Mammoth Springs....again

Sometimes I just hate this program.... when I went to load pics, it froze and I lost all my blog. Going to try it once again.

I'm going to load pics first.

 Fort Jefferson

 Hot Springs Terrace

We headed up north this morning (Sept 8) to Mammoth Springs to see the Terraces and most importantly for me to trail ride.  This was the last day and the only place to get a trail ride in the park.  They are closing up for the winter.  We were lucky enough to get a ride at 1:00.

On our way up to Mammoth, we were looking for moose in all the places that the guide books said to look but we found no moose.  We did see a coyote.

We explored Fort Yellowstone in Mammoth Springs.  This was originally built for the cavalry to stay as they were the ones "in charge" of Yellowstone Park in the beginning.  Many of the cavalry became the first park rangers when the cavalry no longer was relieved of Yellowstone.  The buildings are still in use today-- as the visitor center and as homes for the park rangers.

The elk road freely here as there is plenty of lush green grass.

We then toured the Hot Springs Terraces.  David LOVED this...me that so much.  You had to climb boardwalk after boardwalk to see them.  To me, they smell horribly and are ugly.  David thinks they are so "neat".

We went to the barn and met up with our horses. My horse, Tomahawk was a paint.  David had a huge black horse, Logan.  I'm proud to say I mounted easily the first try.  I think he was a "good fit" horse for me.  We rode among the sagebrush and berry bushes.  It was easy to imagine that you were an early settler riding.  My favorite part of the day.

On the way home, we visited Lamar Valley which is known for having lots of wildlife there.  We saw pronghorns and plenty of bison grazing.  Also saw an osprey nesting.

We made a little stop to see a  petrified tree.  Pics haven't downloaded yet.

As we have been traveling, we have noted a few things.  One would be the need for an automatic leveling system for the next RV we may or may not get. Just trust me on this one.
David and I have been together now 24/7 for almost a month.  I think this afternoon we are both glad that I'm sitting in a parking lot blogging and he's hiking.

Speaking of hiking..... we are 2 different types of hikers.  David has LONG legs and he looks straight  ahead when he walks.  He doesn't ever stop either.  I told him that I curse him behind his back as is like a "machine" or the energizer bunny.   Me... I have short legs and I look side to side looking for animals (BEARS).  I plod along the hike especially when climbing hills. I need to stop and breathe when hiking.  The altitude and the face that I am not a mule hinder me when hiking.  We are making it work......so far

Geyser Day

I'm sitting in a parking lot in Grand Tetons trying to blog as I've got internet near this visitor center.  David has gone on a hike and I'm taking the day OFF!! We're planning a hard hike up to Washburn Mt. to try and see Mountain Sheep.  My poor legs need a break. LOL

Having trouble uploading my pics with limited internet so I'll blog and then add pics when I can.

Geyser Day started of course at Old Faithful.  We got there at about 9 and it went off soon after.  Then we went on the hike around Old Faithful to look at all the small geysers, springs, and furmoles.  The smell to me is just awful.  It almost make one gag.  Since we had been to the visitor center and then the trail, Old Faithful erupted again for us.  This time it was much more explosive!
The Castle geyser also erupted while we were there---lasted about 30 minutes.

In the afternoon we hiked 2.5 miles to see the Lonestar geyser.  When you are hiking in the mountains, it takes at least an hour to go 2 miles.  Lonestar geyser went off about 10 minutes after we got there.  There were 10 people there to see it.  It was so spectacular!  We had to move because we were getting sprayed by the geyser.  The sounds it made were fierce!  It lasted about 30 minutes.

I didn't know that Yellowstone was formed from a volcano that erupted and then sank into itself.  That's why there are so many geysers, mud pots and hot springs there.  In fact 2/3 of all the geysers in the world are found in Yellowstone.

We came back and ate dinner at the Old Faithful Inn,  It is a lodge that was built in the early 1900's.  A storm blew up just before we were entering the Inn.  This was significant as we had left the awning up on the RV....  luckily the awning was ok.

We saw some elk on our way back home.

 smelly furmoles

 Beehive geyser

 chipmunk posing

 Cascades

 Old Faithful Inn lobby

 Lonestar geyser

 hot springs

 on the way to Lonestar

 Old Faithful Inn

 Elk

Yellowstone Day 1

I've written this blog once and lost it....fingers crossed X X

Day 1

We made our way from Buffalo State Park to Yellowstone this morning.  Today's caution signs were snowmobile crossings and elk crossing.

Just a mile from Yellowstone we saw our first bison (buffalo).  He was causing a car jam as he was ambling his way in the middle of the road..  The bison are doing well in Yellowstone.  We have seen herds and/or single bison each day.

