Yet again, against my own volition but just because of my biological clock, I awoke at 6 AM, had breakfast, did the dishes, washed my hair and shaved at the sink, and was on the road by 6:30 AM. Driving north back into the main part of the Yellowstone National Park, I was impressed by the magnitude and beauty of Lewis Canyon, something I had never really noticed on any of my previous trips. I headed immediately for the Upper Geyser Basin and checked the anticipated times for all the predictable geysers. Grand Geyser was about ot go off int he next ten minutes, so I hoofed it over the boardwalk and waited. Sure enough, it erupted right on schedule. Grand Geyser is one of the more powerful eruptions in the park and way more impressive than the piddly Old Faithful, which I saw erupt about 40 minutes later.
Great Fountain Geyser
Old Faithful
Having satisfied my thirst for geysers, I moved on to Firehole Canyon. Next stop was in the Norris Geyser Basin, where I read that the Steamboat Geyser, the largest in the world with eruptions up to 300 ft in the air had a rare eruption only yesterday (of course I missed it!). Still there were several cool hot springs and other geothermal features to see in this area.
Firehole Falls
Emerald Pool
Echinus Geyser
At Madison Junction, I drove east to canyon and then north through Dunraven Pass to Tower, where I saw a black bear.
Flowers at Dunraven Pass
Tower Falls
Black bear
I was disappointed, in general, not to have seen more wildlife in the park. Only one grizzly (at a distance) two days ago, a few scattered bison, and now this black bear. On the drive out to the northeast entrance, however, in the Lamar Valley, I came across herd after herd of bison. I stopped at one herd, climbed a large boulder with some other people and watched the herd grazing. A lone pronghorn was also there, as was a coyote who was stalking something in the brush. The pronghorn said--oh, no you don't, and ran a short distance away. More bison herd awaited me as I continued to drive out the road and then all I saw was lots of fisherman at the very northeastern entrance.
Bison herd
Pronghorn antelope
More bison
After leaving the park, I encountered hundreds of bikers in Red Lodge, MT. The Sturgis motorcycle festival is in two weeks in nearby South Dakota, so I guess some of them are making a road trip out of it. The next part of my journey was the scariest driving I have ever had to do, as I continued east on Rt 212 it kept ascending. up and up it went even when I thought I most surely had reached its peak. Two of my biggest fears are heights and speed. I knew that what goes up must also come down and this was a very windy road on a very windy day with no shoulders and steep dropoffs. My brake light came on several times on the long descent even though I was only going 20-25 mph in 3rd gear most of the time. Finally, I made it and drove another hour or so to Billing, MT, where I had a real dinner at Cracker Barrel for a mere $8 and then boondocked with four other RVs int heir parking lot. For urban camping, Cracker Barrel is the way to go!
Views from Rt 212 west of Billing, MT
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