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| Yellowstone, from near the Norris Geyser Basin | | |
What follows are some of the pictures from our trip out west. This was our second trip with our neighbors, Ken and Deb. We flew into Billings, MT, rented a van and drove up to Glacier National Park first. We spent most of two days there and then drove down to Yellowstone. We did Glacier "on our own" and then we were part of a Roads Scholar group in Yellowstone.
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| From the Billings airport, before starting our drive to Great Falls, MT. |
In our excitement, we immediately drove north out of the Billings airport. The Billings airport is north of the city on a plateau about 100 feet above the majority of the city. About two miles north of the airport, you entered into true Montana landscape (flat nothingness). We came to this restaurant about an hour later. I was a bit skeptical, but our meals were quite good (or I was really hungry).
The two pictures above are our first views of Glacier National Park heading north to the Many Glacier area of the park.
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| Susan and Deb getting ready for our boat ride(s). |
We arrived at Glacier around noon and had lunch at the Many Glacier Hotel. At 2:00, we boarded a boat to cross Swift Current Lake. After a short hike, we boarded a different boat to cross Lake Josephine. Following that second boat ride, we hiked about a mile and a half to Grinnell Lake.
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| The trail on our first hike |
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| Ken and Deb making there way up the hill on our first hike. |
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| Our second boat |
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| Views from the dock at the end of the second boat ride |
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| A view from our longer hike to Grinnell Lake. |
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| Near the end of our longer hike, we had to cross this suspension bridge (one at a time) to reach Grinnell Lake. It is a lot harder than it looks, but we all cleared it. |
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| Bear grass. A favorite of bears and other wildlife. |
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| At Grinnell Lake |
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| Looking at a portion of the Grinnell Glacier. |
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| Hidden Falls, near Grinnell Lake |
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| Remember the suspension bridge. This is a picture of that bridge from the overlook at Hidden Falls. |
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| Just a great picture...I don't remember exactly where this was in Glacier |
This is a view of Goose Island in St. Mary Lake. This is one of those "poster" pictures that everyone takes. On our second day in Glacier we took a Red Bus tour. The picture below is of our Red Bus. They are all 1936 and 1937 Fords (at least the bodies). It has a canvas top that can be rolled back to allow you a view above. Unfortunately for the trip west on the Going to the Sun Road, it was cloudy, rainy, foggy and downright cold. Coming east and back to St. Mary Lake, the clouds broke and the sun came out. You will notice the big differences in the pictures going west as opposed to coming east.
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| Our Red Bus |
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| A glacier picture |
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| Some mountain goats hanging out on the ledge |
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| A regal chipmunk... |
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| The sun is starting to break up the gloom |
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| Goose Island, but from the other shore |
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On Sunday, we left Glacier and drove down to Yellowstone. It took us about 7 hours. That night, we had dinner and an initial meeting with our Roads Scholar group. We had 19 folks in our group. Monday was the formal start of the program. We spent the morning in a lecture and then viewed Mammoth Hot Springs in the afternoon. We stayed four nights in the cabins at Mammoth Hot Springs. They were quite comfortable and about the size of a standard hotel room.
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| These are pictures of the terraces at Mammoth Hot Springs |
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| A view of the boardwalks surrounding the Mammoth Hot Springs. |
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| The Canary Spring |
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| Our cabin cul de sac at Mammoth. We spent 4 of our 6 nights here. |
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| Look, Mom, a giant dog...(an Elk...a young male) |
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| About 50 feet from the hotel entrance |
We boarded a bus on Tuesday morning. About 5 minutes out of Mammoth Hot Springs, we saw our first bison. He held us up for about 5 minutes as he wandered down the road. The picture below is of the same bison when he finally pulled aside. Over the coming days, we saw about 400 bison.
These two pictures are hot springs from the Norris Geyser Basin.
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| Runoff from the Excelsior Geyser...it is pretty amazing the amount of water coming down into the river... |
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| Deb (and Susan) at Excelsior |
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| Old Faithful...before the steam came at us |
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| Some of our group getting ready to depart from the Old Faithful Snow Lodge to tour the Old Faithful Geyser Basin |
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| The rest of our crew. |
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| A boiling hot spring |
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| Firehole River, just behind Old Faithful |
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| Old Faithful...I got to see it go three times... |
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| A coyote who tried to join our tour...he looked a little mangy. We saw two others around Yellowstone Lake that looked much healthier. |
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| Hunting for lunch? |
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| Giant Geyser |
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| The Grotto Geyser |
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| Morning Glory Hot Spring |
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| Castle Geyser |
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| Old Faithful (again) from the terrace at the Old Faithful Inn |
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| These three pictures were taken inside the Old Faithful Inn |
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| The Fishing Hole Geyser. There are pictures from the early 20th Century where fishermen catch a fish from the Lake and cook it in this geyser that is fairly close to the shore of Yellowstone Lake. |
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| Yellowstone Lake |
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| The Hotel at Yellowstone Lake |
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| Another bison |
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| Yellowstone Lake |
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| This was the spot where we had lunch on Thursday. |
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| Dragon Mouth Spring in the Mud Volcano area |
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| Mud Volcano |
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| The lower falls at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone |
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| Our first view of the upper falls at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone |
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| One of the nicer views of the upper falls |
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| Ken and Deb |
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| Susan and yours truly |
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| Tower Falls |
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| More bison |
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| Pronghorn Antelope |
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| A deer...hiding out behind our lunch location on Friday |
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| You know what this is.... |
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| Our trail on Friday...on the lookout for bears... |
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| A view of the Lamar Valley |
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| Also of the Lamar Valley |
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| Lamar Valley again....I was amazed at the breadth of this valley...it went on forever. |
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| Another... | | |
Our Roads Scholar tour came to an end on Saturday morning and we drove back to Billings for the flights home. This was my second Roads Scholar tour. My first was in Savannah in 2015. That tour was great. This one in Yellowstone was better. Our instructor, Lee, was very knowledgeable and passionate about Yellowstone. Friday evening, Lee became Truman Everts for 20 minutes. Truman Everts became separated from the Washburn Expedition in 1870 and survived 37 days in Yellowstone. It was a perfect ending to our tour of Yellowstone.
Our organizer, Joyce, was always one step ahead of any issues that we might encounter with our meals or accommodations. I was able to learn and see much more of Yellowstone than I could have hoped to see if we had chosen to spend 5 days driving around the park on our own.
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