Upper Loop in Yellowstone National Park

Neither Hubby nor I have been to Yellowstone National Park. Too far. Not enough time. Too many mountains. The list could on and on. Whatever. We are here now and loving it. First, we are in an awesome RV park. The spaces are wide, level, have a small patio, and have parking for the truck. It is clean and big. As we were researching this destination, I read there were tours of Yellowstone National Park. You know how I feel about tours. Perfect.

When we checked in on Tuesday, I asked about the tours. The company offered two; one to the Upper Loop and another to the Lower Loop. There was a price break if one purchased both tours. We did and I am so glad. Someone else does the driving and stops at all the interesting places. He gave so much interesting (but useless) information and knew all the wildlife hangouts. Wednesday, today, was our first tour. Here are some highlights from our "Eight Hour Tour."

river otters, the first wildlife sighting this morning

a family of six

our guide had never seen a family of six

and rarely sees the river otters

two coyotes or red fox

at that distance he wasn't certain

far away sighting of geothermal activity

bison just did a roll in the dirt next to the road

water rushing over the ledge at Upper Falls

river prior to Upper Falls

Lower Falls

much bigger waterfall

Lower 'cause it is lower in the river

and after the first Upper Falls

osprey sitting on its nest in the Grand Canyon

of Yellowstone National Park

one of many awe inspiring views

lots of small group and single bison sightings

cowbirds hanging on the bison

pronghorn

another one that posed for us

Lower Terrace at Mammoth Hot Springs

found the colors and textures very interesting

Devil's Thumb is the gray structure

bird entertaining me while we ate our box lunch picnic

flower carts all had wire to protect them from the elk

we did not see any in the village of Mammoth Hot Springs

but we did see lots of evidence of them when they

wandered through the former

Fort Yellowstone, now Mammoth Hot Springs

we bought Huckleberry ice cream at the General Store

a lot like blueberry, but a MT must taste

the Upper Terrace of Mammoth Hot Springs

it was about 80º when we stopped here

geothermal water is much hotter

another colorful hot springs

our guide called it Chocolate Springs

loved all the colors

water temp could be 170º as it bubbles out

it bubbles all day, every day

Gibbon Falls

we spent a lot of our day along the Gibbon River

last sighting of the day...elk

no bear, no moose today, maybe tomorrow

Old Faithful tomorrow