Yellowstone road trip

We have just returned from a fantastic 8-day road trip to Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. The RV was packed to the gunwales with 5 people (Sam, Kevin, Andrea, Jerry, Alex) and one dog (Bran), and we headed off into the west.
On day one we left Ralston in the afternoon and travelled towards the Rocky Mountains to our first stop at Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump. This is a World Heritage Site on the S. Albertan prairie where the Blackfoot people hunted and killed buffalo for the long winter, by driving them over the edge of an escarpment. See http://www.head-smashed-in.com/ . Our first night was spent looking out over the site, eating barbecued sausages and roasting marshmallows over the fire.

On day 2 we made the relatively short drive to Waterton Lakes National Park, in the Southern Albertan Rockies. The weather was a bit damp but the views magnificent, and Bran had a lovely time swimming in the lake. Kept our eyes peeled for bears but they all stayed well hidden.
The next morning we steeled ourselves for a long day of driving, in order to reach West Yellowstone in time for dinner. We drove across the Canada/USA border with no problems and headed south east through Montana, our destination some 500 miles away. With 70 miles to go and the sun going down, disaster struck and the RV broke down! We therefore spent night 3 parked on a garage forecourt in a little town called Ennis.



One new alternator later, we were on our way again, and by lunchtime on day 4 we had reached the town of West Yellowstone, just outside the national park. After a quick leg stretch and a look round the classic car show going on in town, we headed into the park through the west entrance. From here, the road winds through pine forest, down into the western geothermal areas that include various brightly coloured hot springs, bubbling mud pools, and the world famous Old Faithful geyser. Having spent a few hours peering at springs and mud pools, we ran out of daylight before we had seen Old Faithful blow so we drove through a hail storm to the south entrance and our campsite for the night. No bears yet!
On day 5 we headed back to Old Faithful to watch it erupt. We arrived to find a very congested car park and visitors centre, with throngs of people also waiting around the perimeter of the geyser. It hissed and bubbled for some time before firing a magnificent plume of steaming water 30 feet into the air. By now the weather had flipped from cold and wet to blazing sunshine, and we headed east to our next stop at Bridge Bay on the shores of Yellowstone Lake where we spent the night. The following morning saw a leisurely start as we were only travelling 4 miles to the next settlement on the Lake, called Fishing Bridge. This area is so named for a wooden bridge that spans the Yellowstone River as it enters the north end of the lake. This part of the river is where the trout spawn in the spring and was such a popular fishing spot that in 1973 the park authorities had to ban fishing there in order to protect the native trout. Fishing is allowed past the bridge from the shores of the lake so Kevin and Alex took the opportunity to try their luck, but to no avail. We did, however, find a fresh set of grizzly paw prints in the wet sand and were informed later by a ranger that there had indeed been a passing bear earlier that day. Nearly saw one!
On day 7 we drove north to Yellowstone Canyon, a spectacular gash in the earth’s crust that in places is 900ft deep and half a mile wide, formed at the end of the last ice age when the glacial ice damming the lake melted, causing flash floods and massive erosion. The river flows across 2 magnificent waterfalls and through a canyon whose rocky walls vary from deep red to pale yellow. When standing looking across lower falls, the sun and spray combine to produce vivid rainbows spanning the river valley. En route to Canyon, we followed the river through the picturesque Hayden valley, a grassy plain where herds of wild buffalo roam.
We had the luxury of being booked in to the same place for 2 nights, so headed back to Fishing Bridge only to find that someone had parked their RV in our site!! After a short discussion with the campsite wardens, where Sam let them know how disappointed she was, they found us another spot to hook up the RV for the evening. Whilst sitting in the RV, having a cuppa, a chipmunk trotted up to the door to investigate. The chipmunk and Bran spotted each other at the same time, and they were off. Bran shot out through the open door like greased lightning, but the chipmunk knew the ground and disappeared into the undergrowth leaving Bran stood 20 feet from the RV looking very confused.
On day 8 we headed back up north and drove through the Lamar Valley towards the eastern edge of the park. Again, this grassy valley was resplendent with buffalo, some of them wandering across the road, content that they were a match for any vehicle. We stopped at the Roosevelt Corral as we had booked for Andrea, Alex and Kevin to go on a trail ride with the local wranglers. Best chance yet to see bears, but still none! After lunch, we carried on through the Lamar valley to our next stop at Pebble Creek. We stopped briefly on the way to check out a little lake that we had seen marked on the map, called Trout Lake. Alex and Kevin felt that with a name like that, they must be in with a chance of catching something. Reaching the lake required a bit of a hike over some steep hills but it did not disappoint. Cresting the hill revealed a crystal clear lake fringed by pine trees and with a backdrop of mountains. After a few casts Kevin caught a small Cutthroat trout then promptly snagged a tree, losing his fishing tackle. Alex lasted a little longer until a semi-submerged log snapped his line too.




Still, a Yellowstone trout had been caught – no bears though. On the way back from the lake, we did spot a coyote crossing the road. Our campsite for the night was the most remote so far, at the edge of a small creek at the base of a cliff. Bear country if anywhere was. Alex and Andrea got up the next morning before dawn to spot any crepuscular bears or wolves but, needless to say, none were available for comment. We therefore broke camp and set off for the long journey back to Ralston at 8am. We drove and drove and drove right across Montana, arriving home 13 hours later – tired but contented.