Is there anything more iconicity American than sitting in Yellowstone with a bald eagle soaring above your head? No, there isn't. This is the all-America trip we've landed in.
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| Golden Gate of Yellowstone |
Our second day in Yellowstone drew us north to see more thermal sites and more exploration. We headed to Mammoth Hot Springs. Honestly, I expected a hot spring that you could hang out in, even after a day of oohing and ahhhing over crazy toxic hot springs. Mammoth was also crazy colored toxic hot springs, and was also pretty impressive.
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| Mechanical and natural lawn mowers. |
The real thing that knocked our socks off was the town of Mammoth, where a city worker was cutting the grass on one median and on the other a bung of elk decided to help out by grazing. We slowed down and ogled the elk and then continued on our way toward the northern part of the park so we could add Montana to our list of states visited. Turns out, in Montana is the longitude that is smack in the middle between the equator and the North Pole. So we did the obligatory photo op and headed back toward Mammoth and toward the Grand Canyon of the north. On the way, right above our heads a bald eagle soared, it was spectacular. We pulled over and celebrated America.
When we arrived back in Mammoth the word got out to the elk population that the good citizens of Mammoth needed help with their lawn and there was at least double the number of elk, including one majestic male. There was a younger male elk who used the convenient car antenna to scrape the soft bits off of his horns. Rangers tried in vein to find a happy medium between the helpful elk and the droves of tourists who watched them in awe.
We gawked along with everyone else and quickly made our way out of town toward the Yellowstone Grand Canyon. We did a drive by of Fort Yellowstone on our way out of town and we hit a Wyoming traffic jam, another words a traffic jam where we were stuck behind a buffalo leisurely crossing the bridge. After he made his way of the bridge, he headed off road for a snack and we were able to drive a bit faster through the Golden Gate toward the petrified tree. The Golden Gate is a road through a canyon of yellow volcanic rock with a waterfall, breath taking!
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| Petrified Tree |
The petrified tree is a left over from the days when Yellowstone had a more tropical climate and redwoods grew there, hundreds of thousands of years ago. A redwood tree was petrified and is still there, once again showing how much our world has evolved over the years. It's pretty amazing to see something that was a part of a different reality than the one we experience today.
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| Tower Fall |
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| Yellowstone grand canyon |
Tower Fall was next on the loop and marks the beginning of the Yellowstone Grand Canyon with a waterfall. There is something magical about a large canyon with water flowing through it and we loved every stop along the way, checking out the upper and lower falls at the bottom and even got to see a precariously placed Osprey nest on the top of a jutting rock in the middle of the canyon. On the way back home for dinner and our chilly swim, we got to see a mule deer, wrapping up an exciting day.
When we arrived back in Mammoth the word got out to the elk population that the good citizens of Mammoth needed help with their lawn and there was at least double the number of elk, including one majestic male. There was a younger male elk who used the convenient car antenna to scrape the soft bits off of his horns. Rangers tried in vein to find a happy medium between the helpful elk and the droves of tourists who watched them in awe.
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