Yellowstone was the 5th national park I have been to in the States and it was amazing. We only got to do the western half of the park as we were only there for a weekend.
Overall the park was absolutely amazing and was extremely unique. We stayed in an overpriced but fun lodge the first night we got there and then set up camp for the next 2 nights in our tent. The camping was so fun and it was a great site. DAY 1 On the first day we were there we hiked about 10-15 miles in and through some really impressive geyser basins. We started first thing on the West Thumb of the park. It was not something that was on the top of our list but we are 100% glad we stopped. The pools and springs were really cool and it was our first taste of the geothermal hotspots.
Where we spent most of our first day was in the Upper Geyser Basin. We saw so many different geysers and were supper lucky to have seen a couple of them. Of course we saw Old Faithful and so many of the impressive pools in the area. We saw Beehive Geyser that only goes off every 36 hours or more, Castle Geyser that is every 14 hours, Sawmill Geyser that is quite irregular with a few hours between shows, Grand Geyser that erupts every 7 hours and Fountain Geyser we walked right into which has about a 7 hour delay. It would be impossible to name all the colored pools and springs that we saw but our favorites on day 1 were: Abyss Pool, Morning Glory Pool, Black Pool, Bluebell Pool, Doublet Pool, Chromatic Pool. We finished off day 1 with an evening drive through the grasslands to see a massive herd of buffalo, including a few that came right up to the car.
DAY 2
Our second day was a full one as well. We woke up after a brisk but good night sleep in the tent, whipped up a quick breky of eggs and bacon and headed out. We started out the day with an easy 5 mile hike up to Mystic Falls. The trailhead started at another really cool section with a few more spectacular pools and small geysers, The falls themselves were very cool as well. Second thing we did which ended up being one of the best parts to the trip was hike up to the overlook to Grand Prismatic Spring which was worth all the hype. Amazing view. After lunch, we went up to the Norris Geyser Basin which was also fantastic, this one had fewer of the blue pools but had so many different steam vents and it looked completely different, the vents sounded like the earth breathing. Right before heading back to the tent we stopped by Gibbon Falls and looked at those for a bit, also really really impressive. Our favorite pools from day 2 were: Black Diamond Pool, Sapphire Pool, Silex Spring, Cistern Spring.
DAY 3
Our last day here was a little short but still very worth it, we went up to Mammoth Hot Springs. Again, it had some similarities to the things we saw day 1 and 2 but was also extremely unique to that section of the park. As the name suggests, this spot had some massive springs and pools that have built up over a pile of years. We then ate a quick lunch, took a pic by the sign and drove home.
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