Rockies and Great Plains roadtrip, 2015 part 2: Yellowstone (day 1)

Sunday July 26, 2015

TL;DR version: First of two days at Yellowstone National Park, taking the "Yellowstone in a Day" guided tour.

Today's theme songs:

• "Yogi Bear Show theme song" 
• "Faithfully" (Journey) for Old Faithful

Weather report: Sunday in Yellowstone: sunny, high 70, low 36

On Sunday I signed up for an all-day tour of the park, called "Yellowstone in a Day" that runs 8am-6pm, it's like a traditional city tour bus where I'll see a bit of everything with a few stops instead of things in depth (and due to time constraints, I'm interested in breadth not depth).

It’s impossible to see Yellowstone National Park in a year, let alone a day, but if a day is all you have, or you wish to begin your days of exploring Yellowstone by hearing about all that there is to see, come along with us on our most comprehensive one-day tour. Boarding at Old Faithful Inn, this tour covers the entire 142-mile Grand Loop Road with efficiency across one very full day. Stops are limited, but include Old Faithful, Lake Yellowstone Hotel, the Upper and Lower Falls of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, Canyon Village, Mammoth Hot Springs, Fountain Paint Pots, and wildlife and other spots as time permits. Your driver-guide will describe and illuminate all these wonders, as well as those that the tour cannot take the time to enjoy in an effort to whet your appetite to return and spend many more days enjoying the wonders of the world’s first national park. For all that it is possible to see in this short a time, come join us on Yellowstone In A Day.

At times, Yellowstone almost seems other-worldly, as an alien planet in a science fiction movie. Other times it's just amazingly tranquil. At every stop there's something different to see, from downed trees from a fire to bison to geysers to brilliantly colored pools of boiling water. Nature at its finest.

Here's a rough time frame as to when we hit each of the stops:

0850 Kepler Cascades

 

0950 Lake Yellowstone Hotel

 

1030 Dragon's Mouth Mud Volcano

 

1050 Sulfur Cauldron

 

1120 Upper Falls

 

1140 Artist Point

 

1215 Canyon Village (lunch)

1400 Tower Falls

 

1500 Mammoth

 

1530 Mammoth Hot Springs

 

1745 Fountain Paint Pots

Lunch is included in this tour, but not dinner. The trip starts and ends at Old Faithful Inn, so that's where I made a reservation for dinner (you get either 6-8pm or 8-10pm), I opted for the later one so I could catch a full eruption of Old Faithful at 6:50pm and 7:49pm - the times are posted daily at the front desk.

Went back to the hotel in West Yellowstone after dinner. Unfortunately I didn't take my Garmin GPS with me to track my whole route on site, but it was basically a big circle going counterclockwise from there. Old Faithful and the lodge are at lower left, at the red pin. We went south past the lake, then north. Tower Falls is at the top right green pin, and Mammoth Hot Springs is at the upper left where the white road meets US 89. The green pin at far left is West Yellowstone just outside the park. The rest of the blue track inside the park is tomorrow's ride.