Yellowstone

Monday morning I left the Grand Tetons and headed to Yellowstone National Park.


I TOOK THIS SHOT ALONG THE SHORE OF JACKSON LAKE ON MY WAY NORTH. THE LAKE ISN'T USUALLY THIS CALM.


I visited Yellowstone in 2003 with my friend Barbara. During that visit we stayed at the most southern campground, Lewis Lake. This time I had planned to stay more in the middle at the Canyon Village campground. They were full by the time I arrived.
:-( Snow shovels were given out to the people who were lucky enough to get a spot there. It was at 7734 ft. elevation. I traveled another 45 miles to the Mammoth Hot Springs Campground. It is at 6239 ft. elevation, with no snow on the ground!! There were quite a few vacant spots when I arrived, but I didn't do a very good job selecting one. All the sites are pull-throughs, but the one I pulled-through had a huge tree on the left side where I had to snake around to get back onto the roadway. I thought it might wipe out the whole left side of my trailer. I didn't want to snake out backwards, so I leveled up, then asked the campers behind me when they would be leaving, because I realized I could back straight up into their spot, then safely exit forward onto the main road. They spoke German, and very little English, but I did understand that they would be leaving by 10:00 the next morning, I think. I informed the campground hosts that I would be staying 3 nights but would change spots the next morning around 10:00. Also, my first spot was very uneven and my solar panels were in the shade of a beautiful pine tree almost all day. But, it had a beautiful view to the east and north east. :-)

Tuesday morning I hopped on my motorcycle for a ride, for the first time since May 20th's ride to Capitol Reef in Utah. I left the Mammoth Hot Springs Campground, headed to the charming Mammoth Hot Springs Village where I saw dozens of elk roaming around the village, mostly on the grassy areas. Then I headed east on Hwy 212 toward the east entrance into the park. I turned off to see the Petrified Tree, but was sidetracked by a big black bear.

AHHHH!!!!

I also got two more pictures for my photo scavenger hunt. :-)

Then I continued on to Tower Falls


OOOOOOH, AHHHHHH!!!

Then on to The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone










OOOOOH, AHHHHH, AHHHHHH!!!

Then I headed west toward Norris, then north towards Mammoth Hot Springs. About 20 miles from my destination a tour bus ran off the narrow, no-shoulder road and backed up traffic for over a half hour. While I was minding my own busy, getting a little bored and annoyed at the delay, a little excitement came my way.........


YIKES!!!!

THIS BIG GUY WALK RIGHT PAST ME. HE WAS SO CLOSE I COULD HAVE REACHED OUT AND TOUCHED HIM!! NOTICE MY MOTORCYCLE MIRROR IN THE LOWER RIGHT HAND CORNER OF THE PICTURE. THIS ISN'T ZOOMED IN. HE REALLY WAS THAT CLOSE. I DIDN'T TAKE THE PICTURE UNTIL I WAS PRETTY SURE HE WASN'T GOING TO CHARGE ME. I TURNED ON MY ENGINE THINKING THAT WOULD SCARE HIM AWAY, THEN I THOUGHT MAYBE THAT WOULD ANNOY HIM AND MAKE HIM CHARGE. HE SEEMED TOTALLY UNFAZED!! WHEW!!!!

I finally made it safely back to camp, after a stop at the Village to treat myself to a chocolate and peanut butter ice cream. YUM!!!!