If you have ever visited Yellowstone National Park, you are going to understand why there will be a few words and lots of pictures in today’s daily update.
Neither of us have ever been to Yellowstone, and we were afraid that Mother Nature was going to make this trip impossible.
However, the roads that were temporarily closed due to the epic snow storm last week, were now reopened.
So we took the opportunity today to head to the East entrance to explore what Yellowstone National Park had to offer.
And to be completely honest, it was way more impressive than we could have ever hoped for.
Not only did we get to see magnificent views of the landscape along the way, we also had a few up close encounters with the native wildlife.
But the most amazing part of the trip was being able to experience the variation of weather from the morning to the afternoon.
Check out the pictures below to see not only the natural beauty of Yellowstone National Park, but also how quickly things can change in a matter of hours.
Buffalo Bill State Park
On our way from Cody, WY to the East Entrance of Yellowstone we passed through Buffalo Bill State Park. The lake was crystal clear and it was lined with pine trees with the snow capped mountains peeking in the background.
Yellowstone National Park
Once we arrived to Yellowstone National Park, the snow on the mountains was thicker. This made the pine trees look even more majestic along the banks of the lake, which again, was clear as clear could be.
Some of the Wildlife We Encountered
As we drove around the scenic byway towards Fisher’s Bridge, we saw several Bison. This one was several feet from us, but with the magic of a zoom lens, we were able to get an up close picture of him as he was forging on the grass. As we continued our travels, we noticed a few cars pulled off in the distance. There were several photographers there that were pointing their large lens cameras in the forest. We decided to pull off as well and see what was happening. In the distance, you could spot a grizzly bear digging in the area to find it’s next meal. It was hard to get a good picture, but we have circled the bear in the above picture so you can take a look.
We also saw a nest of Bald Eagles perched in the peak of a pine tree. However, because they were so high up in the tree, our cell phone pictures didn’t turn out worthy of posting.
But I can tell you, it was very humbling to watch the once endangered species feeling comfortable in their little home located in Yellowstone National Park.
And yes, we saw Elk. But more on that below….
The Landscape
Scattered throughout the landscape you will see thousands of acres that have been victim to forest fires. You can see the stripped trunks of the trees are scorched black and in the distance there is new growth that is starting to flourish. As sad as it is to see, it also was beautiful in its own way. Hot springs are present in many places within Yellowstone National Park. This one was at the entrance to a hiking trail and was boiling and steaming as we took this photo. The snow at the higher elevations was simply beautiful. And as we continued our drive towards Old Faithful, it actually began to snow again. No trip to Yellowstone would be complete without viewing Old Faithful. We waited about 50 minutes for it to erupt – a sight that we have both wanted to experience since we were kids. There were several other geysers in the area and it was amazing to watch the steam and hot liquid spew from miles below the earth’s surface.
The Snow Returns
The drive back to the East entrance was much different than our morning drive. We no longer had beautiful and clear skies. Instead, we had large snowflakes falling on our windshield and the visibility was much more limited. And as you can see, the roads were covered in some areas. But because the newly fallen snow covered the area, it was easy to spot Elk in the distance. They were forging around an old cabin and they were easy to see against the backdrop. So we pulled over to watch their grace and beauty for just few minutes This also gave us a break from the intense drive back to the East Entrance of Yellowstone National Park.
If we had to explain today’s adventures in one word, it would be Majestic!
Happy Traveling! Jim and Mary
CURRENT TRIP STATS
Day 26 of 365
States Visited 5 / 50
National Parks / Monuments Visited : 5
Stayed In : Cody, Wyoming
Miles Driven : 261.20
Total Trip Miles To Date : 3731.7
Total Gallons Used : 276.42
Biking Miles : 0
Biking Miles To Date : 76.3
Hiking Miles : 3.1
Hiking Miles To Date : 65.95
About Our Living Simple Tour
On September 9th, 2019, we set out in our NuCamp T@B 400 Teardrop Camper to travel to every state. You can check out all of our dates here : Dates for the States
What camp ground did you stay at that was on the river?
Hi Betsy We stayed at the Billings KOA (the original KOA camping location). Right behind the campground is the Yellowstone River. Hope that helps!