I arrived in Yellowstone National Park and headed for the Madison campground. On my way in I noticed the huge number of bison, and elk. I had read that Yellowstone has the highest concentration of wildlife in the lower 48. I setup camp an then went for a run along the river, where there dozens of buffalo hanging out in the setting sun. I also met Terry another traveler who was camped nearby. Terry is retired and like me travelling the United States to visit many of the National Parks. Although our itineraries and comfort levels were a bit different (he has a small pop up camper with heater), our ideas and reasons for travel are much the same.
The next day I after my morning run and breakfast I made a 2 hr drive up to Bozeman Montana to pick up my friend from Greenville Jill. Jill was flying in for the weekend, and was going to camp in Yellowstone with me. We headed back to the park after dinner and got to bed early, we wanted to make the most of our tie to see as much of the park as possible. Yellowstone is by far the largest and most developed of all the national parks I had visited at this point. Established in 1872 it is the world’s first national park, it was originally run by the United States army. One part of the park has old army barracks that are still used to house the many employees. There are also more lodges, cabins and campgrounds than any other national park.
We spent Saturday visiting the southern half of the Grand loop, starting with many geysers, Old Faithful, Yellowstone lake, the grand canyon of Yellowstone and the waterfalls along the canyon. That evening I treated Jill to a fire cooked meal of sweet potatoes, squash, zucchini, and mushroom sand grilled chicken. Terry joined us around the campfire and we all shared a bottle of wine.
The next day we packed up camp and headed to the Mammoth hot springs, we were spending our last night in cabin in the area. On the way we did more scenic drives and short hikes. We also saw grizzly bears, black bears, elk, pronghorns and more bison. Luckily we had great weather all weekend with no rain and it was only cold and in the mornings. Because it is still May many of the parks facilities were not yet open, however it was still very busy. I can only imagine how crowded July and August must be.
Monday morning we headed to Bozeman and I dropped off Jill at the airport. Next up a couple days in Bozeman, exploring big sky Montana.
Album: FTF Day 88-91
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