Day 16--Traveling through Yellowstone to the Grand Tetons

Continuously erupting geyser, Lower Geyser Basin

Grand Prismatic Geyser, Midway Geyser Basin

Old Faithful

Update: Smoky's photos are here!

We have had a busy day! After leaving Bozeman, we drove south to the west entrance of Yellowstone so that we could see some things we had not seen during our four previous days there. In spite of the crowds, we very much enjoyed seeing the lower and middle geyser basins. 

The next stop was Yellowstone Lodge and Old Faithful. We arrived about 10 minutes before Old Faithful was expected to erupt, so we found what we thought were good seats and waited expectantly. The eruption happened as predicted, but the results were less than spectacular. Our seats were also downwind, which was pretty smoky!

Yellowstone Lodge, taken from
third level

Because the next eruption was not expected for at least an hour, we walked over to the old lodge to explore and take some photos. Smoky's mom had been telling us we needed to see the old lodge, and it is spectacular! Visitors can walk up to the third level and look out over the large open area below. Boysenberry ice cream from the snack shop topped off the visit!

We returned to Old Faithful about an hour after the previous eruption, but we saw only a few burps. After 35 long minutes, we were just about to give up when a spectacular eruption occurred. This time we had selected better seats, and the photos turned out really good.

By this time it was getting late and we still had to drive to the Tetons. We drove past the check-in station between 6:30 and 7, and realized that we needed to get some dinner before heading to the Heart 6 Ranch, where we are staying tonight. 

It was close to sunset by the time we got into the areas with the gorgeous views of the Tetons. Smoky was as excited as I've ever seen him. Each photo he shot looked better than the previous one.

One of our first views of the Tetons

Sunset from Oxbow Bend!

--Shann