Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, Mammoth Hot Springs & Lamar Valley - Yellowstone NP - Day 2

August 3

Up again at 5:00 and on the drive I saw a small herd of deer. The lighting was a bit better today so I got a few photos along the way. There are a series of 3 tunnels just outside of Cody; two short ones and one long one to get around the curves. Very cool tunnels that are carved through the natural rock of the mountains so the walls are natural rock.

 Buffalo Bill State Park

 Buffalo Bill Dam 

 Shoshone National Park 

The roadwork was only a short wait once we were in the park and of course the occasional stops for Bison in the road.  It’s up to them how long they want to hang out in the road. Our focus today was animals since we did a geyser day yesterday. We started by going through the Hayden Valley.

 you can see the fog behind the trees

 geysers everywhere....

 this guy just moved off the road 

We saw quite a few Elk far up on the ridge. When we got there someone told us they watched a bear swim across the river and it had started up the valley towards where the elk were. I searched and searched with my binoculars and finally found it. Then it disappeared into another valley. Finally, it reappeared and we watched it continue up the mountain. When it got to the top of one of the flat areas it was sunny and much easier to get photos. He was quite far away, but I could see him well with the binoculars. There was also a herd of buffalo and some birds in the water.

 Hayden Valley

 the elk were running (maybe because of the bear headed in their direction)

Bison

herd of Bison

 Brown Bear - Grizzly

 Bison

 Redhead

We then headed to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. On the way we saw a couple of Trumpeter Swans way in the distance.

 Vesper Sparrow

 We came across an elk and her calf up on a hill. The calf still had spots. 

picnic area

Our route then took us along the South rim of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. Many stops along the way to see the sites in the Canyon Village area. The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is roughly 20 miles long, measured from the Upper Falls to the Tower Fall area. Uncle Tom's trail was closed so we couldn't go way down into the canyon.

 Artist Point

Artist Point 

 Lower Falls

 Lower Falls

 Lower Falls

Yellowstone River

 Brink of Lower Falls

 Lookout Point

 Clark's Nutcracker

 Clark's Nutcracker

  Lookout Point

Lookout Point

Three roads provide access to a number of trails, walkways and overlooks with views of The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone as well as Upper and Lower Falls: North Rim Drive, South Rim Drive and the Brink of Upper Falls spur road. 

 Osprey in nest

 old nest

 Gallatin Range

Trumpeter Swan

 Golden Gate Canyon

Back on the road we took the Blacktail Plateau Drive. Nice detour, but didn’t see any critters. 

We then visited Mammoth Hot Springs Terrace.

 Mammoth Springs Village in the background

 these ARE my "let's go hiking clothes"

 Canary Spring

 Mountain Bluebird

 baby Mountain Bluebird on the left and parent on the right

We stopped in the village of Mammoth for some ice cream and saw 2 female elk right in the Village.
After we came out from the store there was a large herd of female elk up on the hill.

 2 elk cows in the village of Mammoth Hot Springs

 elk up on the hill behind the General Store

every bathroom and outhouse had this sign (lots of Asians visit the park)

 Undine Falls

 Undine Falls

 We then hiked to Wraith Falls.

 Wraith Falls

Wraith Falls

Osprey

Osprey nest

We then made our way to the Lamar Valley for the early evening viewing of wildlife. Lots of huge herds of Bison. Many young ones nursing and some frolicking and kicking up their heels.  It was very impressive to see the large number of Bison that went on for miles. We had another picnic for dinner (to save time since dinner took up a lot of time yesterday) and we sat and watched the wildlife.

 Lamar Valley - large herds of bison

 Soda Butte Creek

 Soda Butte

We then exited out the Northeast entrance of the park. We passed through Cooke City, a small town just outside the parks boundaries.

Since a small part of Yellowstone is in Montana, we passed over the state line into Montana and then back into Wyoming. The drive through the mountains was very picturesque, with lots of switchbacks and dramatic scenery. The route starts with the Beartooth Highway and then the Chief Joseph Highway. We are going this way into the park tomorrow so should get better photos, if it's not too dark.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/WvPEQfDJgcW79HMY9

We are currently is Buffalo, WY and the internet here is almost non-usable and my cell service for using it as a hotspot is about the same. I know I'm way behind on posting, but until I get better internet they will be sparse. They are ready to go, but I need better internet.