First stop, Gibbon
Falls, on our way to Mammoth Hot Springs the second most famous location in the
park, after Old Faithful.
Then:
- Artists Paintpots
- Roaring Mountain
We had a hold up at
major roadworks but it did not really impact on our timing for anything. It may
have been to our advantage as we arrived at Mammoth Hot Springs just before
lunch.
Mammoth was very
busy, but we managed to see all the travertine terraces without too much
walking. Around the lower terraces there's a maze of paths!
We found a great
spot for lunch - with a picnic table!
Afterwards, we drove
up to the north entrance to see the Roosevelt Gate. President Roosevelt came to
office in 1901 and was instrumental in passing the Antiquities Act, which led
to the protection of antiquities and objects of scientific interest. Yellowstone NP was established in 1872; the
first in the world. The Royal National Park south of Sydney was the second
national park in the world to be established in 1879.
As we had
encountered bad roadworks on our way up we chose an alternate route to return
to base. Despite travelling late in the afternoon and through some significant
bear country and open plains, we lucked out on seeing any wildlife.
We saw some bison
grazing way off on a hillside, then suddenly there was a coyote ambling along
just off the side of the road.
As we neared the
west entrance, there was an elk jam. We saw the vehicles jammed up on both
sides of the road ahead and knew it was the same bull elk and his does we had
seen in the morning. We moved on, it was already very late in the day.
One more day to
explore tomorrow.
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| Artists Paintpots |
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| Roaring Mountain |
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| Mammoth Hot Springs |
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| Just like an external limestone cave! |
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| An elk wrecking havoc in Mammoth Hot Springs |
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| Roosevelt entry gate |
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| Coyote |
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