Leaving Yellowstone

The time to leave Yellowstone is coming up very quickly. We have seen so much of this beautiful place but in fact we have seen very little! It would be entirely possible to stay a month and spend a whole day or two where we have spent three or four hours. There are so many trails and places off the road with treasures to reveal to those courageous enough to place themselves on foot in an environment belonging to the multitude of wild animals. I was more daring in my youth - maybe more of an idea of self preservation now in my plus years. I am content now to leave with a respectful appreciation of the wild beauty of an area that has a sense of intense power and energy. The puffs of steam seen in many places are a real reminder that this place could puff and shake a whole lot more and after the earthquakes in Christchurch, Japan and other places in the past year my consciousness about this is on high alert!

But first there were the earlier bypassed places to see. Again we travelled the side of Yellowstone Lake then followed the Yellowstone River through its wide valley towards its famous Canyon.  A few miles from  Fishing Bridge we came to the Mud Volcano, a steamy,  porridge popping place with a distinctive sulphur smell - fortunately not as strong a smell as that of geothermal Rotorua, in New Zealand.

Mud Volcano

Mud Volcano, Yellowstone National Park

Nearby was the interestingly named 'Dragon's Mouth Spring" which fascinated the watching crowd as hot water and steam burst out of the rocky cavern in the hillside with loud whooses and pops then swirled and pushed against the edge of the pool as do waves on the shore.

Dragon's Mouth Spring

A little further down the road was the Sulphur Cauldron. This was some distance from the road and it threw up bursts of hot water and steam every couple of minutes while smaller nearer "pots" plopped and bubbled continuously.

Sulphur Cauldron

Bubbling and plopping

It was soon time to leave and the plan was to exit via the East Entrance as the North East Road was closed.
This route took us through fishing Village and along the top East side of Yellowstone Lake close to the Absaroka Mountains and across the Sylvan Pass and alongside Middle Creek to the East Entrance from  where we would head towards Cody.

We were driving along happily recalling our favourite experiences of the last week when . . .
. . . why are all these people pointing their cameras at us ?

It's a BEAR jam! A GRIZZLY ! Right in front of US.

From the back seat I jammed my camera in front of the window and clicked! How lucky is that! We even saw a Grizzly!  Holiday Perfect.

 The bear strode across the road without a sideways look - after all, he owns the whole place.

Grizzly Bear

 He then marched on up the bank leaving us to marvel at our luck in having seen such a magnificent animal right in front of us.

Grizzlys and Black Bears do not live in the same area as the bigger Grizzlys are very aggressive and chase the Black Bears away. We were so priviledged to see both kinds - a perfect ending to our Yellowstone experience. We continued on our way across the Sylvan Pass . . .

Clear Creek. East Yellowstone

 This area suffered widespread fires that burned for about three weeks in both 2003 and 2007.

Sylvan Pass

 The above photos were taken from the moving car.

Middle Creek at the East Gate, Yellowstone National Park

 We had now left the Yellowstone National Park having had the best camping holiday ever.

Leaving Yellowstone

From here we will travel through Wyoming, visit Devil's Tower and Mt Rushmore in South Dakota before returning to Denver . . .