Yellowstone and Grand Tetons National Parks: How great thou are!

Our site at Holter Lake Recreation Site, Montana.
 Not too shabby!!

 After successfully re-entering the US in northern Montana, we shooshed our way down the road to a fabulous little nugget Lake Holter Recreation Site.  We had a prime site: right on the lakefront, perched above to watch all the boat action.  We enjoyed a quiet evening watching the sun set.  We were close to the boat ramp, so we were entertained by the boats returning, some way after dark. 

From there, we continued our route south to Yellowstone National Park.  We entered through the west gate at West Yellowstone and got settled at our new home in the Canyon Campground.  A beautiful and huge site tucked into the trees.  Here, we uncoupled the truck and camper so that we could easily go to all the special hotspots in the Park.  Here are the highlights of our 5 days there:

We took a 4 mile hike up to the top of a hill that overlooking Lake Yellowstone.  With so much smoke in the air from area wildfires, the lake is hard to pick out from the pictures.  

Lake Yellowstone overlook

Mammoth Hot Springs 

Our campsite at Canyon Campground 

Another open fire dinner: Halibut and Grilled Pita

One of over 10,000 thermal features

Mammoth Hot Springs

Strange rock formations 

Old Faithful 

Petrified Forrest, tree

Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, hence the name…

Grand Canyon

Mammoth Hot Springs

At the brink of the waterfall

Mammoth Hot Springs 

I think my favorite was exploring all the trails around the Grand Canyon and the 4 mile hike up to the Yellowstone Lake Overlook.  We were supposed to go horse back riding at the Canyon Corrals, but sadly they had to shut down their operations there due to “unforeseen circumstances”.  All in all, Yellowstone has to be one of my favorite stops in that there are so many different facets to the park to explore.  It’s a little eerie knowing that we were sitting on a very active volcano that could blow at anytime….Another thing is that the entire park sits at or above 8,000 feet elevation.  This sea-level gal had trouble with the adjustment.  Thanks to our mountain climbing son, Alex, he gave me good advice to drink tons of water and stay active.  I did, and I felt better. 

After 5 days at Yellowstone, we continued down the road to its neighbor to the south Grand Tetons National Park.  What these two parks have in common is the “grand”.  This is a jaw-dropping dramatic mountain range that took my breath away.  The park itself seemed to be mostly vistas of the mountain range at different points along the park roads.  We camped at Colter Bay campground and hoped to have a lovely water front spot from which to gaze upon the magnificent giants.  The giants were there, the water was not.  Lake Jackson’s  (a reservoir) water level is so low that the marina was closed due to NO WATER!

Colter Bay Marina, Grand Tetons National Park

The range as we are driving south from Yellowstone 

Here are some of the highlights of our stay at Grand Tetons:

     

One day we spent in Jackson, WY

We took a boat shuttle over to the other side of Jenny Lake to hike the Hidden Falls trail 

We hiked to Inspiration Point which overlooks all of Jenny Lake

Jenny Lake

Shot of Grand Teton from up close 

The smoke from area wildfires varied from day to day.  Sometimes we could not see the mountains at all

The Visitor Center in Jackson

            

We loved our visits at both parks, but if we had to pick, we would have spent more time at Yellowstone and less at Tetons.  There is just so much more to explore at Yellowstone.  

We will be continuing our journey southwards.  My next blog will be a big departure from what has been a travel log. We will be spending a week at a guest dude ranch in Colorado!  We will sleep in a real bed, have someone else cook and clean for us, and ride horses!!!  So excited!