July 23rd

Change Hotel Day


We thought this would be a light day, but as it turns out, we went over 21,000 steps! (according to Jim's pedometer)



We got up and out a bit later this morning because we were switching hotels. After we checked out, we drove to the West Thumb Geyser Basin. These geysers are located right on Yellowstone Lake. The geyser that gets the most press at this location is called "Fishing Cone." It's a cone that sits right IN the lake. Apparently, people used to stand on it to fish. Once, a fish on a line accidentally dropped in to the actual hole and was cooked when it was pulled out. It became a novelty to early travelers. Now, that is NOT allowed. Right now, that feature is under water because the lake is high. This one in the picture is called "Lakeshore Geyser." As you can see, this trout REALLY liked swimming here!



After the basin, we drove to the Natural Bridge trail head. It was a very pretty 3 mile round trip hike through the forest with the reward being a natural bridge formation. Right after this picture was taken, we hiked about 100 more yards to get a view of the valley and spotted a marmot and her baby. We watched them for a while and pointed them out to a couple more hikers.


Next stop: Fishing Bridge. In the early days, visitors were allowed to fish for trout that like to spawn under the bridge. This contributed to the depletion of the cut-throat trout, so it's no longer allowed. We were able to complete a couple more Earth Caches here. This picture depicts Ranger Alan following the GPS to the middle of the bridge.

We checked in to our new digs: Frontier Cabins at Lake Yellowstone. They were rustic but awesome.

Now, I have to take a minute here to ask a question: am I usual in my vacation planning techniques? I know that Claudia does this, but does anyone else research the area they will be in before arriving? I read the website for the lodging and the travel guides. I'm not saying I knew EVERYTHING (I was reading the travel guide as we were traveling through the park so we knew what we were looking at.), but I knew enough. One important fact to know is that the accommodations in Yellowstone are VERY basic. Most have bathrooms...a bathroom in your room at Yellowstone is considered a "luxury." So, when the person in front of us asked for a map to the fitness room, I almost laughed out loud. GO OUT SIDE!!

And we'd like to thank the rangers for placing a bison outside our cabin when we checked in!

We finished the day by eating dinner in the dinning room. It was delicious!! Jim had the buffalo with Moose Drool beer. He said it was awesome.

Aloha!!