I was trying to get Abbey out on a hike every other day so we drove outside of the park a little ways into the national forest. After stopping at the ranger station and getting very little help from 2 women who looked like they had never been on a trail before, we decided on a trail to try. Unfortunately, it had rained a lot the night before and the trail we picked turned out to be somewhat of a horse trail. We slopped through mud for about a ' mile before we saw some people on horseback coming the other way. When they said that this was the good part of the trail we hoofed it back to the RV and went searching for a new trail. The parking lot at the next place we went looked like there was a horse show going on '? horse trailers everywhere. But the trail looked a little drier so we decided to give it a shot. We got a bit further this time but we gave up again when we hit a real narrow and muddy spot a mile or so down the trail. At least we tried to get Abbey out and she didn't seem to mind the mud at all. Our obligation to Abbey out of the way and it being still early Chris and I took a chance on a trail back inside the park. The trail turned out real nice with some nice views of some lakes and the Tetons. The aspen were really looking golden yellow now too.
We both thought that there was a dramatic change in just the 2 short days since we first entered the park. We drove to the north end of the park and finally stopped for the night at Flagg Ranch. I was shocked when I found out it was $47.50 for a site with full hookups and that is the only kind of site they have. Unfortunately, there were no off-season rates so full hookups it was '? my first ever. To make sure we got our money's worth we dumped the tanks and took long hot showers not only in the evening but the next morning too.
In the morning we headed back up through Yellowstone but on the east side of the park. We had planned to stop about halfway or more through the park but there didn't seem to be as much to see and it was rainy again. The scenery was beautiful but there wasn't a lot to really stop for. There were a couple of impressive waterfalls that we managed to see. We could've made it out of the park that night, but we decided to camp at Pebble Creek which is the last campground before you hit the northeast entrance. We wanted to go to the Lamar Valley, a prime wildlife spot, at dusk. After picking out a campsite and eating dinner we headed back to the valley and stopped at the first turnout where there were a bunch of people already. Someone had spotted a wolf way off in the distance. I managed to spot the top of its back through my binoculars before it went out of sight again, but Chris never saw it. We tried our luck at a few other spots to no avail, so before it got too dark we headed back to the original spot. Everyone else had left but we decided to give it one last shot. We had to wait for a few bison to make room to park the RV, and I was a little leery getting out with them staring at me but our effort paid off. In the same spot I saw the wolf before I saw another one walking across a grassy field. Then Chris picked out 1 or 2 more. We watched them through the binoculars until it got too dark to see. They were so far away that it was pretty hard to make them out, but we were positive they were wolves and there were at least 3. The only big animal we didn't see was a bear, so the trip was pretty successful from a wildlife standpoint. All in all I'd say that Yellowstone is a beautiful place with a wide variety of things to do and see. The scenery and wildlife really are spectacular and the geysers and hot springs really are like no other place I've been.
Lower Falls
Upper Falls
Tower Falls
Bison Jam