Day 28 - Yellowstone NP

Rocky Mountains
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Today I left Butte (which is pronounced Bewt, not Butt – which I prefer!) and headed south east to Yellowstone NP. The scenery was slightly more interesting than yesterday thank goodness and I followed some mountains south for a while which were really pretty. I eventually arrived at Yellowstone, which was the first national park, and drove through the north entrance and joined the hoardes of people also there too. The park is really big, but apparently in the summer attracts up to 30,000 people daily – that’s a lot! There were nowhere near as many people there today thankfully but it was still quite busy. I saw the north part of the park today which houses Mammoth Springs which are pretty amazing. After stopping for some lunch I indulged in some exercise to burn it off and hiked around the springs for about 1 1/2 hours. I had no fear of bears being around as there were so many people I’m sure if one did appear then they would pick someone much larger than me for their dinner (as I feel quite small here!). The springs are really hot and appear at different places at different times. Some of the old springs still have large deposits of what appeared to be salt, but I don’t think it was as the springs are really acidic and can burn through boots apparently. The springs that were still active smelt really nasty but consisted of lots of different vibrant colours and were bubbling hot. There were some birds that were wading around in them, so I decided that although they were tiny these birds were pretty hardcore! I don’t know what they were looking for as there was nothing living in these waters. I then drove on south to the west entrance to the park and there were lots of springs and geysers steaming everywhere in the trees which was quite cool. There were also lots of pretty rivers with lots of Mule Deer grazing in them and along their banks. I managed to get some good shots of them as they were not bothered by the many people pulling up in their cars to take photos of them. I think they’ve got used to it now! I am now in my motel which is just outside West Yellowstone and am in the capable hands of Roy and Darlene on the front desk who are really sweet although they asked me if I was a member of the Senior Citizens as I got a discount if I was. I know that I’m not ageing well, but I don’t think I look that old!!! Anyway, tomorrow I head back into the park to see Old Faithful geyser before heading down through Grand Teton NP to my next stop in Wyoming.

Mammoth Hot Springs
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Distance travelled today – 224 miles.

Distance travelled today - 224 miles

Bearwatch – 0, but lots of deer instead which are much cuter and much less dangerous!