Allison Cafe

Mammoth Hot Springs

Mallard's Rest

Part 3: While the dramatic splendor of Glacier could have kept us there longer, we did have to make it back to southern California, so the road trip had to keep on pace. We left Two Medicine in the morning, made a stop for lunch and internet access in Great Falls, and arrived our campsite just south of Livingston, MT by early evening. We camped for 1 night at a small campground with no services called Mallard’s Rest. It was funny how the cheapest sites, this one was $7 with a valid fishing license and $12 without, were the most amazing. We practically had the campground to ourselves except for one other campsite of fisherman. Our site was right on the Yellowstone River and was extremely relaxing. We made a campfire that night, toasted some marshmallows for s’mores and had the most amazing view of the stars.

The next day we drove just a few miles to the north entrance of Yellowstone National Park at Gardiner, MT. A little history about the park. Yellowstone was our country’s first national park and was established in 1872, it has some of the most unusual and beautiful things to see. Everything from wildlife such as buffalo, elk and moose, to bubbling mud pots and exploding geysers. When you enter the park from the north entrance, you quickly arrive Mammoth Hot Springs, where we found the visitor center, a long walkway to active geysers and many elk that wander the area freely.

After Mammoth Hot Springs, we continued east to Tower Falls, the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, and then south to Yellowstone Lake. We camped near the lake at the Bridge Bay campgrounds. The campgrounds were not nearly as beautiful as the previous night, the site has hundreds of spots and you are right next to your neighbor with little privacy. The cost was about $20 for a site and did included water and dumping (yeah showers today!).

Geysers at Old Faithful

Old Faithful

Eager to leave our unattractive campsite, we headed south around the lake to West Thumb and then west to Old Faithful. What would a trip be to Yellowstone without stopping at the famous Old Faithful? Old Faithful usually erupts every 60 to 90 minutes and it didn’t disappoint us this day. It was an incredible display of the thermal forces of Yellowstone.  This part of Yellowstone lies within a volcano’s caldera and the sites of all the hot water rising from below the surface leaves you wondering when the next massive eruption will be. don’t worry, by some estimates it erupts every seven hundred thousand years, so we aren’t due for another sixty thousand years.

After taking in the sites at Yellowstone, we continued our journey to The Grand Tetons. Stay tuned for Part 4!

Be Sociable, Share!

• 
•