2023 - West - West Yellowstone MT - Wind Storm, Super Blue Moon &Horseback riding at The Diamond P Ranch - August 30-31

August 30 - We have taken a day off to catch up on laundry, grocery shopping, etc. Vaughan and Jim worked on Jim's Jeep. Meanwhile we had tremendous winds - actually took down quite a few large trees in the RV park. Luckily none of them landed on any RVs. In the evening we were treated to a super blue moon. The next one won't occur for another 14 years. The moon was so huge and bright. It's a shame a camera could not capture it properly.

 

August 31 - Jill and I have been talking about going for a horseback ride this entire trip. We finally did it today at the Diamond P Ranch here in West Yellowstone. The ride takes you through the Gallatin National Forest overlooking Yellowstone.

Loved this cowboy's mustache and Rufus, the puppy.

Jill learning to rope a calf.

I rode Cochise, Vaughan rode Squirrel, Jim rode Andre, and Jill rode JW (short for John Wayne).

Two hours of riding when you haven't been in the saddle for about 15 years made for extremely sore butts and knees. 

Dinner at the Buffalo Bar with a cold beer helped with the pain.

2023 - West - Yellowstone WY- Waterfalls, Mammoth Hot Springs, Mud Volcanoes, canyons, elk and bison- August 29

 August 29 - Drove around upper Yellowstone today. It was a long day - 9AM to 8PM. The day was filled with waterfalls, mud pots, and critters.

Gibbon Falls - about 84 foot fall

Bison - 

Mammoth Hot Springs - this is a large complex of hot springs on hills of travertine.

Travertine terraces - 

Elk - 

Fields full of Bison - 

We detoured up the Beartooth Highway to Cooke City for lunch at The Bistro Cafe

Our server was "beary" quiet but smiled a lot.

While dining we spotted another Hummingbird Moth - 

Tower Falls - 132 foot fall

Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River- 308 foot fall

Grand Canyon of Yellowstone - great views of the Yellowstone River

Mud Volcanoes and pools - always gurgling, burping, splashing

The Dragon's Mouth - rumbles, then spits and splashes while steam rises from it's mouth.

This guy was about to get a life lesson - The elk is larger than you and that camera will not protect you. Luckily God usually protects fools.

Yellowstone Lake - 

We watched this Elk cross the stream with her calf - 

The Ranger had to stand in the road and direct traffic around this family of Bison.

We had a rare sighting of a coyote. I had to snap picture quickly of him moving along the stream. Unfortunately the camera focused on the tree not the coyote.

2023 - West - Yellowstone MT - Old Faithful, Beehive, Grand Prismatic, Fountain Paint Pots & Firehole Falls -August 27-28

 August 27 - We left St Regis MT for West Yellowstone MT.  That's Jim & Jill in the lead down I90. This has to be one of the prettiest drives we have had.

We treated ourselves to dinner in West Yellowstone with this creature watching over us. I think he was mad that we were eating his kin-folk.

August 28 - We all went to see Old Faithful today.  Jim & Jill stayed close to the Geyser while Vaughan & I chose to hike the 3.2 mile Upper Geyser Basin Loop. We were still able to see Old Faithful erupts (actually twice thanks to the route of the hike). Meanwhile we were treated to dozens of other geysers and pools.

Here is the first eruption of Old Faithful.

We were sitting up by Beehive Geyser, waiting for it to erupt, when Old Faithful erupted. The mound in front is the Beehive. We waited for quite a while for it to blow but finally walked away.

and then - Beehive erupted!  So glad we got to see it. It was higher than Old Faithful. People standing where we had stood got drenched.

Heart Spring - 

Other pools & geysers - 

We really wanted to see Gran Geyser erupt so we sat for a very long time waiting. It goes off about every 7 hours and we arrived within the time window to see it. So we waited - 

We had a marmot waiting with us.

Eventually he got bored and took a nap. 

Meanwhile a geyser behind us erupted (sorry I didn't get the name).

Grand Geyser continued to spit every 15 minutes but then would settle back down.

That's when Old Faithful erupted again - this time bigger than the first.

Eventually we gave up. 

Next stop - Grand Prismatic Spring

Onward to Fountain Paint Pots - 

with mud pots - 

and another geyser which apparently goes off continuously.

Next was a drive along Firehole Falls Road.

Along the road was a nesting Osprey who got a little perturbed that we were driving by. It started screeching at us and flapping it's wings.

And now for some obligatory Buffalo/Bison picks - 

Here is one coming down the road by Jim.