Yellowstone Adventure

 We were excited to start our trip out to Yellowstone, pulling our popup camper and going through the last of the states in the continental US that Jason and I hadn't been to yet. We drove through Wisconsin,  Minnesota, and Montana (the latter two we stayed at campsites overnight.)

Sunrise on my run in Montana.

Yellowstone River on the way down.

The first day in Yellowstone we learned quickly that in order to make it out of West Yellowstone, where our campsites was, and into the park without hitting crazy amounts of traffic, we would have to leave even earlier than we did. There was a very long line to get in! However,  we still made it to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone for a nice hike,  away from the crowds,  who mostly were just going around the picture points of the Upper and Lower Falls. The main reason why we wanted to get to Artist Point earlier was to see the rainbow that appears between 9:45 and 10 when the sun shines at just the right angle, but we missed that window.  Imagine our surprise and delight when we actually saw a rainbow at a different location on part of our hike when the sun was again shining on the falls at just the right angle at 1:30! We could only see it from that one opening in the trees, not the next,  and we might have been the only family to see it at that point.  We considered ourselves blessed with that little miracle and now call that place Austin Point, since he discovered it. Along with seeing our bison friend we named Bernie, who we observed hobbling on his three good legs, grunting with the effort and pain of his injured leg, and some elk, we felt the first day was full of interesting, adventurous, and educational experiences. The kids still had plenty of energy to roller blade and long board when we returned to our campsite in the evenings. They actually play hide and seek roller blade, which became a fast favorite game!

First animal sighting!

Bernie, the 3 legged buffalo

Artist Point

Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

The Rainbow!!

Austin's Point!

Cool off time!

Nightly skate

I don't know how they had the energy to skate every night after returning from hiking. I think only two nights they didn't do it becasue we were back too late!

The next morning, we left very early to go to the Grand Tetons. We didn't have a very clear view of them because of the haze, but we didn't notice any poor air quality while we were hiking and we still had very good views there. It was a more rigorous hike in Death Canyon which included going up a small mountain and overlooking Phelps Lake before going down it and turning up the granite canyon. On the mountainside going towards the lake we slowed down a bit because of numerous hiking groups who had spotted a bear cub just off the trail.  A man who was returning said the mom and her 2 cubs were roaming the mountainside.  He'd been on this hike the past 10 years and never saw bears there before! The first cub was happily foraging for berries and we were able to get some good shots and then nervously move on, keeping an eye out for the mother.  A while later,  we had to stop because the other cub was on the trail. When we all started up again,  we saw the scat it left on the trail,  filled with berry seeds! Then, to our very surprise, Victoria, Karissa, and I, who were in the front of our group, saw the cub just off the trail,  foraging for berries.  It was not even 4 feet away! We were a little nervous about running into the mom at the wrong point, so we didn't even take pics, though Austin and Karissa got a video as they walked by. We quickly booked it out of there and at the bottom of the mountain found tons of wild raspberries that were so delicious! We snacked as we walked, keeping an eye out for more bears. Going up the canyon was the hardest.  When it was time to come down,  we went all the way down to the lake to check it out. On the way back up the final mountain,  we saw the cubs again,  but farther away and some even saw the mom!!

Car sick Erik going on a walk with Jason to prep for the next leg of the drive.

Phelp's Lake

Bear cub!

Raspberries!

Death Canyon!

Erik loves to cool off!

Luckily Karissa's pants could dry quickly!

While leaving, we saw a mama moose and her baby near the parking lot and then another mama and her baby in a river that we drove over. So we had to get out and watch them for a bit. They were so amazing to observe!

Moose

Osprey

Another moose and baby!

Thursday we went to Yellowstone Lake for a shorter hike on Elephant Back Mountain to see a gorgeous view. It wasn't my favorite hike just because we didn't see much wildlife on the hike, but we did see the bison on the way.  The best thing about it was there were hardly any people there.  Afterwards,  we went to the West Thumb Geyser Basin. We got to see some cool geyers, of which we hadn't seen any yet.

Bison sighting!

Elephant Back Mountain hike

Yellowstone Lake

West Thumb Gesyer Basin

Friday was the long drive to Lamar Valley where we were supposed to see lots of animals. We left at 6am, just like we were supposed to. It happened to have rained a ton the night before,  so we thought we would see a ton of animals,  but we only saw a few random bison wandering. The drive was nice though,  and we enjoyed looking for animals.  Due to the fact we had already seen lots of animals, we weren't too disappointed. We went on to hike Lost Lake afterwards and it was probably my favorite hike. It was a 3.5 mile loop that was less busy.  We heard lots of grizzlies had been seen in the area, so we did get a little nervous by ourselves. Plus there were bison cow pies fresh on the trail, but that made it even more of an exciting experience,  keeping our eyes out for dangerous animals.  That, and all the raspberries growing that we snacked on and the awesome waterfall and lake we saw. That evening we went to the local rodeo in West Yellowstone. We really enjoyed it and Austin and Erik got to go into the arena and chase a calf to try to be the first to pull the ribbon off its tail. Austin almost got to it first to win the prize, but the boy who got there first was the brother of a girl who won the barrel racing and another competition in the rodeo and had gotten a head start because he knew what to expect! 

Bunch of deer on the way to Lamar Valley at the Ranger quarters.

Lamar Valley, with no animals.

Fossilized tree

Going on a bear hunt.

