Yellowstone Narional Park Day 2

We had one goal for today before we set out this morning: we want to see wild animals! And the goal was immediately reached as we were driving towards Mammoth Spring: a lone bison was casually walking on the road right next to us. We had to drive on the other lane to avoid him. Having a huge animal walking right next to me was so interesting!

Other animals we saw today are a family of elks, a herd of bison in a distance and some deers. Not bad at all!

Mammoth Spring was a very interesting geographic location. Although we had seen a much bigger site of this phenomenon in Sichuan, China a couple years ago. The unique formation was created as hot water from the spring cooled and deposited calcium carbonate. We enjoyed the walk nevertheless.

Next site was Artist Paintpot. We still haven’t got tired of seeing all those colorful geysers yet, but the most interesting things we saw were the mud pots. Basically they were pots of boiling bubbling mud, fascinating and a bit disgusting to look at.

Lunch was at a beautiful picnic spot right by the Madison river. Getting there early afforded us some peace and quiet moments before other families showed up.

We then stopped at a tranquil lake by the road. There was no official trail by the lake, so we had to create one on our own. The water was so calm and clear, the hill next to it made a perfect reflection on its surface.

Trying to go to Norris Geyser area but was deterred by a huge line of cars going to the same place, so we went to Yellowstone Grand Canyon area. Once again the crowds held us back from going into it further, so we decided to come back here first thing in the morning tomorrow.

We had brought bear spray with us on this trip; when we decided to go on a backcountry hike, we could finally carry it with us. The trail we chose had almost no one on it, which was perfect since we wanted some solitude. Unfortunately… or fortunately, we didn’t see any bears on this hike, just a quiet trail with a view of a beautiful meadow. 4 miles of hiking later, it’s time to exit the park!

It’s only the second day, but for some reason, days during a trip seem longer than when we are home, doing routine things.Read more