Alan and I were part of  the 957,000 people who visited Yellowstone in July of 2010--the largest monthly total in the history of Yellowstone.  Except for some trouble getting campgrounds and seeing some of the more popular places, we really experienced little difficulty with the crowds.  It is a vast place, and the park service was wonderfully competent in every way.

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Map of Yellowstone

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Beartooth Highway from Red Lodge, Montana to Yellowstone

The Beartooth Highway is the most spectacular route into Yellowstone.  We took an entire day driving about 75 miles.  The switchbacks, hairpin curves, and precipitous dropoffs were scary, but worth every nail-biting moment.  The picture below only shows a few of the switchbacks.  However, the views from the overlooks and at the top of the mountain were unforgettable.

Alan is happy to reach the top of the mountain.  He did all the driving.

When we got to the tundra area above treeline, we encountered spring.  The entire top of the mountain was covered with lupines and buttercups.  The fragrance of the lupines was wonderful.

Lupines and mountains

Marmot on a rock outcropping

All over the mountains, we encountered many construction delays.  There is such a short season without snow that they have to build and repair roads at the height of the tourist season.  Of course, this was the year when thousands of "shovel ready" projects got federal funds, also.  This picture was taken while we were waiting to get through a construction zone.  Most of the delays were in beautiful places like this one, though, so we didn't mind very much.

The highest point on the Beartooth Highway

As we were coming down the mountain, we hiked to this lovely little waterfall.  This picture is my new favorite picture of myself.

Animals

Before we left for the West, the guy I tutor at the Literacy Council asked me to bring back a picture of a big elk.  We saw this one grazing peacefully across the Firehole River.  So, this is Dennis' elk.  According to him, this is the largest number of prongs that an elk can have. 

The bison liked to hang out near the thermal features, so you had to pay attention.  They weren't tame.

No, this isn't cropped or taken with a telephoto lens--just the zoom lens from a standard point and shoot camera.

A bison family on the road

There were so many bison that they were in huge herds all over the park.  Because the bison had right-of-way, a herd meandering across the road could stop traffic for miles, which they often did. One day they had created a massive traffic jam by wandering back and forth across the road.  In front of us was a park service employee in a Prius.  Suddenly, he pulled out of the line of traffic and started herding the bison with his car.  He used that car like an old west cowboy used his horse, successfully herding the bison off the road.  It was hysterical to watch. 

Unlike most people, we didn't see bears.  I think it was because there were so many people in the park.  We did see a couple of grizzly bears through a spotting scope that someone had set up in the Lamar Valley.  Frankly, I was glad they were a long ways away.  While we were there, several people in a national forest campground right outside of Yellowstone were killed by a grizzly.  It really freaked me out.  We had planned to do some backpacking, and I refused to do it, even though we had bear spray with us.

Thermal Pools

Celestine Pool at the Fountain Paint Pots

Fountain Paint Pots area

Pool on Upper Geyser Basin

"Thermophiles (heat-loving microorganisms such as bacteria) usually form the ribbons of color like you see here.  The green, brown, and orange colors are mostly cyanobacteria, which can live in waters as hot as 167 degrees F."

Chromatic Pool at Upper Geyser Basin

Morning Glory Pool--named because of its shape on the inside

Geysers

Old Faithful

Upper Geyser Basin

Daisy Geyser at the Upper Geyser Basin

Norris Geyser Basin

One of many beautiful pools with small geysers at the Norris Geyser Basin

Norris Geyser Basin

Mt. Washburn

We took numerous hikes, but our favorite was a day-long trek to the top of Mt. Washburn.  Because the end of July is spring in Yellowstone, we arrived at the perfect time to see wonderful wildflowers.  I don't know what kind they were. (I have four wildflower books, but they were all at home.)

I didn't look this perky at the end of the hike.  I was "slap wore out," as they say around here.

Wild phlox

The lookout tower at the top of Mt. Washburn, seen from the trail below

The view from the Mt. Washburn lookout tower

Mammoth Hot Springs

The Mammoth Hot Springs were different from the thermal pools.  They build up beautiful terraces of travertine rock.  These "living sculptures" are constantly changing and moving-- gradually engulfing trees, other vegetation, and sometimes roads. 

The road to Mammoth Hot Springs had a wonderful trestle, similar to the one at Linville, NC.

The trestle was an engineering marvel, and very exciting to drive across.

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