Luckily, Erik likes raspberries!

Lost Lake in the distance.

Lost Lake was so peaceful!

Seedling growing out of a bison cow pie.

Mammoth Hot Springs

Mammoth Hot Springs

Dinner inside because of the rain!

Rodeo!

Austin and Erik, listening to the rules of the game. 

After the rodeo.

Saturday started out super foggy. We made another fairly early start for Old Faithful, hoping the fog would let up by the time it was due to erupt. It did finally clear up and we had a good view of it, though we had hoped to see it from the overlook behind, which wouldn't have worked out because of the fog. We explored the Upper Geyser Basin afterwards and saw other springs and small geyers erupting. My favorite was the Sawmill Geyser, which Erik and I renamed the Energizer Geyser becasue it was going constantly and we loved it! We later read that I was completely dormant starting in 2017 and just 2 months ago started up again. It goes for hours and then stops a bit, but mostly just keeps going! The science behind these geyers and springs is so interesting! We went over to the Grand Prismatic Spring. It's best to see it when the sun is shining to apprecaited all the colors, so we had to wait til later. It did mean that we missed Grand Geyser and Castle Geyser becasue we didn't think it would take as long as it did, but it was beautiful and fun. We saw it from the overlook and then hiked up to Fairy Falls. It was longer than we expected, but it was a nice hike and the chipmunks were super friendly. We almost could have put one in a bag and taken it home as a pet!

Springs in Upper Geyser Basin

Old Faithful!

Upper Geyser Basin

Sawmill Geyser (aka. Energizer Geyser)

Grand Prismatic Spring

Fairy Falls

The cutest chipmunk!

We woke up Sunday with no heat becasue our propane tank had run out over night. Needless to say we were absolutely freezing in the 38 degrees that morning! Luckily, Jason braved the cold and got the tank filled back up before we started listening to our ward sacrament service at 7am as we lay in our beds, trying to stay warm and ejoying a later morning. I finally got warm as I listened to my Relief Society lesson and could prepare a real breakfast with Jason of pancakes and eggs, instead of our grab and go breakfast we'd been eating of poptarts, bagels, and Ego waffles. We took our time that morning and played some card games. The we decided to go into Yellowstone and soak our feet in the river with a picnic. We saw some deer go down to get some water. It was so peaceful and relaxing. We decided go back to Upper Geyser Basin and catch the Grand Gesyer eruption, seeing Old Faithful again on the way. We enjoyed Grand Geyser better than Old Faithful, but it could be longer wait. Lucky for us it wasn't a long wait!

Wading in the river.

Morning drink for these deer.

Grand Geyser

We walked by this geyser and there was nothing.

Saw this beauty (forgot it's name)

Came back and it was erupting!

Monday morning we went back to the Tetons for one last big hike. Erik's stomach does not like that drive. He was fairly carsick the first time going there and really car sick the second! He might have also been overly tired, but the Dramamine didn't seem to do a thing. He never ate breakfast and never really felt good. We had to park super far because we were a little behind schedule due to his tummy problems and Jenny Lake is a very popular place, apparently. We had about a ten minute a walk to get into the starting point, then a long wait to get tickets for the ferry. The plan was to ride the ferry boat across the lake and then hike up to Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point., then hike back around the lake 4.5 miles, seeing Moose Pond on the way back. Erik seemed okay after the Ferry ride and we were able to start hiking, though he still hadn't eaten anything. Suddenly, he was not okay. Pretty much Jason stayed with him, inching along the trail, while the others and I went to see the Falls and Inspiration Point. It was beautiful and fun, but way too many people on that hike. Surprisingly enough, there was a bear spotted, even with all the people around. We opted to wait in the ferry line, about 40 minutes, while Erik lay in the shade on a bench, instead of trying to hike back around the lake. The motion on the ferry was worth it to get back faster, rather than the very small progress to be made with Erik in trying to hike. At the visitor center area, Erik had to lay down by a rock in the shade. I went to get him some Sprite while Jason stayed with him. In the meantime, 2 bears, I think, were spotted roaming around the area, even with all the people, visior center, and ferry boat rides all happening around. The rangers around were keeping the bears and the humans safe from eachother by blocking off various pathways. We learned the reason we were seeing so many of them is because they were in hyperphagia, where they need to eat and drink nonstop, almost, to prepare for winter. It turned out that Victoria and Austin got caught up in the bear watching and Karissa went with Jason on the 1 mile loop on Moose Pond. Erik and I inched our way back to the car. When we were back together, we proceeded to make our way back to Yellowstone, with some rough sick spots at the beginning, but then Erik finally fell asleep and we could make our way back in better progress. The ride was very long and we got back late, but we had some of the best conversation in the car and we got to go through Yellowstone at night and see the sun set. It was a time to remember for sure!

Coyote on a morning stroll.

Hike to the parking lot.

Jenny Lake

Ferry Boat Ride, he was ok at this point.

Erik even managed to get up this rock in the begining.

Hidden Falls

Inspiration Point

Jason setting up the BYU I tour while waiting for our descent.

Poor Erik

Falls in Yellowstone on the way back in, but I forgot the name.

We broke camp the next day and Erik was able to eat some light things before we gave him more Dramamine for our ride down through Idaho to see BYU-I. We went on a tour with Victoria and were very impressed! Only two more years of HS for her, so it's good we could check it out on our way to Orem.

Prospective BYU I student

Rexburg Temple