Week 44

Day 301: Jun 7, 2015

We saw 4 black bears today and one was a cub! We also saw hundreds of bison, a few antelope and a few elk. It was a nice day.

Day 302: Jun 8, 2015

We ended up coming back early today. We did a hike around the Norris geysers and I think got too much sun so my dad and I did not feel good in the afternoon and called it a day a little early and came back and took a nap

Day 303: Jun 9, 2015

Most of today was spent in the car by my dad and I did hike down and up a bunch of switchbacks to see a waterfall up close. It was worth it but by the time we were done I could really feel it in my calves. We saw a trumpeter swan and some elk as well as more people being stupid. Some were walking off the path and getting too close to thermal features. They have no idea how thick the crust is between where they are stepping and the incredibly hot water, steam, and mud. We also saw quite a few people get within 10-15 feet of an elk and a bison. I mean, there have been 2 attacks on tourists who got too close in the last few weeks. Maybe I am being overly cautious but, hey, I like to spend my vacation outside of the hospital. I think the thing that bothers me the most though, is when I see people stepping on these incredible geological features and then ruin it for others. You can see where people have stepped. You can see where people have sunk through into the water. It just really ruins the beauty. So if you are reading this, I beg you to stay on the paths in national parks, especially in Yellowstone.

Day 304: Jun 10, 2015

Today we went and saw Ol' Faithful. While we were there we saw the geyser called Beehive go off which was pretty cool since it is an unpredictable geyser and goes off whenever it damn well pleases. On our way to Ol' Faithful we drove through an area of other geysers and saw a pink volcano geyser that was colored pink by the trace amounts of manganese in the erupting water. In another area we saw other cool geysers that go off every 5-7 hours or so with buffalo in the background it was pretty picturesque.

Day 305: Jun 11, 2015

Today we headed to the Tetons and spent so much time there that we didn't get back to our room until 12:30pm. It was partly because we decided to stay for the sunset which doesn't happen until 9:30-10:00. Of course, the place where we decided to stop for the sunset was the place where Ansel Adams took a famous picture of the Tetons so there were tons of photographers there for my dad to talk to. Most were shooting digital but there was one who was shooting film and he was quite the character. He talked super fast but he and my dad had a really good conversation about how the famous photographers actually end up making it. Turns out it isn't because they are that much better but because they know how to market themselves. While we were waiting for sunset, I looked around and saw two beavers in the river that we were on the edge of. They were really cute so I took a bunch of pictures.By the time we got back we were all exhausted but we were welcomed by a star filled sky.

Day 306: Jun 12, 2015

Today we did a little hiking, checked out some geysers around Old Faithful (saw a marmot sunning himself on a rock) and ended the day by watching the sunset at Grand Prismatic Spring. The sunset was beautiful because our surroundings were reflected on the water on the ground around us. Even with the thunderstorm coming up on us it was still amazing. (We did make it back to the car before the storm hit)

Day 307: Jun 13, 2015

It was our final day in the park. My dad and I decided to hike up a mountain to get a better view of Grand Prismatic. It wasn't a super high mountain but we hiked or climbed pretty much straight up. It was a well used “trail” because you could see how much erosion had been happening and how many different ways up there were. The dust and gravel were pretty loose so it wasn't a ton of fun going up because you didn't really know how much you could trust the ground that you were standing on and I haven't been real good with heights since I fell 20ft. The climb was totally worth it. The view was amazing. Going down the mountain/hill was not easy but I did have fun kind of skiing down the rocks and dust and I didn't fall until I was 20ft from the end of the trail. We spent the rest of the afternoon seeing the last of the geysers and pools that we hadn't seen yet. We got back to the hotel just in time to pack and watch the Stanley Cup game and when that was over we went to the taco bus in town and had a great taco to end the day.