Linda and I hadn’t gone on an overnight trip just for fun since the COVID-19 pandemic started, so we decided on a trip to Yellowstone to celebrate her 80th birthday last May. We were lucky to have beautiful weather, especially since it snowed the day after we left, closing the roads out of there.
Bison herd, Madison River
Now that pandemic restrictions are easing up, there are
record crowds at Yellowstone and outrageous prices at motels in West Yellowstone, Montana. After being stuck in
traffic much of our first day we decided on a different strategy for day two,
and it worked well. We stayed in West
Yellowstone most of the morning, had a nice restaurant meal for lunch, and took
snacks into the park for the evening meal.
The crowds left in late afternoon and we were finally able to find
parking spaces at the geyser basins.
Midway Geyser Basin Run-off, Firehole River
We visited most of the open attractions on the west side of the park except Old Faithful. It was crowded and of course we had been there before. I thoroughly enjoyed some of the lightly used places like Terrace Springs, Sheepeater Cliffs, and Biscuit Basin. It was also fun to photograph some of the unusual details that may be less obvious than the geysers and blue pools, like dead trees and oddly colored run-off from the hot springs.
Trees killed by hot springs at Biscuit Basin
I hope you enjoyed these photos, but remember, they are
copyrighted and can not be used for any purpose without my permission and
usually a small fee.
