Day 56 - July 30, 2011 - Yellowstone National Park

Boy...are we tired!  We drove the "big loop" today...140 miles!  We knew it would be a long day but there are so many things we want to see at Yellowstone we knew at the end of the day we would be glad we did it.  And we are!  In addition to stops at Gibbon Falls, Artist Point (Lower Falls), Upper Falls, Canyon Village, Dunraven Pass (elevation 8,859), Mt. Washburn (elevation 10,243), Tower Falls, Calcite Springs Overlook, Undine Falls, Petrified Tree, and Mammoth Hot Spring, we saw bison, black bears, and elk...on more than one occasion!  Now, to put this in perspective, it takes about 1 1/2 hour to drive 50 miles in Yellowstone...that's straight drive with no stops, no heavy traffic, and no wildlife in the road stopping traffic!  And at the stops we made, we hiked over 6 miles!  Did I say we are tired?

Before I call it an evening, I want to say a little about the drive and places we stopped.  Several of the books we read indicated that of all the memories from visits to Yellowstone, few will be more satisfying than those of the 23 mile long Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, which is the drive from Canyon Village to Tower-Roosevelt, which was a portion of our drive.  And the books were not wrong!  The scenery was amazing and the wildflowers were so beautiful!   I want to say more about the scenery...really magnificent... but I think the pictures will say it all!  I have not put the pictures on the computer yet, but will do it tomorrow.  Really can't wait to see them...and I will...tomorrow!

Click on the two links to see the pictures we took today.  Remember to be patient and give them a chance to load!

https://picasaweb.google.com/104959812223133937279/July302011YellowstoneNationalPark?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCK2D9duB8tq7Hg&feat=directlink

https://picasaweb.google.com/104959812223133937279/July302011YellowstoneGlenn?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCMDx3Metk-3mVA&feat=directlink