Miles: 215
Route: Jackson Hole, WY - Yellowstone National Park - Island Park, ID
I woke up inexplicably at 5:30am on Wednesday morning so Alex and I got a pretty early start on our drive to Yellowstone. At 7:01am we were the first customers at Jackson Whole so we quickly grabbed some coffee and sandwiches to go before heading out of town.
The drive to Yellowstone National Park from Jackson Hole is beautiful, winding past the Teton Mountains and through Grand Teton National Park, and Alex and I couldn’t help but stop numerous times along the way to take in the views.
Such a nice drive through the mountains.
View of Grand Teton in the morning sun.
Another stop to check out Grand Teton.
Morning sun reflecting off of the mountains.
Since there were so few other visitors at the early hour I had a hard time finding someone to take our picture. The first man I asked - using my patented method of offering to take his picture first so that he would then offer to take ours - actually responded “No thanks, trying to stay out of trouble today.” Huh? Feeling rejected and confused we finally found someone else - no negotiation required - after a massive bus filled with tourists stopped alongside us.
Posing with my mountain man.
After a very leisurely drive to the park entrance we were informed by a brusque ranger that the normal road to Old Faithful (15 miles, 30 minutes) was closed so we would have to drive around the entire park (79 miles, 3 hours) instead if we wanted to reach the famous geyser. Thankful that we had a full day to explore, we resigned ourselves to the fact that we would be doing more driving than hiking in order to experience Yellowstone.
Our first stop in the park was an overlook next to Yellowstone Lake, which was extremely serene and quiet, except for a few ducks searching for the warmest water.
Our first view of Yellowstone Lake.
Crystal clear water and skies.
We then headed to the West Thumb Geyser Basin where we got to walk around an “active geothermal area” and check out turquoise pools and underground geysers. There were numerous signs instructing visitors to stay on marked paths given the extreme heat of the boiling lava just beneath the earth’s surface, which made us a little nervous!
While we walked around the steaming springs we both had two observations about Yellowstone: 1. Geysers are definitely the primary attraction and 2. The park is geared toward mass tourism. Every "attraction" was very accessible (mostly by car) and almost all paths were paved - a very different feel from the more outdoors-y parks we have been exploring over the last few days.
Looking out onto the West Thumb Geyser Basin.
Hot steam rising from the geysers.
Pretty colorful pools..
On our way to see the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone we stopped at a more secluded spot to check out the lake again. It was pretty peaceful and also nice to briefly escape the hustle of all the other tourists buzzing about.
Another view of Yellowstone Lake.
Standing in front of Yellowstone Lake.
We drove to the vista along the Canyon and hoped for some nice paths we could hike to better explore the area; unfortunately, in keeping with the theme of making the park accessible to all tourists, the “hiking paths” were also almost entirely flat and paved. While the trails weren’t exactly what we expected, the views were still pretty great.
Looking down at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.
I took this shot of Alex after I slipped trying to walk toward the overlook and decided I'd just stay put.
Another view of the canyon. We could actually see across to the opposite rim where other tourists were.
After checking out the Canyon we were off to Old Faithful. Alex had mentioned that the geyser erupts approximately every 90 minutes so I expected to wait (along with the massive crowd) for a while before seeing the “money shot.” The park actually advertises the next eruption time, accurate within 10 minutes, and luckily we were there just in time! We only had to wait about five minutes before experiencing the main event.
A lot of iPads also captured this shot - we were surrounded by other tourists!
While seeing Old Faithful was pretty cool, there isn’t much else to see once the geyser stops shooting water into the sky. We walked a bit off the beaten path to eat our packed lunch and then headed to our last stop within the park: Mid-Basin Geyser.
We thought this was one of the more beautiful parts of the park - so many different colors!
After a long day of driving around the park we were ready to head to our hotel for the evening - but not before being interrupted by a massive bison!
We wondered why cars were pulled over...until we saw the huge bison right next to the road!
We made our way to Island Park, ID - home for the night - and settled in to our rustic wood cabin. We hadn't realized how remote the hotel location was but it was a 15 mile drive to the closest restaurant! We ended up going to Trouthunter, a lodge / store / restaurant. The food was pretty good but the real attraction was the sunset view from the deck.
Sunset over Henry's Fork on the Snake River.
Another sunset shot.
After dinner we made it back to catch the season premier of Law & Order: SVU, which was the perfect way to end the day (at least for me!). Tomorrow we have a pretty manageable drive to Salt Lake City so hopefully we have some time to explore!