July 13th, Drive to Yellowstone

  


Thursday, July 13, 2006
Day 18
Drive to Yellowstone National Park, WY

Today’s drive was a short 133 miles of beautiful country and two tiny towns, one really tiny and one just small. When we arrived at Yellowstone we were overcome by how beautiful it is and also how large it is. The water is bluer than most you’ll ever see and the trees are so tall and straight, firs and other evergreens. There is still snow on the tips of the tallest peaks and because there is an ongoing drought here many of the trees are dead, but it is still amazingly beautiful.

We had a bit of a wait to get into the park, due to road construction on the East Entrance Road, which is the one we came in at. One lane was closed for quite a few miles as they seem to be widening the road. So, we had to wait a while next to a lovely stream and some pretty trees growing up the side of the mountain. Oh darn. Once through that section it still took us a while to get to our camping area due to the fact that it was like 27 miles from the entrance to our campsite, and ours is the first one you even come to. Now, I knew this fact ahead of time, but it is just different when you are actually here driving it than when you are just looking at it on a map.

We are at Fishing Bridge RV Park which is obviously close to the Fishing Bridge. Ironically you can’t fish there anymore. To get here you drive right along the Yellowstone Lake, one of the largest natural lakes at high altitude (above 7000 ft.) It is a gorgeous, huge lake of 132 square miles. It is 7733 feet above sea level, and we are just slightly higher than that here at the campsite. The lake is sparkling blue and the water looks incredibly clean.

I think the altitude may have been affecting me earlier today. I was dizzy and tired feeling. Then again, I also seem to have come down with a slight cold, so maybe that’s it. I felt similar yesterday when we were at the Visitor’s Center in the Big Horn Mountains at over 8000 feet. I feel better now, so maybe I’m getting used to it. Of course it could have been hunger too.

Today, after lunch, we drove to the Visitor’s Center and looked around. The kids got their Junior Ranger Booklets to fill out and got their Passports stamped. Then we went to the camp store for a few supplies and practically threw them into the camper and left again to make the “Featured Creature” talk at 5 pm. Tonight it was about bison and bears. That was very interesting to us and the speaker was excellent. Brianna even got called up to be used as an example of what to do and not do when encountering a bear. Then Rodney got called up to be a bison and we learned that bison have a bone in their back that is used almost like a brace to support their immense heads.

After the talk we drove around a bit to see some wildlife. We saw some deer, a bison, then another bison both really close to the road. Then we saw a grizzly bear a bit off the road. A large crowd gathered to observe the bear and the ambulance and the Rangers were there to keep the crowd in check. We just drove slowly by and I got to good photos.

The campsite itself is small and a bit close to other sites, but it will do. We have full hookups – nice! They are very strict and serious about not leaving any food out anywhere because of the bears. If you get caught leaving anything out, even personal products or new unused things, like closed bottles of water, you can get fined. All the garbage pails are “bear proof” and there is no messing around.

Tomorrow we are going to go on the Yellowstone Lake Reflections walk in the morning and do the Family Campfire Program in the evening. In between we may drive around a bit. There is so much to do and see here that we know we are only going to be scratching the surface with our 3 day visit. We’ll surely want to return here again someday!