Yellowstone, Yellowstone, Yellowstone…

So, funny story… I thought “Old Faithful” was a dog… Apparently I was thinking of “Old Yeller” and somehow got things super mixed up. Honest mistake. Turns out there are no dogs here at all and Old Faithful is actually a hole in the ground that frequently erupts boiling water. An old geyser you might say.

We decided that we would set up our home base in West Yellowstone, Montana at the Rustic Wagon RV Campground. It had everything we could ever dream of… hot showers and electricity! Turns out the West Gate was an excellent, uneducated decision on our part. Many of the roads from other access points were still closed for the winter. It seems as though we came out a bit too soon. PRO: There weren’t as many people as there are in the summer. CON: Some of the trails were not open for us to enjoy because it was still early in the season.

A fun fact… everything in West Yellowstone is at the same intersection according to Google Maps (the RV Park, the pet store, the Veterinarian’s office etc.). Eventually we were able to find most places. The vet is only open on Monday and Wednesday from 8 – 12 but we fit the window and were able to get the much needed tick medication for our pup.

The drive into the park was quite spectacular! Buffalo everywhere! Just walking along-side the car, stopping traffic. No big deal! Headed south toward Old Faithful on the first day, we quickly discovered that dogs are not very welcome. A sad day for our four-legged travelling companion. Luckily for every trail Harley wasn’t allowed on, there was a group of foreign travelers that wanted a photo op with him. Paparazzi! Tons of attention! Matt and Har will be gracing the pages of many photos albums that I tried desperately to stay out of.

After finding out that dogs are actually seen as predators in the US National Parks and can disturb migration patterns of elk and other animals we took turns on the short trails. I did a couple longer ones with the camera so Matt could see what he missed. Not an ideal way to see explore but ah well. It was pretty scenic either way. We saw tons of Buffalo, the geothermal areas, Old Faithful’s eruption, Yellowstone’s Grand Canyon and a massive swarm of photographers with camouflage zoom lenses. It turns out there was a mama grizzly bear with THREE cubs. Very rare indeed! (Also not many kilometres away from an earlier solo hiking spot of mine… Eeee! Terrifying!)

As cool as the wildlife traffic jams were the best drive was between the Norris and Mammoth Hot Springs junctions. The variety of terrain and views were golden. Anyways… instead of telling you, I might as well just show you the colours of Yellowstone. Three categories… The Classics, The Critters and The Colours. In closing before the photo show begins, and in case anyone was wondering, we found Harley a place to stretch his legs in the form of an old grassy airfield around the corner from our temporary home. All in all, I would consider this stop a success. Enjoy!

The Classics!