Overwhelming the Senses


Today we slowly left the Tetons behind.  At every turnout, we would stop, saying “that will be our last sight of them”.  We would then have another chance to pull over and repeat our utterances.

At one of the turnouts, we found a herd of Bison (Buffalo) grazing.  When I say there must have been a thousand of them, I doubt that I am exaggerating.  It was stunning.  They close enough to us to get an idea of just how big these animals are…they are huge.  As we scanned the herd, we realized that there were Pronghorns grazing with them…too many to count.  It was overwhelming.  Eventually we exited Grand Teton National Park where a whole new experience began…we had just entered Yellowstone National Park!

One of the reasons for visiting Yellowstone National Park is to see Geysers.  For those who are unaware of what a geyser is I found a funny quote in the visitor Guide.  “Geysers erupt with steaming hot water.  They are hot springs with narrow spaces in their plumbing, usually near the surface”.  The most famous one of all is ‘Old Faithful’.  Old Faithful has been doing its thing for more than 150 years.  It is so regular that it can be predicted within ten minutes each way when it is going to blow.  Today we saw Old Faithful do its thing.  One more thing ticked off of the ‘bucket list’!

On our way to our accommodation for the night, we spotted a black bear.  We are told that is unusual (not that they are not here just that they are rarely seen).  Just to top off our day, we saw a herd of Elk.  Included were some young ones.  By this time our senses were pretty much overwhelmed!

We are staying in the Yellowstone West Gate KOA.  We are here for 4 nights.  Just after setting up, a thunderstorm rolled through.  It has not stopped raining since.  It has been a while since we have been confined to our ‘little trailer’.  Life could be worse!

Distance Traveled = 242 km.  Wildlife Sightings = Osprey, American White Pelican, Great-blue Heron, Canada Geese, Common Raven, Barn Swallow, Tree Swallow, Horned Lark, Common Merganser, Red-tailed Hawk, Turkey Vulture, Bison (Buffalo), Pronghorn, Black Bear, Elk.



What a great way to say goodbye to the Tetons!


Old Faithful


Old Faithful


Old Faithful


Bison in Grand Teton


Elk in Yellowstone


Colourful Hot Springs in Old Faithful Geyser Basin

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