Yellowstone NP was our first destination as a legally married couple (haha). Eleven years ago we visited Yellowstone with our friend Darlene, on a whirlwind motorcycle trip to Milwaukee for Harley Davidson’s 100th Anniversary celebration. We had been looking forward to coming back here and spending more time. We stayed at a KOA on the West Entrance to Yellowstone and finally unloaded the Harley for some glorious trips through the park. Our first stop was Old Faithful and surrounding geysers.
Our second ride was to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and upper and lower Yellowstone Falls. We also rode through the Hayden Valley toward Lake Yellowstone and saw numerous bison along the way.
We then continued our journey to the northeast part of the park called Roosevelt, an area not frequented by many visitors. With it’s lush landscape, sprawling Lamar Valley and amazing views of the basalt & limestone walls at the end of the Grand Canyon, we thoroughly enjoyed this part of the park. We decided to spend the night at the Roosevelt Lodge Rough Rider cabin, complete with a wood burring stove. We did a 2 hour horse back ride up and over Poison Cliff, because “one drop will kill ya”!
On our way back, we spent part of the day at Mammoth Hot Springs, where we drove the upper basin and hiked the lower. The staircase geysers had changed somewhat since 2003, but were just as magical looking as ever.
Continuing our return to West Yellowstone, we finished our visit of the park at the Norris Geyser area. This brought back fond memories of a childhood trip Sallie had taken with her family. The area was closed in 2003 due to seismic activity. We also hiked the Artist’s Paint Pots where the geysers colors were turquoise, gold, burnt amber, bright orange & red. Check out the short video of a mud pot, but don’t get too close!
The paint pot was amazing…
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