3/63 – Yellowstone National Park | 7.27-28.15

It rained all the way into Yellowstone (and eventually SNOWED omh), but it made for a lot of swirling steam and moody clouds, which was good. The real bummer was that it was FREEZING, even though it was almost August!! I thought this was supposed to be summer, for crying out loud! Due to the cold winds Brady and I cut our stroll through the Geyser Basin a little short and splurged on a hot meal at Old Faithful. It was just miserable, and we knew we’d be back when there was better weather. It was definitely a bummer to be so cold, but we tried to enjoy it anyway. Thankfully aside from the Geyser Basin a lot of the cool stuff to see could be viewed from the car, in fitting road trip fashion. So that helped, even if it didn’t alleviate the complete dread that was setting up our tent and sleeping in the freezing rain.

Jellystone Stamp. Y U SO BROWN?

Morning Glory Pool used to be so much more vivid. But over time, so many people have thrown trash into it that the water has cooled and the bacteria that makes the vibrant colors has died. It makes me simultaneously super sad, and super mad. The park even dredges trash out of the pool once a year… come on, people! What is wrong with you??

Just look at those CLOUDS!

Oh deer! My friend Ivy took this and didn’t know my camera could zoom… oops.

When we eventually plucked up our courage and headed to our campground to check in, we discovered that we couldn’t actually check in, as the dryer in the office had set off the smoke detector and the Fire Department had to come give the okay before the employees could go back in! A little crazy, but I will say, I can think of worse Fire Departments in the world to work for.

Once we finally got checked in, we hunkered down for a chilly, rainy, night… and woke up to SNOW on our tents. BRRRR. None of us slept very well, thanks to the cold, so we were happy to get up and head on our way to other parts of the park in the toasty warm cars!

First stop was Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. I hadn’t been to that part of the park in 10 years, which was pretty crazy! It was fun to be back, and it was intense to see how much snow had really fallen in the park overnight.

I wish we had an actual picture of the snow on the tents… but regardless, it was freezing.

So gorgeous, but so cold.

The drive from Lower Falls to Mammoth Hot Springs was so beautiful! It was a bit long, but totally worth it in my opinion. Granted, I love road trips, so long drives don’t bother me. We spent a little bit of time at Mammoth Hot Springs before heading on a hefty drive to our next destination- Glacier!

Our Yellowstone National Park “Must Do”:

The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. It’s way out there, but seeing the towering golden walls that gave the park its name is completely worth it. Plus, hello, waterfalls! Our favorite viewpoint is Artist Point.