We got up early and drove down to Inspiration Point overlooking the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone before anyone else, and got some great photos and saw two yellow-bellied marmots (possibly woke them up?).
We continued on around the Canyon to the famous Artist Overlook and go some amazing photos at sunrise. After we took our pictures we started our drive north to Roosevelt Tower. We got to Mt. Washburn, one of the highest points in Yellowstone and decided to hike up to get a view of the skyline. I didn't think I was in great shape, but the altitude really got to me. These mountains are kicking my asthmatic tushy!
Next we stopped at Tower Falls. I got a big hat and sunscreen (I was burnt from yesterday) and then we did a hike all the way down to the river and walked around for a while, watching folks fly fish. I also got a pic of the yellow sulfur coating the rocks here, that gives Yellowstone its name.
The hike back was much harder but we made it back to the top and continued on. We stopped at Roosevelt Lodge next, the original lodge where Teddy Roosevelt would stay when he visited, and saw the tiny cabins they have there for folks to stay at.
The Lamar Valley was up next and there were tons of buffalo all along the river in the valley. The road we were on had been washed out by a rockslide and we had to sit in a bit of traffic as they had us one-laning for a while past the intense road construction. Once we got back the rockslide are we kept journeying on through the valley and saw folks fly fishing everywhere. We left the park out of the north-east entrance and had a bite of lunch at a trout cabin in Silver Gate, MT. I was feeling a bit queasy after all the very curvy mountain roads, so I stuck to a bowl of tomato soup. We headed back into the park and along the same road we had come down and narrowly missed hitting a coyote as it ran across the road.
We decided to hit some of the road north of Roosevelt Lodge and no sooner had we turned past the lodge than we saw a ton of cars stopped, watching a black bear headed towards the cabins. We saw him head out into the brush, a ranger following right after.
Next we stopped at the petrified tree which, unlike the petrified forest in Arizona, this petrified redwood was still standing. It was a short distance away from where we had seen the bear so I packed my bear spray and bell...to be safe.
On the way to the Black Tail Plateau Drive we nearly hit a bison wandering on the side of the road, but once we got on the (very bumpy) Drive we didn't spot any animals unfortunately.
We had just started back towards Canyon Lodge when Jenifer had to slam on the brakes to keep from hitting a black bear crossing the road. I got a video of it, clearly not at all bothered by our vehicle.
The rest of the drive back was uneventful and we stopped by the visitor's center and got dinner (a very disappointing piece of roast chicken...) before going back to the cabin to relax before bed.