.
Bridge Bay is close to the Fishing Bridge which spans the Yellowstone River, the lake's outlet. Closed to fishing in 1973, the bridge provides a wild trout spawning show most of the summer.
















Yellowstone Lake's native cutthroat trout are severely threatened by lake trout which were introduced illegally to the lake and discovered in 1994.
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Lake trout are targeted with an intensive gill-netting program that begins each spring after ice is gone on Yellowstone Lake and continues to October.




Fishing Bridge is a beautiful spot to watch trout swim by. The water is so clear. Trevor sees a trout swimming under the bridge

Fishing Bridge

Natural Bridge.

We spend 4-5 hours biking. I am whacked. Trevor rides onto the Natural Bridge. He tells me that he thought about bears halfway up the path when he saw a sign saying 'Beware of bears - don't travel alone'. He  rode faster!!