We gave Reagan a trip to Yellowstone when he turned 16. He didn’t get to take that trip in October because we didn’t want to deal with Yellowstone in the snow. Instead we took him the day school got out. Turns out it was perfect weather and perfect timing as far as the crowds go. Here’s the story.
Our first day in the park it took almost three hours to get to Madison, a drive that should have taken 15 minutes. We started to doubt that Yellowstone was ever NOT crowded when we finally came upon the cause of the traffic. It was not a traffic jam at all but a Buffalo Jam!!!
We got our first view of these big slow animals here:
We got out of the car to get a better look and suddenly they were not quite as slow as I thought and they started running towards us! We had to jump back in the car before they stampeded us!
The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone-So THAT’s why it’s called Yellowstone!
This canyon was my favorite part of the whole park!
Gorgeous!
Tower Falls
Mammoth Falls
Elk in the road. They were all over, sitting in the grass, walking around, big as life. No antlers though.
Elk Herd
We stopped every time we saw a group of cars gathered on the side of the road looking at animals. This time it was a mama bear and her two cubs. Mama is the brown spot to the left of the middle standing tree. Her cubs were hiding at the base of that tree.
We headed to the Lamar Valley next and got stopped by this guy and his pals.
All in all on just our first day in Yellowstone we saw: a mama bear and her two cubs, buffalo, a wolf, elk, baby elk, mountain goats, an antelope of some kind, a black bear and a bald eagle on a nest in the grand canyon. What an amazing day! And that was without binoculars!
We got caught in a rainstorm that left the most amazing rainbow as we ended our first day in Yellowstone.
Stay tuned for Part II
Short n Sweet 