Day 2 -
Driving north through the Moab area
Wind farms on the way
First park!
Craters of the Moon National Monument in Southern Idaho and contains miles of lava fields, we did some short hikes and saw a lot of volcanic features. Afterwards we got to Esther's house just in time to crash for the night.
Day 3 -
We went rafting at Henry's Fork, a beautiful, shallow river. The day started out warm, but when a thunderstorm rolled in it cooled off quickly. Then Katrin came over to Esther's house and we had a fun BBQ and smores evening.
Esther's house
Rafting
Day 4 - Grand Teton and Yellowstone
We drove north throw Grand Teton National Park. The kids loved playing in Jenny Lake and I enjoyed seeing so much fireweed in bloom. Then we made a stop in southern Yellowstone at the West Thumb Geyser Basin and got to see the elk at sunset.
Grand Teton National Park
Yellowstone National Park
Day 5 - Yellowstone north loop
We stopped at the Norris Geyser Basin, I especially liked the Whirligig Geyser. Then to Mammoth Hot Springs with the amazing white Travertine Terraces. As we continued around the loop there were some great mountain views. Back in West Yellowstone we watched a local production of the Little Mermaid, which the girls really enjoyed.
Day 6 - Yellowstone south loop
Our last day in Yellowstone. We did the lower loop. We stopped at the Fountain Paint Pots, which were amazingly colorful pools and springs water running down towards the river. Then we did our longest hike of the trip (2.5 miles each way, more than enough for the kids) to to Lone Star Geyser. That was definitely a highlight, we timed it just right and it started going off just as we got there and continued for at least 15 minutes. Because of the hike there wasn't much of a crowd. Then we continued on to Old Faithful, which was great, but didn't compare. On the east side of the loop we stopped at the Mud Volcano and enjoyed watching the steam exiting the Dragon's Breath cave. We got to Hayden Valley around sunset and that is where we found all the bison, including one walking down the street right be our car in the opposite direction. Though it was almost dark we made one last stop at Artist Point on the Yellowstone river, which had magnificent views.
Day 7 -
We visited the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center in West Yellowstone. We hadn't seen bears in the park, so it was fun to learn about them there. Then we went to Virginia City, MO which was really interesting. They had many "shops" that you could peak into that were setup as they would have been in the late 19th century. We gold panned and ate some hand made ice cream, then bid farewell to our traveling companions, the Manwarings.
