Yellowstone - Day Five

    We headed North today towards Mammoth. DeKarl suggested we make a stop at a bluff formation that looked like a pipe organ. We again took his suggestion and made the detour. The bluffs were very interesting, and there were little ground squirrels and marmots running through the rocks. It was fun to try to spot them and to hear them making their little squeaking sounds.

The drive to Mammoth is very beautiful with mountains, ravines, and water features. When you arrive in Mammoth, there are two areas to see the springs from – the top terrace and the bottom terrace. We did a short distance hike on both terraces, but didn’t feel the need to see it all as a it’s a lot of the same. The feature is as white as snow, and you would think it was snow covered if you didn’t know it was hot water running everywhere.

          The town of Mammoth Springs is quaint and old. The original barracks that the army stayed in are still there, along with many smaller, older homes. We picnicked here and bought ice cream for a cool treat.  A lot of elk live right in this town, and just lie around in people’s yards.

          We went on out the north gate where the original entrance to Yellowstone is. The famous arch is there and the town of Gardiner, MT. We did do some souvenir shopping in Gardiner, which is always fun.

          Next, we headed out towards Lamar Valley with the hopes of seeing some animals besides bison. On our way out, we stopped at Linden Falls. It is a huge waterfall that you don’t normally hear about. We also made a side stop at Petrified Tree. It is literally a tree. I’ve been to the Petrified Forest in Arizona before, and there are tons of petrified trees. This is what I was expecting, but there’s just one. What it has on the Petrified Forest is that it is still standing! Turns out it was a redwood, so that was pretty interesting.

          The drive into Lamar Valley was breathtaking!! I couldn’t stop looking everywhere. While we did not see any other animals besides bison, we did see herds and herds and hundreds and hundreds of bison! The peaks on either side of the valley are over 10,000ft and just loom up in jagged points. They are part of the Beartooth Range. I wanted to drive the Beartooth highway, but we ran out of time. It was a long drive back to the campsite.

          We played games with the kids when we got home and I’ve been reading “Benjamin Franklin” to everyone before bed.