So we finally can say we saw the entire Yellowstone Park. We did the upper loop on our final day. Unfortunately, the upper loop does not have much to see or do but the loop was great. This is a good day to take a long drive around the loop. Canyon Village is a nice stop and they have built a new hotel there which will bring extra traffic and probably amenities to that area.
When you enter from the west, you will then turn left and head to Norris. We were forced to go counter-clockwise because of roadwork between Norris and Mammoth Hot Springs. The wait time between each area was over an hour to move. They have a sign posted that when you stop to turn off your car – because you will be there a while.
During our drive we were able to see this beautiful Pronghorn. S/he liked taking a picture because we got this great picture.
This is the view during the drive of the Otter River.
Part of the drive, also shows you the outline of the volcano area which created the caldera that is now called Yellowstone. It is amazing to think you are driving inside, around and on top of a volcano.
We had to pull over when we saw this rock. It is an amazing rock formation – especially the bottom which looks like a bunch of stilts holding it up.
Then you turn around from this rock and see this beautiful scenery.
This is the Petrified Tree but they call this the Petrified Forest. The age is supposedly 50 million years old. What was interesting about it was that it is the only one in the entire park.
“Around 50 million years ago, scientists say this area of the park was flourishing with tall redwood trees, maples, magnolias, oaks, dogwoods, and pines when volcanic eruptions from the nearby Absaroka Mountain range buried the forest in ash.
As the organic, woody material of the trees began to decay, silica-rich groundwater started to seep into the wood cells of the trees. This occurrence helped to preserve the buried forest by literally “freezing” the wood and halting their decomposition.” That was interesting to find out how they become petrified.
Then we came across some more elk. It is interesting to see how everyone stops when they see wildlife. It is awesome to see that everyone always stops to look at it and take pictures. What a great way to see them.
There was one place to visit outside of Yellowstone and it was Virginia City, Montana. Virginia City is a main street ghost town with probably more than 20 preserved buildings.
The story about this town was interesting and funny as it was another place where gold was found. It now sits as “ghost town” with several buildings and contents still preserved from the original. All the buildings are free to roam into -up to the fence they use to stop you from going in. Below is one picture of the building.
This town is also a main area for western movies to be made. One of the owners of a store was pointing out to us all the areas where movies were made in. Movies filmed in Virginia City, Montana are many to include: Little Big Man 1970 (Dustin Hoffman, Faye Dunaway); The Missouri Breaks 1976 (Marlon Brando, Jack Nicholson, Randy Quaid); Taking Change 2009 TV Movie (Kevin Bacon, Tom Aldredge..); Thousand Pieces of Gold 1991 (Rosalind Chao, Chris Cooper..); and Real Scary Stories 2000-2001 (People share various real scary stories). Needless to say, they have kept the town authentic even with the movies.
As part of Virginia City up on the hill is the Boot Hill Cemetery. Of course, all across the nation are many Boot Hill Cemeteries. The interesting thing about this one is that this was the first cemetery for the city. However, there are recreations of grave markers for 5 souls where hung in 1864.
The final stop on the hill is the Rodent Agent Grave yard. This gives you a chuckle.
Another place to visit was the Earthquake Lake. What was sad about this Lake was that tragedy struck on August 17, 1959 when “one of the strongest earthquakes in America history” hit the area killing 28 people. It was measured between 7.5 and 7.8 on the Richter scale. “The north shore of Hebgen Lake instantly rose 8 feet and the south shore dropped 8 feet as a huge area of earth instantly tilted as much as 20 feet. This 20 foot fault scarp can still be seen today, as is stretches for miles. Cabins along the north shore with people sleeping in them were instantly covered in water, as well as large sections of the highway, as Hebgen Lake shifted it’s shoreline. The stories from the survivors of how they were awakened to a wall of water covering their cabin and how they escaped in total darkness sends shivers down anyone’s spine.” Earthquake Lake Geologic Area
What you can see in the pictures above are trees that were killed during the earthquake and still stand there all barren.
So this wrapped up our trip to Yellowstone and surrounding area. We didn’t see any bears or Bull Moose. The ranger said it would be very unusual if you do because they tend to be deeper into the forest. So if you see one, it will be awesome. Nevertheless, we say many wildlife and had a great time. This is definitely a bucket list stop to add to your list. Plan at least a week or more so that you can come back day after day and see so much at this park. It was worth every minute.
Off to Salt Lake City for a week.
