Saturday 24th September

After breakfast we drove from Flagstaff to the rental car return at Phoenix airport. Despite the sat nav we got a bit lost, but eventually found our way to the right place! One bag was 6lbs over the limit so we had to do a bit of hurried repacking. Once we got to Salt Lake City we eventually managed to drive the hire car to Ogden. They don’t believe in putting the car manual in the car, so it is all down to guesswork; and we hadn’t realised that the brake was a foot brake and needed to be released before we drove away without alarms ringing!

The hotel in Ogden was the Hilton Garden Inn and came up to the Hilton standard. We had a good dinner and then crashed in a comfortable bed until morning.

Sunday 25^th September

After a good breakfast we set out on the long (5hrs) drive to Yellowstone Lake. The drive was uneventful and the scenery was varied – from rolling hills to fertile plains. We passed bison and elk as we drove down to the Lake from the park entrance and the colours of the hills and the aspens were glorious.

Unfortunately most of the places to eat were closed as the season is nearing its end but we were lucky to get a table, after only about 20 minutes wait, at the Yellowstone Hotel where we are staying in one of the cabins.

Monday 26^th September

We drove to Fishing Bridge where we had coffee and a sandwich for breakfast sitting in the sunshine. We then went to the Visitor’s Centre where we purchased the essential bear spray and a bottle of red wine. We drove up the road to Canyon Village, stopping at the Mud Volcano for a walk around the bubbling mud, steaming pools and geysers.

We also stopped at the Sulphur Cauldron and then drove up to the road along the south rim of the Yellowstone Grand Canyon. We had wonderful views of the Canyon and Upper Falls from the overlook.

We then took a trail down to near the base of the Lower Falls that involved 328 steps – but it was definitely worth the effort, even at 8000 feet! We also saw several chipmunks on the way, darting around in the undergrowth.

We then went along the North Rim Drive stopping at various viewpoints. The colours of the steep canyon walls were beautiful, especially in the sunshine.

We then drove along the road from Fishing Bridge around part of the lake, up to Lake Butte Overlook where we had grand views of Yellowstone Lake and also appreciated the effects of the 1988 fires that devastated this area.

We had dinner booked for 5.15pm (the only time they could fit us in) but with not having eaten since our breakfast sandwich we were ready for the excellent meal provided. The corn chowder was delicious and I enjoyed the bison tenderloin I had yesterday so much, I added bison tips to my salad, and was not disappointed!

Tuesday 27^th September

Today was sunny again although the mist was over the Lake when we had breakfast at the Yellowstone Hotel. I had an omelette with bacon and cheese that was the most enormous I have ever seen and I only managed two thirds of it!

We then drove 21 miles to West Thumb (passing close by a bison and a coyote) which is a geothermal area on the edge of the Yellowstone Lake and very interesting to walk around,. The water was so clear and the colours of the earth were varied and beautiful.

After an hour or so of walking on the boardwalk past hot springs and small bubbling geysers we drove another 17 miles to Old Faithful and the upper geyser basin.

We had a lovely walk through the woods to the Observation Point and then to Solitary Geyser and back on the board walk through the upper basin. Luckily no bears! We saw Old Faithful erupt which was more spectacular than I was expecting.

We waited nearly an hour relaxing in the sunshine for the Grand Geyser to blow but eventually gave up and carried on past several other spectacular geysers such as Grotto Geyser and Castle Geyser.

We stopped at Keppler Cascades on the way back and also saw a splendid stag elk with a good spread of horns at the side of the road.

Wednesday 28^th September

Today, after a couple of very minor earth tremors that only made a couple of the windows rattle, we had breakfast and checked out. It was another sunny day – and we didn’t have the early morning mist and chill of yesterday. We had a close encounter with a small red squirrel just by our front door and on the drive to Black Sands Basin we had a great photo opportunity, a large owl perched right at the side of the road, and we were able to stop directly opposite him. 

We walked around the various geysers and hot springs at Black Sands Basin on a boardwalk for about ½ mile.

We then tried to call in at Midway Geyser Basin but there was a long queue of cars trying to find parking places so we just pulled up to use the restrooms and went to Biscuit Basin where we decided to do the walk 500ft up to the overlook and then along to Mystic Falls. 

it was very beautiful and worth the effort although we were glad of the intermittent shade of the pine trees and had frequent stops on the route up. We actually went on a small trail by mistake that winded through new pine growth and involved hurdling over many fallen pines from the 1988 fires. It joined the trail we should have been on and we soon realised what we’d done – I was just pleased we hadn’t encountered any bears! The whole trail was a little over 3 miles but we took most of the afternoon over it!

We then tried to park at the Midway Basin again, this time successfully and walked the ½ mile boardwalk around the Grand Prismatic Spring and various small geysers. 

The hot bubbling water gushing like twin waterfalls into the Firehole River that we saw from the bridge before the boardwalk began was the most interesting part to me but the colours on the ground and the clarity of the water in the pools still amazes us.

We then decided it was time to find our accommodation in West Yellowstone – the Holiday Inn. We have been very impressed with it so far and there is complimentary guest laundry so I am doing all the washing while I can!