Michael and I spent 8 days in Yellowstone National Park! This is part 2 of our adventure. It was an unforgettable experience full of wildlife sightings, hikes, beautiful scenery, and touristy things.

I’m back with the second half of our Yellowstone National Park adventure! You can catch up on Park 1 here.

Yellowstone Day 5

We slept in until 8am! Unfortunately that means no wolf watching. It felt pretty good to sleep in a little bit though.

Afternoon Activities

This was the day we went to see Old Faithful! It took us about 2.5 hours to get there from Slough Creek, but it’s just one of those things that you gotta do when in Yellowstone! Old Faithful erupts about every 90 minutes. We only had to wait about 20 minutes to see it once we got there. It was pretty neat and now I can check Old Faithful off the bucket list.

Afterwards we headed to the Fairy Falls hike where we could see Grand Prismatic from a higher viewpoint. So cool!

Then we continued on the trail and hiked to Fairy Falls. The hike was on a very flat, well-groomed trail. It lead to a beautiful waterfall!

Bonus: the cool waterfall water was misting on us. It was so hot out.

Evening Wolf Watching

Since we slept in and didn’t see any wolves in the morning we definitely wanted to see some in the evening. But we didn’t! We drove around Lamar Valley and didn’t see anyone set up with scopes. We did set up our scope for a little bit near the Pebble Creek kill site, but didn’t see anything. It was such a bummer!

One the way home we were talking about how weird it was that we barely saw any animals that day – just the typical elk, bison, and antelope. No wolves. No bears.

We were about it .25-mile from our campsite when we both noticed something moving in the woods. It was a black bear with two little cubs! It was so cool. The cubs were adorable and so tiny. We were able to see them easy with our naked eye, but got an even better view through the scope. We even had the whole experience to ourselves. So wonderful.

Here’s a picture of the mama.

After we got back to our campsite we had a drink with our camp neighbors, a nice couple from MN.

Yellowstone Day 6

Morning Wolf Watching

On our way out in the morning we noticed a few people up on a hill with scopes on the Slough Creek road. It turns out they weren’t seeing anything. We drove east across Lamar Valley towards the Pebble Creek campsite. On our way we noticed a bunch of cars stopped looking at something. I spotted it, but Michael and I both figured it was a coyote. After watching it a little bit more we realized it was a wolf! It was a gray female wolf from the Lamar Canyon pack! We were so excited since we hadn’t seen any wolves from this pack yet. We followed her as long as we could, but lost her in some trees.

We continued east to Pebble Creek and met up with some other wolf watchers. They hadn’t seen anything yet and we told them how we spotted the gray wolf. Then Michael spotted a black wolf with his naked eye and everyone got an awesome view of the wolf through the scope!

There are only three wolves in the Lamar Canyon pack, so we were excited to see two of the three. We were in the right places at the right time!

Afternoon Hike & Activities

We did the Cascade Lake hike, an easy, flat 4.5-mile trail out to a lake. It wasn’t the most scenic hike, but it was a nice little nature walk.

Afterwards we headed into Gardiner for lunch at Yellowstone Pizza Company. At this point we had to decide what we wanted to do for the rest of the trip – Go to Tetons? Backpack? Camp another night or two? It was nice to sit in air conditioning and think for a little bit. In the end we decided to camp another two nights at Slough Creek and to stay in a hotel in Livingston the night after.

Since we were in town, we decided to try out a different (much nicer!) scope. We returned our current one to Yellowstone Forever and rented a Swarovski from Optics Yellowstone.

Evening Wolf Watching

That evening we headed back towards Pebble Creek. A few others were set up with scopes and were watching the black male, named Small Dot, run through the valley. We hung out for a little bit, hoping we’d see the two other members of the Lamar Canyon pack. We heard word that Small Dot was spotted further west, so we headed that way. We spotted him there, lost sight of him, and then headed even further west in Lamar Valley, where we could watch him just a little bit longer before he was definitely out of sight for the night. It was such a cool experience to hang out with the other wolf watches and track him across the valley.

Also, that Swarovski scope is so nice!

Best part about the night: Ranger Bill gave Michael and I a wolf ambassador pin! I can’t begin to describe how happy this made me. I have it proudly placed on my jean jacket.

