We didn't have the best night's sleep, not because of the rain, but due to hearing our neighbors next door, part of the Chinese tour group. The Pioneer Cabins shared a wall and also had a connecting door, thus sound traveled. Four people were staying next door; they came home late last night, talked very loudly in Mandarin, and 3 of them took long showers. The 4th took a shower in the morning, which served as our alarm clock. I probably wouldn't stay in the Pioneer Cabins again unless I had no option, or needed connecting rooms.
We checked out (ie. dropped the keys off at the key box right outside the parking lot entrance) and headed to Upper/Lower Yellowstone Falls nearby. This is a very picturesque location. If you'd like, you can drive to the brink of Upper Falls and watch millions of gallons of water cascading down. Seeing all that water, I wondered how it doesn't run out! Babe and I didn't want to do car sightseeing, so we parked near Uncle Tom's trail and went on a hike. There was a detour down to a great vantage point for Lower Falls, but it consisted of multiple steep perforated metal stairways. It was easy going down, but coming back up, even I was needing some oxygen. (it also didn't help that I was pushing myself!) But it was so worth it. Beautiful rainbows from the mist. We continued down the trail towards Artist's Point, a famous scenic view with Lower Falls in the background. You can see why artists would want to capture it. Last night's snowfall stuck to the mountain peaks, offering a stunning contrast to the green landscape, in July! Along the trail, we ran into some people photographing a baby bear not too far away. I really didn't want to stick around for a picture because baby bears wouldn't be alone...mama bear was most likely near by and it'd be risky to hang around.
We then took another trail over to Clear Lake for lunch. Along the way were other lakes, and lots of thermal activity, like steaming vents, boiling mud pots, and thermal pools. There were signs everywhere saying to keep away from the thermal features. We broke for lunch when we reached Clear Lake. Unfortunately, standing water usually means mosquitoes, so we had to eat fast and rush out of there.
The trail made its way through a beautiful meadow with wildflowers, the kind where you want to run into your babe's arms. The snow-capped mountains made it even more breathtaking. As we were reaching the end of the trail, which looped back near the parking lot, we saw an elk! There were so many people around it and getting too close (you must stay 100 yards away from bears/wolves and 25 yards away from other animals). A park ranger eventually came by and shooed everyone away, leaving me a perfect tourist-free picture opportunity. :)
We then made our way to Mammoth Hot Springs to see the springs. The terraces created by the minerals in the water look very alien. Due to the earth shifting, springs and terraces come and go, and there were lots of dried up springs, and new ones born. The trails around the springs are made out of wood, like boardwalks, and very long, connected by stairwells.
I was getting hungry (surprised?) and needed a snack. The nearest place to get food was in town, so see how far I had to walk, just to get a bite to eat?
Along the way, we ran into the biggest bathroom in the world. Just kidding.
We ended up getting another cup of ice cream, this time peanut butter cup and mint chip. The peanut butter cup was sooooo good. The line was too long at the Yellowstone General Store (which sold the 2-scoop cups at $3.65) and ended up going to the cafeteria across the street, which charged the usual $3.40. Do people know that they're paying extra???
After our snack, we walked all the way back to where I took that picture above (when I got hungry) to get back to the car. We were heading to Roosevelt Lodge for dinner. Along the way, we saw a black bear from the car.
Roosevelt Lodge was the best place we had for dinner by far. I ordered the elk burger and Babe tried the bison top sirloin. The burger was so tasty, the elk very juicy. The bison was flavorful and not dry like yesterday's burger. The meals were served with homemade cornbread muffins that tasted heavenly with a dollop of butter and honey from a jar. Even I couldn't help but to eat one of them, despite it being made of corn. The menu mentions the green beans as "haricoverts", hilarious. I knew they meant "haricot verts", but I couldn't help pronouncing it in my head as "hairy coverts". For dessert, we tried their cobbler of the day, but it wasn't noteworthy; I probably wouldn't order it again.
We were now heading back to Jackson, but stopping at a few places on the way for some quick sightseeing. Tower Falls was next, and we attempted to hike to the bottom of it, but the trail was closed for renovations. It wasn't really worth the hike, so just take pictures from the vantage point above.
Despite it being late in the day, I wanted to hit the top of Mt. Washburn, since I had read about a road we could drive up as a short cut, but the road was gated off. :( So we drove to the official trailhead and hiked as far as we could before the sun set. The view from here are magnificent, even with just an hour of sunlight left.
On the road again...the drive back was supposed to take 2.5 hours, but it ended up being close to 4 hours. :( Best to avoid driving on the roads at sunset, because that's when the animals come out, and traffic is at a standstill from people stopping in the middle of the 2-lane road taking pictures, or a ton of bison are trying to cross the road, causing everyone to stop anyway. We did get some good shots from the car, and even saw an elk swim right across Yellowstone River!
We finally got home around midnight. Tomorrow will be a lazy day.
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