June 21 - Yellowstone Day 2 Geyers

Got an early start (for us) this morning, packed a lunch and away we went to venture into the wilderness. 

Again, just coming into the north entrance to the park we saw pronghorns. 

Driving a little farther, we saw the tail end of a bear but no pictures 😫

As we were driving, there, little geysers were erupting. 

One of the Geyers Drew wanted to see was the Grand Prism geyser. When we got there so much steam was rising because of the colder temperatures that we didn’t see it’s colorful beauty. 

But never fear, we still have Old Faithful and she didn’t disappoint us in the least. While we waited for her to erupt, we walked the boardwalk and watched small Geyers erupt and hot spots bubble. 

Finally at 2:11, Old Faithful blew. 

On the way back to Ida, we drove by Yellowstone Lake. It’s huge and beautiful with the Absoraka Mountains in the background. 

More bison


And then a real treat as we drove out of the park, a mama elk and her calves. There were 3 of them. 


This is the archway to the park. 


Back at Ida, Drew spent some time taking in the view while our foil packets of jambalaya cooked and the sun  set. 

June 20 - Yellowstone day 1

Left our boondocking site to head into West Yellowstone and drive to our campground in Gardiner, MT. Gardiner is at the north entrance to Yellowstone. 

As we drove out of the Targhee National Forest where we camped last night, this field of wildflowers took my eye. 

And then I saw this yurt that I thought looked like a Martian house. 


As we got closer to West Yellowstone, the traffic intensified. So much so that we decided not to drive through the park. We’ll drive through the Gallatin National Forest in western Montana to reach our campground, Yellowstone Hot Springs. 

Driving through the Gallitin Mountain range is beautiful mountains, lush green meadows and roaring waters of the Gallitin River. 

Got set up in the Yellowstone Hot Springs campground. Sounds more impressive than it really is. Although, we are right along the Yellowstone River and can soak in the hot springs. 

Just got into the park and saw these elk at Mammoth Hot Springs. 

Drew and I walked around the hot springs for a bit. The area is massive and changes often. 

After the hot springs, we continued south to see the Upper and Lower Falls and Artist’s Point on the South Rim Drive. The Upper and lower falls are part of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. Along the way there we saw lots of bison, some a little closer than we wanted. 

Next photo op on our drive was Tower Falls. 

Finally arrived back at the RV at 8 o’clock. Was a long day but surely didn’t disappoint. 

Tomorrow will be a drive to see Old Faithful and other geysers and mud pots. 

June 19 - Craters of the Moon

Today started with a sunrise over Silver Creek in Idaho from our boondocking site. 

When we were ready to pull out of our spot, Bill tried to start Ida and she said NO!!  Luckily we have a battery boost, so that got us started and on our way. Whew!!  When we got to Rexburg, they had several auto stores so Bill bought a new battery and installed it. We should we good to go now. 

We decided that we are going to call this the Lava Trip because we’ve hiked and camped in several lava areas. Such a different topography for us. 

Today we hiked up the Lava Cone again because it wasn’t as windy and we could actually walk around on top without getting blown over. 

This is from atop the cone looking across the valley. 

Next hike was in the caves. The walk to get to the caves seemed like we were on the moon. Lava all around us. 

Look how rugged and harsh the lava is. No wonder dogs aren’t allowed to hike. 

First cave Drew started down. 

Second cave we could walk the whole way through. I wasn’t sure at first I could crawl over those jagged lava stones but I started out. When I saw the light at the end of the tunnel, I said, guess I can do this. 

And there I am, out on the other side. 

Every time I see the little flowers blooming in this harsh landscape, I am just amazed at their tenacity. 

After we were finished at Craters of the Moon, we drove northeast near Island Park for the next leg of our trip into Yellowstone. 

As we came into the little town of Arco, we saw the hill ahead of us had numbers painted on it. We decided it was the year people graduated. 

Our campsite tonight is just out of West Yellowstone off of a Forest Service Road. 

Drew found a brewery in West Yellowstone so we headed there after getting set up. 

On the way back it started to rain and we had this brilliant rainbow. 

And we could see the Tetons off in the distance. Look hard. 

Tomorrow begins our time in Yellowstone. Can’t wait. 

June 18 - Craters of the Moon, Carey ID

Left Glenn’s Ferry and drove to Shoshone Falls. It’s nicknamed Little Niagara. 

Stopped at a brewery for lunch and they had a free beer for Father’s Day and Drew was carded. Good day all around. 

Kept driving north to Carey, ID, where we will spend tonight. We are boondocking at Silver Creek BLM. 

Drove to Craters of the Moon and took a couple hikes among the lava. The last time the lava was flowing was 2,000 years ago. 

All along the road in the park was so much hardened lava. You wouldn’t think anything would grow but there were some trees and some wildflowers blooming. Just made it in time. They only bloom for about 2 weeks. They are small flowers but the colors add just a little color to the rugged lava landscape. 

We walked up a lava cone a quarter of a mile - straight up!  Wind was blowing so hard, I thought I’d blow away. 

Back to the camper, Drew sat outside for awhile and the dogs walked along the creek. 

It’s chilly here. May warm up a little tomorrow.