Yellowstone Day 7

Morning Wolf Watching

We went driving through Lamar Valley and spotted people with scopes where we had seen the Junction Butte pack earlier in the week. We didn’t spot any wolves, but we did see a mama grizzly and two cubs! I’ll take it.

PS- Sorry for all the blurry animal pics in this post! I had to zoom in so far!

Afternoon Hike & Activities

We drove to Hayden Valley and did 4.5 miles on the Alum Creek/Mary Mountain Trail. The trail was in the middle of the valley, so we were very exposed.

The terrain itself was quite easy with small, rolling hills; however in an area like this small, rolling hills = bear hiding spots. During the hike we made sure to keep chatting and continued to call out “Hey Bear”. Unfortunately, the wind was blowing into our faces, meaning that our scent was not being carried forward. I was starting to get pretty nervous.

Fortunately, we didn’t run into any bears, but did come across a few bison!

Later that evening I learned that a park employee got killed by a grizzly on this trail a few years back. I’m glad I didn’t know this until after the hike!

Afterwards we had lunch near the Canyon Creek Visitors Center and then continued to drive around Hayden Valley looking for more wildlife. We didn’t spot anything.

We decided to continue driving and went from Norris to Mammoth Hot Springs areas, since we hadn’t driven that part yet. With that section covered we officially drove around the whole park!

Did I mention we had been listening to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows? We started it on our way to Yellowstone and continued listening to it during our longer drives through the park (when there wasn’t a World Cup game going on). It’s so good! We’re such dorks!

Evening Wolf Watching

We drove back to Pebble Creek and spotted Small Dot, the same black wolf we saw the previous evening. After he went out of sight we drove west a few miles and waited about 30 minutes, hoping he would follow the same path that he did the night before. But we didn’t see him! We decided to head further west into Lamar Valley to the spot we had been seeing wolves earlier in the week and didn’t see anything there. Then we drove back east a few miles, where a crowd of people were set up with scopes. We didn’t see anything there either. Then we drove back further east to the spot we were earlier and spotted Little Dot! He was moving west and the turned around and started moving east. It was like we were on a wild goose wolf chase!

He was pacing a bit and we were trying to figure out what he was doing. We knew his den was north across the road. One of the other wolf watchers there (who had been watching wolves in Yellowstone for years) mentioned that he never crosses the road during the day, because it scares him. Finally he just started sprinting north and crossed the road – the main road through Lamar Valley! It was so crazy. Everyone started clapping. It was a cool way to spend our last night in Yellowstone.

Yellowstone Day 8

Morning Wolf Watching

Rather than waking up at our normal time (6:30am), we set the alarm for 5am hoping that an earlier start would allow us to see more wolves. We rolled out of bed and headed on our way. There were no wolves out! None! We drove all along the Lamar Valley, back and forth, and spotted the expert wolf watchers along the way. No one had seen anything that morning. No wolves. No bears. Just bison and antelope.

We did see a baby eagle in a nest. That was pretty cool.

Afternoon & Evening Activities

After the unsuccessful wolf watching that morning we headed back to our campsite to make coffee and breakfast. Then we packed up our campsite and headed to Gardiner for lunch at Cowboy’s Lodge and Grill. We were leaving Yellowstone! It was so weird!

We spent our final night at the Super 8 in Livingston, Montana. We took showers and a nap! Oh my, so nice.

That evening we had a lovely dinner at the Second Street Bistro. Then went back to the hotel and watched two documentaries: “Nature Untamed” The Rise of the Black Wolf and “America the Wild” Night Grizzly. Yup. I’m obsessed.

The Drive Home

We woke up the next morning and drove the whole 10 hours back to Denver. Naturally, we listened to Harry Potter the entire way.

Yellowstone Recommendations

Michael and I had such a wonderful time in Yellowstone! It was better than I could have imagined and was the perfect mix of animal watching, hiking, and touristy things.