We drove around Yellowstone that afternoon.  Yellowstone is huge!  in Glacier, there was 1 road in and the same road out.  Not so in here.  We saw were lucky enough to see elk.  The male elk was in a meadow in the distance.  I had to use binoculars to see him well.  On the other side of the road were 3 females and a baby elk.

We were on our return trip when 2 female elk and a baby crossed in the road.  We stopped the truck in a pull out to get pictures.   As we got out of the truck, a male elk walked out and stood in the middle of the road.  He was magnificent! His antlers were enormous.  He then bugled!  It is a very haunting sound.  In Autumn, it is rutting season for the elk.  We have been able to hear them bugle when we are sitting outside our RV at night.

 On our way to Yellowstone

 The first bison

 More bison

 Yellowstone Lake- HUGE

Thermals- they smell horrible

 elk

Cody Wyoming

We've been in Cody for 6 days now and still have 2 more days before we can check in to Yellowstone.  We messed up on this part of our trip. Only meant to stay about 3 days.  The good news about this "mess up" is that Teresa and her family decided to drive up from Colorado and spend the Labor Day weekend with us.  So this "mess up" had a huge bright spot.

We (2 grand kids 5 and 3, Teresa and Dave,e and David and I) went into Cody.  After parking we saw 3 mule deer in the middle of the street!  Since that night David and I have seen mule deer several times in the town.  We went to see the gunfight at the Irma Hotel.  This hotel was built by Buffalo Bill and named  after his daughter, Irma.  Before going to the gunfight, we ate dinner. Leo, the 5 year old slept through dinner.  Then we went to the gunfight and the first shot was fired!  Laney, the 3 year old began screaming that "she didn't want to hear that gun anymore"  We stayed and Laney slept through the rest of the gunfight.

Then it was time for the rodeo!!  I was in heaven here.  I could become a "'rodeo groupie" if we had them in North Carolina.  It was the best 2 hours of entertainment.  LOVED it.

Sunday the Emisons went to Yellowstone for the day.  David and I decided to go explore a ghost town in Kirwin, Wyoming.  And so began our great adventure....

We kind of had directions to this place.  We rode for about an hour of "regular" roads before having to get on gravel roads.  We stopped and watched a field full of pronghorn deer/antelope. We also saw a herd of buffalo! We kept going until we were in the back country of Wyoming.  We ended up in the Shoshone National Forest and the landscape/was fantastic!!  Eventually we realized that we were on the wrong side of the mountain and needed to backtrack.   We were headed back on the gravel road and a front tire blew. Casualty number 2 for this trip.  Forgot to mention that the chipped windshield got fixed while in Cody. David changed the tire and I watched a pronghorn in the field.
We got to the other side of the mountain and started UP to Kirwin.  This place was 9200 ft UP a one way ROCKY road.  We met trucks and ATVs and one vehicle had to pull to the side to let the other pass.  We had to go up switchbacks and cross 3 streams to continue to Kirwin.  Finally flagged a ranger down and he said we had about 7 more miles.  I got A LOT of core exercise in on this trip because my stomach was sucked in all the way to my spine as we rode over these rocks without a spare tire.  We did finally get to Kirwin and visited the abandoned buildings left by the silver and gold miners in the early 1900's. The park service had put new roofs on the buildings.

Up on both sides of the Shoshone Forest there were camps for people to bring their horses so they could camp and ride.  These people pulled these HUGE horse trailers UP these rocky one way roads.  

THEN it was time to go back on that "road".  I just prayed we would make it out of there!!  I did keep my eyes closed for some of this.  But all in all it was beautiful and it was worth the anxiety.

There is a wonderful historical center in Cody.  It houses 5 museums and you are able to visit for 2 different days with your admission.  It had a Yellowstone museum,a  Bill Cody "Buffalo Bill museum",a Plains Indians museum ,  a firearms museum, and a Western art museum.

We also visited and ate at the Irma Hotel.  This was another "must do" for anyone visiting Cody.

Tomorrow David again attempts to get the tire repaired or replaced and then we are moving on to the Buffalo Bill State Park for 2 days.

I've got some wonderful pictures of the Irma Hotel that haven't downloaded into Goggle + yet.  I'll add them later.

 view from our campsite

 Leo and Laney "playing" chess

 The gunfight

 We were walking the horses and steers at the rodeo

 Rodeo

 On the ghost town adventure

 Pronghorn antelope

 Flat tire (David MAY have been going too fast)

 Buffalo herd

 Ghost town of Kirwin

 The miners abandoned the town after an avalanche in 1907

The "hotel" in Kirwin