Yellowstone Bison (Oct. 11)

We said goodbye to Jackson Hole this morning and made another pass by the Tetons on Teton Park Road. We were hoping for a little clearer weather; there were still some clouds hanging around the peaks. We took a closer look at Grand Teton (Teton Glacier) and Mount Moran (Falling Ice Glacier & the Black Dike). We also looked for more moose...to no avail.

It's not far from Grand Teton to the most famous of America's National Parks, Yellowstone. It is, after all, the first national park in the world, established in 1872. We entered at the South Entrance, unprepared for the massiveness of the park. With a speed limit of 45mph, you are not going anywhere in a hurry. With frequent animal crossings, that's a good thing.

We could easily see the damage of the 1988 fires that affected much of Yellowstone. It was amazing to read that fire can "jump" enormous river valleys, as happened along the Lewis River. Charred, dead lodgepole pine trunks are still standing, almost twenty years later. We were encouraged to see all of the young trees bred by the fires all over the place.

We crossed the Continental Divide three times. Driving with the window open, watching the elk and bison, and trying to comprehend the magnitude of Yellowstone was enough for our first day. We learned that 640,000 years ago, the "hot spot" left a caldera (collapsed crater) 45 miles by 30 miles. Unbelievable!

Dinner was a bison burger for Jen and an elk burger for Andrew at Bullwinkle's. We didn't see moose on the menu.

We stayed the night in West Yellowstone, MT at the Best Western Weston Inn.