Yellowstone – Day 3

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Axel Rieke, Ruby Rieke, and Caroline Wise inspecting something in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

Axel, Ruby, and Caroline were looking something or other up, I’m guessing Caroline has our birding book with her, but I’m not certain. Though it’s mid-May, the weather is still a bit cold, and we’ve been warned that we could see snow and that Yellowstone has had snow even in summer though it’s not that common.

Axel Rieke, John Wise, and Ruby Rieke in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

About this time, the scouting and pointing-themed photos are about to get old.

Axel Rieke in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

Moments later, Axel was mauled by a grizzly that snuck up behind him but recognizing that it was about to try eating a sour Kraut, it retreated. We put a bandaid on the claw marks, and by morning he was miraculously healed….or none of this really happened, and I’m just trying to find something to say about Axel posing here on a rock.

Caroline Wise and Axel Rieke in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

We have arrived in Yellowstone National Park on the south end. Wow, we did not expect this much snow, or any snow, to be honest.

Ruby Rieke at a toilet house in Yellowstone National Park Wyoming

We’ve seen this photo in a hundred other locations. If we lose Ruby and nobody knows where she went, someone will volunteer that she’s likely visiting the loo.

West Thumb Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park Wyoming

This is our first-ever glimpse of a geyser basin; it is the West Thumb Geyser Basin on Yellowstone Lake. We are enchanted.

Close up of hot spring in the West Thumb Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park Wyoming

Close-up view of a hot spring with some boiling mud on the right. While this photo does NO justice to what this is, we are mesmerized by the colors, smells, and reality of what’s going on just below the surface of the ground we are walking on.

The Fishing Cone in Yellowstone Lake at West Thumb Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park Wyoming

We are tempted to walk out to the Fishing Cone, as it’s known, and take a look, but we’ve been warned by signs here at the basin to stay on the paths due to fragile and unstable surfaces and stay out of the hot springs because they can bring death with their scalding waters.

A geyser at the Old Faithful Basin in Yellowstone National Park Wyoming

This is the first geyser eruption we would ever witness, but certainly not the last. We are at the Old Faithful Basin.

Sun setting in Yellowstone National Park Wyoming

The sun is starting to get low, which is going to force us indoors to our rather luxurious accommodations.

Bison on the Old Faithful Basin in Yellowstone National Park Wyoming

Coming from just watching Old Faithful geyser doing what it does best, we took a walk around and down a hill to this spot where a bison was a little too close for comfort. At least it was more concerned with foraging than paying attention to us. Our room tonight is the Old Faithful Inn; that place is a work of historic art.

Yellowstone – Day 2

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

The Teton Range in Wyoming

We are driving north on the John D. Rockefeller Jr Memorial Parkway into the Grand Teton National Park.

Horseshoe Bend in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming

This is Axel, Ruby, and myself looking for wildlife, though I think Axel is discovering just how fat I am.

View of the Grand Teton range in Wyoming

While these old digital photos that were saved on floppy disks are of poor quality, I think they still convey how beautiful a place the Grand Tetons National Park is.

Caroline Wise and John Wise in the Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming

This has long been a favorite photo of Caroline and me, as it looks an awful lot like I’ve removed her head and placed it over on her shoulder. We get a good laugh every time it shows up.

Ruby Rieke and Axel Rieke at the Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming

Ruby and Axel look much more normal, with their extremities and heads right where they should be.

Horseshoe Bend in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming

Later in the day, we are back at Horseshoe Bend, only now we are looking in the opposite direction.

A moose in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming

Alright, some wildlife in the form of a moose near the Horseshoe Bend. We’ll be staying the night at Signal Mountain Lodge, right in the national park.

Yellowstone – Day 1

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Ruby Rieke and Axel Rieke in Jackson Hole, Wyoming

This is Axel Rieke and Ruby Rieke, and the four of us are on our way to Yellowstone National Park by way of Grand Tetons. We are in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, spending the night before heading into the Tetons. Back when we made this trip we had no idea what we were doing and how long things take. If we had had a better feel for travel, we would have gone directly to the Tetons and not spent so much money on a room here in Jackson Hole. To make matters worse we flew into Idaho Falls, Idaho, and rented a car because we felt this corner of America was so far away from home. We should have driven all the way.

Mountain views in Jackson Hole, Wyoming

The four of us are thrilled to be up here as none of us have ever seen anything like it.

Mountain view in Jackson Hole, Wyoming

The views are just amazing.

Whoa sign in Jackson Hole, Wyoming

This was our sentiment exactly – WHOA!