West Yellowstone, Montana: We only had to travel 130 miles today, but with numerous stops to enjoy the vistas, the route took most of the day. Again, I am going to post probably too-many photos.
The TetonsWe brought-in the slide rooms, hitched-up the Honda and headed north on Highway 191, through the northern section of Grand Teton National Park, towards Yellowstone National Park. The weather was just spectacular, with brilliant blue skies.
Teton Panorama
Mt. Moran and the Snake RiverWe stopped at Jackson Lake to enjoy the view and share a sandwich. What a great place for lunch!
Jackson Lake
Jackson Lake - Grand Teton National Park
Though you really need to be carefulopening a bag of chips in high elevation.
Dave feels I should caption this photo, "Maybe we came to Yellowstone a little early?":
Still frozen - Lewis LakeThe southern part of Yellowstone is still covered in deep snow. Drivers of cars can not see above the plowed snow on the roadside. Luckily we were sitting high in the motorhome, so could see over the snow banks! We drove north to Madison, then headed west to West Yellowstone, Montana - spotting hundreds of bison along the way.
It is easy to spot wildlife in Yellowstone - just stop where a group of cars are parked on the side of the road.
Road Hazard in YellowstoneRangers on horseback have recently started herding the bison from open range-land, back into the park. Bison were everywhere.
It is very difficult to tell the sex of a bison, so you are on your own there, Dear Reader.We checked-into our reserved campsite at Yellowstone Grizzly RV Park. If not camping inside the park, West Yellowstone, Montana is a good location for park exploration - with restaurants and shopping nearby. West Yellowstone also has a rare commodity in Yellowstone: cell service.
After a little rest, we drove the Honda back into the park, hoping to spot more wildlife as the sun was setting. We spotted more bison.
Bison, along Nez Perce Creek
Wading across Nez Perce Creek
Bison
We saw several babies!
Bison
Raven
Elk and GeeseI put a mish-mash of ingredients and leftovers in the slow cooker this morning - pre-soaked Anasazi beans, onion, garlic, a jalapeno, chicken stock, left-over bison (from our dinner at Local in Jackson), and a little salsa from the Merry Piglet Mexican restaurant in Jackson (they sell it to-go).
This concoction turned-out to be a healthy tasty treat. Such rich flavors with so little effort, and just the thing after a long day on the road... eating bison after photographing bison...Until my next update, I remain, your Yellowstone correspondent.
RV PARK: Yellowstone Grizzly RV Park - We have a super-long gravel pull-through site with full hook-ups and 50 amp electric service. Cable TV, free wifi, bath house, laundry, dump station, recycling, walk to town. We are paying $45 per night with our Good Sam discount.