Starting to Get Dried Out At Bridge Bay Campground At Yellowstone National Park - August 29, 2010
Overnight a cold rain fell at Yellowstone Bridge Bay campground. Temperatures remained above freezing but probably not by much. The rain fell hard at times and lightning filled the skies early in the night. Throughout the night the rain ranged from a light drizzle lightly hitting the tent to a shower pummeling the rain fly of the tent. In the morning the tent was still fairly dry inside though the seems along the outer bottom edges of the tent snowed some dampness and let a few drops of water through that started to pond just a little bit at the edges of the tent.
The Rain Fly Hanging In Some Trees To Dry Out At Bridge Bay Campground In Yellowstone National Park - August 29, 2010
The tent and the rain fly held up well through the first real rain of the trip and most things inside the tent were just damp when the sun began to rise and warm the air ever so slightly. There was no room in the car or anywhere else to dry out a tent and rain fly. The only way to get them dry was to air them out before packing everything up in the car and hope that the breeze and the intermittent rays of the sun would be enough to dry everything out. The tent was moved to the pavement and the rain fly hung from the trees to soak up the sun and take advantage of any breeze that might blow.
About a half hour after checkout time at the Bridge Bay campground (11:00am is official checkout time) everything was packed up. The first order of business was to use the power outlet in one of the Bridge Bay restrooms to fire up the notebook to clear a memory chip and move the photos from the Canon Rebel onto an external hard drive.
One of the Shower Stalls At the Fishing Bridge RV Park At Yellowstone National Park - August 29, 2010
Next it was onto the Fishing Bridge RV Park for one of the $3.25 unmetered showers in the RV park. The Fishing Bridge shower area is smaller and older than the one in Grant Village and has not yet been upgraded to the coin operated showers (you get 6 minutes of hot water for 8 quarters at Grant Village). Nobody else was in the shower area so it was a chance to plug in the camera batteries, take a nice long hot shower and warm up after a cold damp night in the tent.
A Herd of Bison Grazing At Yellowstone National Park - August 29, 2010
After the shower it was time to retrace the steps of yesterday and try to make it to some new attractions. The rain and cloud filled skies of yesterday put a damper on photos at the Mud Volcano and Artist Point at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. The first planned stop along the way was Mud Volcano but a herd of bison delayed arrival at Mud Volcano. There are so many bison in Yellowstone it is hardly worth a stop since they are absolutely everywhere but this was a big herd with some HUGE bison along the way. Sometimes it is just as entertaining to watch people around bison as it is to watch the bison.
Bison Holding Up Traffic At Yellowstone National Park Near Mud Volcano - August 29, 2010
One of the safety videos in many of the Yellowstone Visitor Centers is of a person getting gored by a bison. It’s no wonder that that happens in Yellowstone as people just don’t seem to realize that these are in fact wild animals. Bison are for the most part very docile animals that eat only plants, however, when they sense their space is being encroached upon they’ll stamp their feet, get the tail moving and occasionally charge. So far on the trip a few have made some quick moved toward people and cars but none have made contact though they do sometimes stand in the middle of the road and hold up traffic for 10 minutes or more at a time.
Devil's Cauldron In the Mud Volcano At Yellowstone National Park - August 29, 2010
Upon arrival at Mud Volcano, the skies were partly cloudy with deep blue behind the clouds and made for better photos than yesterday. The photos were better with better weather but the smell of rotten eggs still filled the air (as it always does at Mud Volcano). Since the trail around the Yellowstone Mud Volcano area was only 2/3 of a mile, the whole trail was hiked again. Great sights along the way included the Black Dragon Cauldron, Sizzling Basin and Sour Lake.
Sour Lake In the Mud Volcano Area of Yellowstone National Park - August 29, 2010
After retracing the path around the Mud Volcano area the next planned hot spot was Artist Point overlooking the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. Yesterday the views were good but the area did not benefit from clear skies that would provide a nice backdrop in photos and help to bring out the radiant colors in the brightly colored rock formations that make up the canyon. As hoped, the crowds up at Artist Point were moderate and the pleasant (but cold) weather held out for the rest of the afternoon to get good pictures of Artist Point and other view points along the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.
A View of the Lower Falls From Artist Point At Yellowstone National Park - August 29, 2010
There are a number of different photo spots at Artist Point at Yellowstone, all good and some great. The lower falls is far off in the distance but a good zoom lens can get a good picture of the falls. It is always tricky to get a good picture of the falls, the canyon and the sky without the sky washing out but if enough of the sky is in the picture it can be done.
The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone Seen From the Brink of the Lower Falls - August 29, 2010
After about an hour of photographing the canyon and the falls from Artist Point several other viewpoints were explored. There are many and some involve hiking down into the canyon a way. No major hikes were taken since it was getting later in the afternoon and check in at the hostel at the Madison Hotel in West Yellowstone was supposed to be prior to 8pm. The best viewpoint of all was at the brink of the falls.
One of Many Elk In th Madison Herd At Yellowstone National Park - August 29, 2010
The original plan for the day was to head make it all the way up around the upper loop of Yellowstone but to many stops and photographs ate up to much of the day to do so. At about 6:30 the best course of action was to head across the road that cuts from east to west across Yellowstone and head over to the Madison Hotel where the hostel for the next 3 nights was located. On the way over The Madison Elk Heard Area was passed and there were anywhere up to 20 elk scattered around the meadow area feeding on grass and whatever else they eat.
An Elk In West Yellowstone Curious About But Not Spooked By a Photographer - August 29, 2010
Unlike the elk down at Grand Teton National Park that were easily spooked and quickly ran away at the sight of humans during the day, the elk from the Madison Elk Herd seemed to be rather used to humans and just looked curiously at photographers as they snapped photos. A jingle of the car keys would usually get the elk to look up for a better photograph. After a half hour or so of Elk photographs and navigating a few bison traffic jams arrival at the Hostel in the historic Madison Hotel in West Yellowstone was right at 8pm.
The hostel in the Madison Hotel is an historic building built in 1912. The location is right outside the west Yellowstone park boundary and the building and the rooms are stunning (though from the furnishings, the layout and the size hey do show their age). An extended cold walk around the town of West Yellowstone revealed all kinds of restaurants, a few small “casinos” and lots of shop full of western type trinkets and crafts much of which was 50% off. After a couple of corn dogs and a Bitch Creek brown ale, the day was done and it was time to hit the sack!
