What an odd day for weather. My day started with the early morning (private!) view of Old Faithful showing off. I thought the snow I saw would be gone the moment the sun came up all the way. But, oh no!
We left the hotel seeing the tail end of one more eruption from our old friend. What a wonderful sight.
We then traveled through another side of the park – in a blizzard. Actually, the blizzard was magical and – I think – did wonders for the park, especially the parts burned in the major fire they had in 1988.
We stopped first at the Kepler Cascades. So pretty in the snow.
Then, it was on to a place called West Thumb. Amazing to look at a geyser basin in the snow. The elk thought so too.
We got a peek at Yellowstone Lake, but just a peek.
Better luck at Lewis Falls (not of Lewis & Clark fame) and Lewis Lake. The snow is really coming down by now!
We reached the end of that Yellowstone road, and exited the park via the South Gate, heading down the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Parkway right into Grant Teton National Park. Mr. Rockefeller assembled the land parcels that now make up the park, but it took over 15 years for the US Government to decide to accept the outright gift he wanted to make of it. Watch the Ken Burns documentary on the parks to get the whole story – it’s a good one.
The snow let up as we got into our new park, but we did spend the day wishing that we had those sunny Montana skies in order to see the tops of the mountains. But just look at the spectacular vistas we were able to see despite the snow and clouds.
Then it was into the town of Jackson for lunch. Despite the sleet, the town was jammed with tourists. We’ll return tomorrow and capture this rough and ready place, and also hope for some better visibility of the mountains, which we can see from our hotel porch. The snow was wonderful, but enough!
You are in the snow and we have been in the 90’s all week with more to come. Are we in the same country???
We are, but we are about 7,000 feet higher up in the air than you are. Elevation matters!