Return to Yellowstone (Part 1)

     We rolled out of West Jordan, UT on Sunday afternoon, heading north on I-15 into Idaho. Our destination was Yellowstone National Park, the northern half where we didn't get to go on our trip here back in 2016. This part of Idaho was an area I have never been to, so we made a few stops to check out a few cities and stretch the legs at the same time.

     The first stop was Idaho Falls. The Snake River flows right through the middle of town and has some rocky rapids that give the town its name. The Idaho Falls Temple is very prominent in town, sitting right on the river bank. We stopped by it first, then walked the beautiful riverwalk greenway next to both the natural falls, as well as the man-made portion that produces hydroelectricity for the city.

Idaho Falls Temple

Idaho Falls on the Snake River

Horse bench along the greenway

Idaho Falls with the temple in the background.

The hydroelectric portion of the falls on the Snake River.

Video: Snake River in Idaho Falls, ID

     Stop #2 came a bit more north in Idaho at Rexburg. There's another temple here that we checked out, then had to bail to the van as a thunderstorm was rolling in with heavy lightning flashing all around us.

Rexburg Idaho Temple

Nice reflection in the van window.

     We continued north and stayed away from the storm, but then ran into rain as we reached the Montana state line. It was cold and raining as we pulled into West Yellowstone. We stopped at the Visitor's Center and got some updates on road conditions and campgrounds in the park, and bought a National Park Pass which will be good for the next 12 months. We took the opportunity to bundle up too as we planned to do some short hikes and stop at all the pulloffs as we entered the park on a road we had never been on before.

Welcome to Montana

Our first stop inside Yellowstone was for a quick walk down a boardwalk to the Madison River.

40 degrees and raining, but Shannon was still smiling.

Madison River

     We quickly started to see wildlife. We saw many elk, birds and small ground mammals in every open field. They didn't seem to mind the cold rain. There was bison poop everywhere, but no bison. We hit up every pulloff along the Madison River until we reached the main Yellowstone Loop in Madison. We then stopped at Gibbon Falls, a waterfall we saw when we were here before. We also stopped at Terrace Spring and Beryl Spring, things we didn't have time to visit before.

Bubbling pools at Terrace Spring

Terrace Spring

Gibbon Falls

Beryl Spring

Steam coming out from under the road at Beryl Spring

    We found a place to camp further north at Norris Campground, very near Norris Geyser Basin, which was another area we didn't get to visit last time we were here. The rain stopped long enough for us to set up the tent, then it came again and continued through the night and into the next morning. We were up with the light and headed right over to Norris Geyser Basin and began to hike. With the rain coming down, there were very few other people there. We did several loops and onyl saw other people on the last one.. There were steam and bubbling sounds coming up from cracks all over the land. Some of the areas looked like a wasteland. In this area in 1989, the geyser know as Porkchop exploded and launched giant chunks of rocks onto bystanders. Better know what you are standing next to!

Camping at Norris

Norris Geyser Basin

A lot of the trail is boardwalk because there are so many soft spots and so much sulfur.

Steamboat Geyser, the world's tallest active geyser. It can have eruptions that shoot water more than 300 feet in the air, but the eruptions don't happen very regularly like the more popular Old Faithful geyser. We missed a major eruption by just two days!

Cistern Spring

It is almost creepy at times with the fog, smoke, steam and obliterated vegetation.

The milky white Hurricane Vent.

Steam rising everywhere in the distance.

     After our wet hike at Norris Geyser basin, we rolled back to the campground to make breakfast and roll up a went tent. The rain did stop and make packing a little more pleasant. We then headed north to explore the northern half of the park, the section we couldn't get into in 2016 due to wildfires closing Hwy 89 north of Norris. Hwy 89 was open, but it was under construction in one area and was all gravel with traffic moving through in waves behind a lead car. It rained again while we waited our turn to go through this area, but by the time we got to the other side, then rain had stopped. The break in the weather came just in time to check out the Sheepeater Cliffs. We pretty much stopped here just because of the name.

Nymph Lake just north of Norris.

Frying Pan Spring

South Twin Lake

North Twin Lake

Roaring Mountain

Sheepeater Cliffs ahead

The basalt columns are very unique.

The Gardner River flows right next to the cliffs.

A second, longer section of basalt cliff.

     After scrambling over the rocks at the base of the second cliff, I noticed the trail seemed to continue beyond the cliff. I could hear loud water that sounded like rapids in the distance, so we continued down the lightly-traveled path along the Gardner River. After a few tenths of a mile, the river narrowed dramatically and picked up speed, dropping into a small gorge. Beyond the gorge was another wide area where the water calmed down again. It was a nice view from up on the rocky ridge. Yellow-Bellied Marmots were all over the rocks and didn't seem to be too scared of us walking by.

That orange spot on the edge of the cliff is me.

Yellow-Bellied Marmot

Marmot on the rock on the right side of this photo.

     After Sheepeater, we continued north, stopping by Swan Lake with some nice views of the Gallatin Range of mountains behind. Then we entered into the Golden Gate area of the park, which is a big canyon with a waterfall dropping in from the top. The road twists along the canyon wall with big views off to the east. We just missed a rock slide that happened literally seconds before we came into the canyon and partially blocked the road. We were able to get by before traffic got crazy. Elk and marmots were visible in the distance from some of the viewpoints along the canyon.

Swan Lake

Muskrat crossing the lake

Entering into the canyon at Golden Gate

Rustic Falls

Golden Gate is full of rocks and boulders

Elk in the distance

Marmot on a rock

Big view near Mammoth Hot Springs with the massive bridge on Grand Loop Rd. visible in the distance.

    It wasn't even lunch time yet and we were at the northern edge of the park. More from Mammoth Hot Springs and other northern spots within the park in the next post.