May 10 to Rexburg

We've been to Yellowstone in May several times over the years - not sure why, the weather often is cold and wintery! But its a great time to see the baby bison. 

We took our usual long way around - Rt 20 from Mtn Home and the obligatory stop at Craters of the Moon. It was in the high 30s with snow showers. Typically, I would have hiked to the top of Cinder Cone, but it was cold and wet so I wimped out! The tiny wildflowers are everywhere.

We arrived in Rexburg about 4:00. All the way, there were some unusual cloud formations, with the snow shower cells moving around. 

The Quality Inn we stay at in Rexburg is one of the better properties you'll find with that brand. Highly recommend. Dinner tonight at a place called The Hickory. So-So BarBQ place. when we came out it was 42 and raining!!

Tomorrow we go to West Yellowstone, north to Bozeman and down to Gardiner.

Tuesday May 11 Yellowstone

We left Rexburg about 9:30 and headed toward West Yellowstone, for a pit stop. We walked over to the IMAX theater but it appears to be closed up tight. The tourist shops along the main streets are up and running, lots of T shirts!

From West Yellowstone, rather than head into the park, we head north along the Gallatin River and through the Big Sky area to Gallatin Gate and Bozeman. Lunch at a city park, then onto I-90 about 30 miles east to Livingston. Gorgeous countryside! Then we turn south and go about 50 miles to Gardiner and the North entrance to the park.

The weather today is changeable but generally OK. Still cold, in the low 40s. Snow showers around made for some interesting cloud formations. It is supposed to get warmer as the week progresses; no rain the forecast.

We arrived at Mammoth Hot Springs around 4:00 and checked into our cabin C-48. So for the next four days we have NO TV and NO INTERNET!  (there are a few places to connect to WiFi). We were thrilled to learn the “Map Room” in the hotel was open and we both imagined ourselves sitting in a comfy chair reading our books. But, alas, the room was open but there NO furniture! Covid restrictions turn up in the oddest places! In past years, pre-Covid, this room is awesome. It has a coffee/wine bar and live entertainment.

I hiked about 1.5 miles of the Beaver Pond Trails here behind the hotel. Great hike but it was really cold! Maybe I can do more of it later in the week.

There are elk all over the place and when we returned from dinner there were lots of Buffalo in the square!

Dinner tonight was at the Yellowstone Mine in “downtown” Gardner. Acceptable. (Gardner is just 5 miles down the hill).

Tomorrow we plan to spend the day down in the thermal regions, do a few hikes, perhaps go back to West Yellowstone for dinner.

Downtown Gardner

 

Wednesday May 12 Thermal Areas

Awoke to mostly sunny skies this morning, although pretty cold! But the sun was strong enough for us to eat our breakfast on the porch. The weather would be nice all day, partly cloudy with temps getting into the mid 50s.

Today was our day to explore the thermal areas. I had planned to hike the Fairly Falls Trail, which was about 4 miles of flat trail to a 196’ waterfall. I’d always wanted to do that. One our way down we stopped at Norris Geyser Basin, Grand Prismatic at Midway, Biscuit Basin and Black Sand Basin. The latter two are areas we were not familiar with, seemed like we always by-passed them on our way to somewhere else. Both have some beautiful, colorful thermal pools and small geysers.

The Fairy Falls Trail was a bust! Turns out the trail is CLOSED because of bears in the area coming out of hibernation with bad attitudes. They’ll open the trail later in the summer. Nuts!

We went on down to Old Faithful and got ice cream at the General Store. The Old Faithful Inn is closed up tight. We’re not sure if they’ll ever open these hotels this summer. The biggest issue they have is staffing. The pandemic makes it impossible for them to import college kids from around the world. Staffing is an issue for all businesses these days.

We headed back to Madison Junction and turned left to go on into West Yellowstone. We arrived just about 5:00 in time for an early dinner. We ended up at The Timberline. A good meal with a very engaging red headed young man as our server.

Returned to our cabin by 8:00 PM. No exciting wildlife sightings today. Just the usual bison and elk everywhere. Of course, there’s the ground squirrels right outside our door. We’re still looking for Moose!

 

Thursday May 13 Lamar Valley

Beautiful day today! Mostly sunny, temps in the mid 60s. My day started with a hike around all the boardwalks on the Terraces. That’s about 1.5 miles, with LOTS of steps! Fascinating features!

I stopped a wildlife guide at the hotel, asking where’s a good place to see a moose. “Not in Yellowstone", he said, "its too high. You need to go to the area around Jackson in Teton Park, there’s lots of them down there”. Good to know.

Today was wildlife day as we headed off down to Lamar Valley. We hadn’t gone more than a few miles that, out of the corner of my eye, just beyond car parked by the side of the road, I spotted a large black something. It was a grizzly bear! He was a very handsome fellow!

Not much later we came to an “Animal Jam”; we learned that people were looking at a bear. (Usually this is black blob off in the distance). All of a sudden, up the bank popped a Mamma black bear with two of the cutest cubs, almost ran right into our car! It all happened so fast I was not able to get a good picture; just good enough as proof!

Our next stop was a short 1 mile hike on the Blacktail Pond trail. I had always wanted to do that one. At the pond we spotted two Sandhill Cranes and even had the opportunity to hear them “squawk”; a very loud call!

All along our drive there were countless buffalo, often causing traffic delays. Lots of calves sticking close to their mothers. We also saw a group of antelope; an Osprey chick in the nest; some interesting ducks we couldn’t identify in a small pond. We went to Slough Creek, well known for “pros” spotting a wolf pack far away with their long lenses and spotting scopes.

Interestingly, as we headed back to Mammoth in mid-afternoon all the wildlife had disappeared. No buffalo anywhere!

We got back to the hotel at about 4:00 and I headed off up the Beaver Ponds trail. I was determined to go all the way this time! I hiked this great trail for an hour and never did get to the ponds. I was assured by a passing hiker that they do exist! I had to have been close but I ran out of time! Lots of wildlife on this hike, too. I had to hike through a large herd of elk, including a close encounter with a big bull lazily lounging under a tree (He found me amusing but of no consequence). There were also deer, a coyote and a badger (no photo to prove it).

After a quick shower we went down to Gardner in search of dinner. Every place is so busy! We had our eye on a pizza place but it was closed, so we ended up at a little taco place, which was quite good! On the way back up the hill we got a good view of an Osprey and chick high atop a tree.

So, I ended up hiking a total of 7.5 miles today! And my legs and knees feel pretty good!

Eared Grebe