Day 15 (Wednesday): July 24, 2019
Got up at 5:30 AM, the weather is cloudy, light showering, 55 oF. Slowly recuperating ourselves, hot coffee and tea always help. Around 8 AM ate a good breakfast and we are ready to go to explore and photograph Nature’s gifts. We drove around the camp, then Colter Bay Village and boat launch, then on 191, stopping at Teton Lodge and photographed around, then continued to Teton Park Road and stopped many of the scenic pull-outs. Beautiful scene to the Tetons. Drove to the Chapel of the Sacred Heart, then on the narrow Signal Mountain Road to the top to get a high elevation viewpoint, then to String and Leigh Lakes. Continued on the Park road to Jenny Lake lodge and then, on Jenny Lake road, stopping all of the beautiful scenic viewpoints. Finally, we arrived at Beaver Creek and Moose Visitor Center, then continued on 191 North, to Schwabacher Landing, where I photographed the outstanding scenery on 4×5 film and Lexi photographed ducks and beavers. Drove back to Moran junction and back to our camp. Ate a good dinner at the Village restaurant, fixed the internet, and enjoyed the campfire at our peaceful campsite.
Day 16 (Thursday): July 25, 2019
Got up at 5:30 AM, after a quick dress-up, coffee, tea, and started the engine at 6 AM to drive to Yellowstone Bridge Bay Camp. Arrived at 8 AM and look for an available site, waited till 9 am, but no available site. Drove through Hayden Valley to Canyon Village, but had no luck. Continued on Norris Canyon Road to Norris then to Madison Junction and in the Madison River Valley to West Yellowstone, then on 287 / 191 to Bakers Hole Camp, where luckily we got the only available one spot for 4 nights. However, we had to stay at Bakers Hole tonight, so we drove back to Grand Teton National Park Colter Bay camp… packed everything, and at 5 PM, we left the camp and pulled our trailer through Yellowstone NP to Gallatin Forest Bakers Hole camp. Set up everything, ate Lexi cooked dinner and we slept like a log after this filled with curves, high elevation driving. We have mosquitos, but who cares! We are happy campers and above us a fantastic starry sky. Good night.
Day 17 (Friday): July 26, 2019
The Sun just did not want to come up this morning, 36 oF,… well, we are at the west side of Yellowstone at the Gallatin Forest in Montana. About an hour later, the Sun is out, shining through the tall pine trees. After breakfast, the rain started, drove to the small town, West Yellowstone, drove next to Madison River, then at Madison we explored the Fountain Paint Pots Geyser, then drove a nice 1 mile scenic one way Fire Hole Lake loop, stopped and photographed several scenic spots, then drove back to West Yellowstone. Got gas, took a refreshing bath in the Madison River near our camp then ate a good BBQ dinner at the campfire. Great starry night, no rain.
Day 18 (Saturday): July 27, 2019
We got up for a cloudy morning with showers. The Sun did not come up, just the zillions of mosquitos were very active. When after breakfast we left the camp, we had rain. Drove to Yellowstone and drove from Madison to Gibbon Falls. The rain just stopped and we photographed the falls in good soft light. When we finished, the Sun came out and the sky started to clear up. Drove to Norris then to next to Gibbon River to Nymph Lake, Roaring Mountain, and to Swan Lake, where we found a Trumpeter Swan family with three babies. We photographed their parental behavior for about an hour, then drove to Mammoth geyser. Drove on the upper loop, looked down to the giant, which is unfortunately almost dried out, only a small section was active. We were tired when we arrived back in West Yellowstone, ate and drank a few good Montana beers at the Slippery Otter Pub and Eatery. Slept well after this great day.
Day 19 (Sunday): July 28, 2019
Got up at 6:30, after bathroom routines, and a hearty breakfast drove to Madison than to Norris and on the Norris Canyon road to Virginia Cascade, then to Canyon Village, where we enjoyed the nice Yellowstone geological exhibit and wondered the size of the caldera of this active supervolcano. Continued on Dan Raven pass to the steep 4×4 dirt road ending high elevation at the trailhead of Mount Washburn. The wind was very strong there. Down to Tower Falls, then to Lamar Valley, where we observed and photographed several bison herds, single old bull bison, and several pronghorn antelopes. Turned back at the Lamar Ranger Station then continued to Mammoth, stopping by to photograph waterfalls. Back on Grand loop road to Swan Lake, checked the swan family then at Twin Lakes we found another Trumpeter swan family. Continued to Norris then to Madison then back to West Yellowstone and to Gallatin Forest camp. Thanks to Mother Nature, we had a very nice day. Enjoy a few of my snapshots.
Day 20 (Monday): July 29, 2019
The birds did not sing this morning, the Sun did not want to come out from the storm clouds, we got cold morning, 40 oF, but our tiny house is warm and cozy. After bathroom, packing and breakfast drove to West Yellowstone to the washeteria, and find a network connection at the nearby Motel to upload Week 3 journal and images. Back to camp, finished packing and closing camp then drove on 191 and on 287 to Beaver Creek Camp in Gallatin Forest, Montana. The camp entrance is at a wildlife viewing area and driving in about half a mile to the camp. Our spot is one of the most beautiful, remote, no neighbors sites, looking to the mountain forest, between massive pine trees and Aspens, and the ground covered with fresh green mountain grass and blooming wildflowers. Walked around on the trails and drove to the Earthquake Lake viewpoints, took few photographs, and looked for good spots for tomorrow’s photography. Back to the camp about 8 PM, warned us, black bear with two cubs are in the cap area, but we did not see them. Ate great Lexi made dinner, then enjoyed the evening with mosquitos around us at our campfire. Just when we prepared to sleep, a storm with strong wind and heavy rain shook our camper but passed us about an hour, and the stars came out slowly. What a great day!
Day 21 (Tuesday): July 30, 2019
The storm started again at 5 AM but passed about an hour later. Got up at 7 AM, the Sun slowly moving out behind the mountains and the clouds. After hot coffee and tea, then a good breakfast made from yesterday’s leftover drove to the nearby lakes for wildlife then to Earthquake Lake 2nd pull-out, where I hiked down on the steep slope to the lake and photographed few hours the remnants of pine trees and sparkling ripples covered water in glowing backlight. We learned a lot about the 1959 earthquake at the Visitor Center, then drow back to camp, relaxed in our hammock, organized stuff then when the light was good late afternoon, hiked down to the lake, and photographed the unusual scenery. We saw and photographed few white pelicans, cormorants, Canada goose, and a Bald eagle nest with two young chicks. We hiked back to the camp at 7:30 PM, ate a good dinner, then visited our world traveler camp neighbors. Planned to talk about unforgettable stories at the campfire, but a storm came again and we moved into their camper. We got heavy rain and bean-size hail, which covered the ground like snow. When the storm passed and we walked back under the starry sky to our camper, at 10 PM, the hail still was on the ground, did not melt, and we took few pictures. Another great day passed again.
