Thursday, August 13, 2009

Day 39 Summer Vacation 2009

We returned to Yellowstone National Park this morning to spend a bit more time at Mammoth Hot Springs. There were some parts of this part of the park that we missed yesterday.

5809 Mammoth Hot Springs Yellowstone National Park

The Terraces.

5819 Mammoth Hot Springs Terraces Yellowstone National Park5821 Mammoth Hot Springs Terraces Yellowstone National Park5822 Mammoth Hot Springs Terraces Yellowstone National Park

Orange Spring Mound

5859 Mammoth Hot Springs Orange Spring Mound Yellowstone National Park5860 Mammoth Hot Springs Orange Spring Mound Yellowstone National Park5861 Mammoth Hot Springs Orange Spring Mound Yellowstone National Park

After leaving the Mammoth Hot Springs, we headed for the North East Entrance of the Park. Along the way we saw a large herd of Bison. We stopped and watched them graze for a while.

5879 Herd of Bison Yellowstone National Park5880 Herd of Bison Yellowstone National Park5896 Herd of Bison Yellowstone National Park

Here is our route for today as we leave Yellowstone National Park and head for Powell WY.

August 13 2009

We left the park through the North East Gate and soon we were on the Beartooth Scenic Byway. Scenic it definitely is, all 70 miles of it. This highway has been referred to as the most scenic drive in America. We are climbing in altitude to an elevation of 9200 feet. Because of the high altitudes, snow storms have been known to occur during the summer.

5957 Beartooth Scenic Highway5978 Beartooth Scenic Highway5986 Beartooth Scenic Highway

You know your getting pretty high up the mountain when you start seeing snow and Mountain Goats.

6004 Beartooth Scenic Highway6032 Mountain Goats Beartooth Scenic Highway6033 Mountain Goats Beartooth Scenic Highway

Karen got out to make a snow ball from some snow at the side of the road.

5993 Beartooth Scenic Highway5994 Beartooth Scenic Highway

We stopped at the summit for a look at the view and to feed the chipmunks that were scampering everywhere. They sure enjoyed some of the cookies that we had.

6045 Rock Creek Vista Point Beartooth Scenic Highway6050 Rock Creek Vista Point Beartooth Scenic Highway6047 Rock Creek Vista Point Beartooth Scenic Highway

6055 Rock Creek Vista Point Beartooth Scenic Highway6059 Rock Creek Vista Point Beartooth Scenic Highway6064 Beartooth Scenic Highway

After our drive along the Beartooth Scenic Highway, we turned onto the Elk Basin Road for the rest of our drive to our destination of Powell Wyoming. This was a windy dirt and gravel road and we had to share the road with some cattle.

6107 Cattle on Elk Basin Road MT6108 Cattle on Elk Basin Road MT6109 Cattle on Elk Basin Road MT

We arrived in Powell Wyoming, and tomorrow we will be heading for Devil’s Tower.

If you would like to spend some time viewing all of the photos that I took today, you can see them all on my FLICKR site.

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