Yellowstone Park Hotel West Yellowstone

... Die Suche nach einem Baeren haben wir noch nicht aufgegeben...

Der Yellowstone National Park ist ganz klar das landschaftliche Highlight unserer bisherigen Reise. Das muss man den Amis lassen, sie haben zwar komische Politiker und finden die Schweiz nicht auf der Weltkarte, aber die Landschaft ist super geil. Wir werden ganz sicher nicht das letzte Mal hier sein (naechstes Mal aber mit Feldstecher und einer Kamera mit 300mm Objektiv) :-)

Yellowstone rocks! So was cooles haben wir noch selten gesehen...Wir haben heute erst einen kleinen Teil des Parkes besucht und sind bereits riesige Fans. Unglaublich, was die Natur hier zeigt. Man koennte stundenlang einfach dastehen und zusehen...und es gibt wahnsinnig viel zu sehen!

Leider ist seit gestern in Montana der Winter eingezogen, weshalb wir heute morgen zuerst unser Auto freischaufeln mussten...Krass, von ueber 30 Grad in Hawaii zu 0 Grad in ...

I did stay another night, not that it could possibly let me see a park this immense, but I decided to go north to Mammoth Hot Springs. Now it could have been a relatively short ride, however the road through Norris is under construction so guess what? I need to drive back around the Loop Rd and remember we're driving 25, 35 or 45 mph depending on the area and the animal population. Temps stayed in the 60s riding at elevation ...

... black bears and was pleased to just see them in the distance and never on one of my guided hikes.

Anyway, my Yellowstone ride did include seeing Old Faithful (they don't let you out of the park if you don't, right?) and having close encounters with buffalo. My biggest surprise (I guess I did not do my homework) was the vast number of geothermal spots and the spectacular beauty of Yellowstone Lake.

... here at the perfect time of year to be really wowed by the waterfalls - at no other time of year would so much rain and snowmelt all converge to fill the rivers and falls with this volume of water!

 
 Wildlife sightings today include bison, elk, Canadian geese, a beautiful blue bird that I may not have been able to get close enough to to get a clear shot, and an ...

... had tried to "snack" on a porcupine and had half a dozen quills in its right front paw, which slowed it up a bit and it was not a fully grown male. Still, no chance any of us were getting out of the car. It was only 50 metres away and closing. The watching opportunity was brilliant. The bear was loping along, stopping occassionaly to eat or to try to get the quills out of its paw. And all right in front of us. We wondered at one point if he had ...

... way - we also noted that wearing a helmet on a motorcycle is not law in Idaho and Montana. Our journey took us toward the town of Arco, close to the Crater of the Moon National Monument Park and the Idaho Experimental Center (where we believe that nuclear power was first provided to the local town), which looked like a cross between Area 51 and that place in the film where Close Encounters of the Third Kind was filmed (see the photos). We them ...

... before it slowly disappeared to build itself pressure to blow again sometime later. The Travellers three had decided we had had our share and headed with the other approx 3-5000 people to their cars, motorbikes, pushbikes, RV's and different forms of transportation to head further around the park or out depending on the choice each made. We planned to continue our circle of the Lower segment of the Park and back to West Yellowstone. This proved to be a bigger ...

... t open one - haven't got an address...la...la...la Some other thoughts from across the pond: Going through the checkout at the supermarket (no matter which one) just stand back and let it happen...start to pack your own "groceries" and you risk the genuinely shocked & hurt looks from the packer whose soul job in life is to double/triple pack your goods in plastic bags, two items at a time and wheel your cart (trolley) to your car ...

... they had the opportunity to put out food for the bears and wolves and then watch them come out and eat. They had a great time. We took Kelly to dinner at the 'Outpost,' and then drove into the park to see if we could spot anything. We did see some elk,a gray fox, bald eagles and some mule deer. Tomorrow, we're doing the 100 mile loop and hoping to see some bear and some bison.