An October in Yellowstone

Is it Fall? Or is it Winter? In Yellowstone, it seems to just mesh together. Who knows??

DAY 1 Thurs Oct 20th

On our drive near West Yellowstone! Powdered hills.

 On the very first day, with only a few hours of sunlight left after driving from SLC, we saw lots of wildlife. 

First one was this massive bull elk. Just sitting and enjoying the scenery.

We had a lot of fun on this trip with our 50X camera zoom. Haha!

Just a few miles away is Taylor's favorite view. He loves the Madison River Valley.

And for an extra surprise, we saw an elk herd grazing in the Valley, just to spice up Taylor's excitement.

Just a few hours later, we got to witness this guy in a fight with the other one on the river. 

Seeing hot springs, throwing snowballs.

Let's play Where's Waldo, but instead, coyote style.

Can you find Wile E.?

There he is!

 Stopping at the Paint Pots was mystical. It was so cold outside, so all the geysers and springs were extra steamy.

Dancing in the steam, just, dancing in the steam. What a glorious feeling, I'm happy as a steamed clam.

These are the paint pots. Super fun to watch mud springs due to the explosive bubbles!

 Then we drove our favorite loop around The Firehole Loop.

The icy snow was captivating.

It was so interesting to see icy snow and hot, steaming, boiling water so close.  

Herd of bison hanging around.

 Yay for zooming cameras!

Buffalo is totally trying to ruin the picture with his tongue. So childish...

And then we went to Lower Geyser Basin. It's the place with the infamous Grand Prismatic Spring.

This is what it looks like on a warm day. 

Here is Kelsey walking next to it on our frigidly, cold day. Haha!

And to end the day, we got to see this special treat!

2 bull elk fighting!

 

In the evening Taylor and I found a piano that had it's front piece removed and replaced with glass so you could see the strings and hammers move when you hit the notes.

Even though some of the keys didn't work or sound right, it was pretty fun to watch!

And we ate hot dogs in our hotel room via a portable smore maker (aka hair blow dryer)

 DAY 2 Fri Oct 21

We started the morning driving north towards the Yellowstone Grand Canyon.

First stop, Artist Paint Pots!

Then we drove to the Norris Geyser Basin. I just love the green bacteria here. 

And this raven decided to eat lunch with us.

And his buddy was also invited.

Grand Canyon in Yellowstone

Taylor did Uncle Tom's trail while Kelsey took a nap in the car because it was extremely slippery and there weren't many railings...

But look what he got to see!

And I love this boardwalk area with the Dragon's Mouth, Witches Brew, and mud volcanos.

Then we got some tacos on a bus!

DAY 3 Sat Oct 22

Started off with the Madison River

Then some Biscuit Basin

And Black Sand Basin

And of course we hit up Old Faithful:

Then did the Upper Geyser Basin walk

For the first time ever, Taylor and I also went to the West Thumb Geyser Basin which was right on the lake!

And then we drove to the Tetons!

The first view of the Tetons!

The is Colter Bay on Jackson Lake. It's where we first learned to Kayak!

Jackson Lake at Colter Bay

As we drove home Sunday, we took a different route that took us through Soda Springs, ID