Day 9 - Touring

We both slept well last night. Got up and had coffee while we planned out the day. We used Fodor’s “Complete Guide to National Parks of the West.” They broke the park into 8 areas with highlights. Today we decided to concentrate on the “Lake Yellowstone” area.

We first went to the Lake Lodge for two reasons. We bought some internet time to get a few important things out because of our “no service” situation. After we did that, we attended Mass in rustic room that overlook the lake. We had a Jesuit priest from Scanton, PA.

From there we went to the Fishing Bridge Visitors Center. It is a log style building sited on the Yellowstone Lake. Walking out the back was a pine-lined sidewalk with views of the lake. When we returned inside we saw a Ranger giving a talk. We sat in for the tail end. He was quite funny in his presentation telling about Ravens and how they unzipper bags, etc. and steal what is inside. He also spoke at length about bears and what to do if we encounter one. We did bring bear spay with us. It looks like a small fire extinguisher. Hopefully we won’t need it!

We then headed to the Yellowstone Hotel for lunch. It’s was beautiful inside with views of Yellowstone Lake which is one of the largest alpine lakes in the world. We sat by a window with that view. Tim had burger from Montana made with Wagyu beef. It was one of the best burgers we have had.

After lunch we went to the LeHardy rapids where Cutthroat Trout swim upstream to spawn. We did see some fish in quieter pools but we didn’t see any jumping. Great views.

Off we headed to see a number of sulphur springs. There were wood decking paths that take you in a long circular walk around a number of these bubbling, hissing holes. We saw: Mud Volcano, Churning Caldron, Black Dragon’s Caldron, Dragon’s Mouth Spring and Sulphur Caldron. What was amazing is how flowers grew up and around these extremely hot areas.

We then took a scenic drive through Hayden Valley. Expansive views of valleys, snow-covered mountains and rivers with a sprinkle of bison.

This ended our day. We saw a lot and we are appreciating why they call this the granddaddy of National Parks!