Yellowstone- Part II

My last post described the beginning of of amazing trip West this spring. Here is the next portion of our trip...YELLOWSTONE! It was a crazy adventure filled with animal sightings, incredible views, and even a couple of snowstorms.

Our first campground was Fishing Bridge and every night we walked down to this marina and could see the mountains on the other side of Yellowstone Lake. I wanted so badly to see a grizzly on the other side of the bay, but no such luck. Only bison (which were still amazing) and lots of bison poop.

Two bison and one elk roamed the campground. It was like they were the hired attraction, clocking in every afternoon to entertain the tourists. Although we were thrilled to see the bison so close, the real excitement happened our second night there, when a third bison decided he wanted to hang out also. The originals were not welcoming and a really long, crazy, and laid-back fight ensued. 

Jay was sleeping in the camper so Sean and I grabbed a couple of beers and watched the fight roll out. The two bison began by just letting out these guttural noises, and acted like they couldn't care less about the other one. They faced opposite directions at times and took lots of breaks to just eat grass. Then they stomped their feet and crashed into each other repeatedly. It was amazing to see so much mass and force fighting together. Right after the head butting, the three bison circled a tent (hopefully no one was in it, because I am certain they would have pooped their pants).

They walked around the campground, continuing to threaten each other with the guttural noises and eventually made it to our site. We jumped in the car and I got this picture of the dude literally on the other side of the window. Sean kept telling me to roll my window down for a better picture and I have never sworn so much to make sure he didn't do it for me. A clear picture is not worth a bison horn in my body (in my opinion). The next week was when the man was killed taking a selfie with a bison in Yellowstone...these big guys mean business.  

Mali and Jay hunkered down during a snowstorm. Reason #554 why we are thankful for the camper trailer

We had a lot of rain and cold weather, so after our first night in Yellowstone, I was excited when I woke up in the middle of the night and didn't hear any rain. I thought, "Yay, maybe we will finally have a nice and dry day today." Fast forward to morning. I open the curtains to a land covered in snow, and it was still coming down hard. It was honestly one of the most disheartening moments of the trip. I love snow more than 98% of the general population. But while camping with a baby...not a fan. 

Luckily, after we regrouped and began adventuring through the park, stopping for a dry place for Jay to play in a visitor center, our spirits started lifting. We realized how unique it was to see the park in snow, with steam coming off the bison's backs. We took hikes with lots of layers, raincoats and a huge umbrella. 

Our happy little camper in the cutest raincoat ever.

The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

Family picture during a dry moment. 

There is A LOT of driving involved in Yellowstone, so this was our setup for feeding Jay his meals while driving. It was a lifesaver since it kept him occupied during longer drives and was an easy time to fit in meals. His car seat may have needed a deep clean when we got home, but it was well worth it.

Some steam vents. The park is entirely inside a volcano, so there are so many different landscape features that hint at the volcanic activity while others make it easy to forget we are inside one.

Jay and Sean in front of Old Faithful, just as it was getting started. It was incredible to witness, and we made a lot of jokes about how predictable and ancient it is.

Our little camper realized he could talk into his bucket, which began numerous conversations he had into his bucket.

At Madison, our second campground, Jay and Sean are having some breakfast together. We drank a lot of coffee and had delicious food. The weather was finally perfect.

The Gibbon River wound next to our campground. It was a perfect place to walk around and watch bison roam and fisherman fish.

Since I was unable to spot a grizzly in the park, we drove out to Montana to check out some grizzlies and wolves at a rehab facility.One of the bears is 30 years old, and actually survived in the park for 20 years until she got into some human food and couldn't be trusted as she then got aggressive towards humans. It is incredibly sad how many bears are killed because campers are not careful with food and trash. If a grizzly gets a taste for human food, it changes and can not be trusted around more humans.

The Gateway to Yellowstone. At this overlook we met a group of people looking across the ravine through telescopes. I asked what they were watching and it was a raven's nest filled with babes. They let us look at them through the scopes. Pretty incredible.

NBD. Just some elk chilling in Mammoth.

One of the terraces at Mammoth. This portion of the park was amazing. It was pretty far from our campground, so our visit was short. Next time we will definitely spend a lot more time up there. While we hiked up to the top of the terraces, a storm was brewing and we didn't make it to the top because it started down pouring.

Our last hike in Yellowstone at the Artist's Paintpots on our way to the Tetons. It ended up being our favorite hike. 

The Paint Pots. It was a multi-sensory experience as it smelled strongly of sulfur, was a cool-looking pool of boiling mud, and it made a soothing "blurb"-ing noise. 

Just as we drove out of town, we stopped at LeHardy's Rapids. This was Jay's first lesson on scouting rapids. He did okay, but I would've taken a different route. (Amateur.)