Here are my recommendations:

• Camping: We only stayed at Slough Creek Campground and I highly recommend it! Arrive early (no later than 7am) to get a spot and be prepared to pay cash $15/night.
• Hiking: Slough Creek Trail and Fairy Falls Trail were my favorites.
• Animal Watching: Lamar Valley and Hayden Valley are going to be your best bets. We were pretty successful 7:30-9:30am and 6:00-8:30pm. Look for crowds of people set up with scopes! I definitely suggest bringing/renting a scope. Wolves and grizzlies look like tiny dots from the road! Binoculars would suffice. If you don’t have either I’m sure other people will let you see through theirs. You are guaranteed to see plenty of bison, elk, and antelope.
• Touristy Things: Grand Prismatic Spring and Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone were my favorite sites. You also gotta see Old Faithful!

I will never forget this experience in Yellowstone! I hope you can make it there soon!

What’s Next

We just got into Missoula, Montana last night! We’ll drive up to Glacier National Park on Wednesday and spend 7-10 days there camping and backpacking.

Michael and I spent 8 days in Yellowstone National Park! This is part 1 of our adventure. It was an unforgettable experience full of wildlife sightings, hikes, beautiful scenery, and touristy things.

As I mentioned in my Summer Plans post Michael and I both quit our jobs to take the summer to explore, camp, and hike as much as we possibly can. We decided to start our summer adventure with an 8-day trip to Yellowstone National Park.

Yellowstone Day 0

The Drive

Michael and I started our trip to Yellowstone National Park at 6am on July 5. We decided to take the slightly longer/significantly prettier route to Gardiner, Montana, where we had a hotel room for the night, by driving through the east entrance of the park.

It took us about 9.5 hours to get to the east entrance and another 3 hours to get through the park. It took slightly longer than it should have, since we ran into some “bear jams” on the way. The delay was fine by me! We were lucky to spot 2 grizzlies, a black bear, and some bison on our way through. Since all the animals looked like tiny black dots from the road, we decided that renting a scope was necessary. We got one from the Yellowstone Forever store in Gardiner for $25/day.

We grabbed dinner and beers at Wonderland Cafe, picked up a few extra items at the grocery store, then checked into the Best Western and called it a night.

But before bed we hung outside of our hotel on a big wooden swing looking out on the Yellowstone river.

Yellowstone Day 1

Getting a Campsite

We woke up bright and early so that we could leave our hotel at 6am and get to the Slough Creek Campground by 7am in order to snag a campsite before they filled up. Since Slough Creek is a first come first serve campground it’s important to get there early. We were the fifth group in line and all of us were able to get sites. Hurray!

We ended up in campsite #3, right along the Slough Creek.

Slough Creek campground has 16 different campsites each with a picnic table, fire pit, and bear bins. The campground also has 2 vault toilets, trash and recycling bins, and a potable water. It’s $15/night.

Morning Wolf Watching

As we were leaving the campground to do some exploring we noticed a group of people staring off into the valley with scopes. Obviously we stopped to check it out. Good thing we did! There was a lone black wolf from the Junction Butte pack. It was the first wolf I’d ever seen and was such a cool experience. We were standing there with a group of other nature enthusiasts talking about where she was headed and how beautiful she was. It was all actually quite dorky, but I loved every minute. I thought we’d be lucky to see one wolf the entire trip, so having spotted one within our first few hours was amazing.

Afternoon & Evening Activities

We stopped at the market in Tower to grab a cup of coffee and walk to Tower Falls.

On the drive to the Canyon Visitors Center we saw a black bear cub from the side of the rode! We only spotted him for about 30 seconds, but still, so cool.

We made our way back to Slough Creek campground and did a little hike along the creek. It was a gorgeous area! Initially we planned on 4-6 miles, but ran out of trail at about 1.2 miles and had to turn around. Honestly, I wasn’t too upset about the hike being cut short. I was having one of those days where I was too much into my head and was nervous that I was going to pass out or get paced by my defibrillator. It’s an irrational thing. Fortunately it doesn’t happen too often, but it happens enough to still be very annoying.

We got back to the campsite and sat in the shade with a nice, cold beer and cheers-ed to our new funemployment adventure.

PS- That wild huckleberry lager is real tasty.

Afterwards we headed to explore the Mammoth Hot Springs area at the north end of Yellowstone. We walked on the boardwalk along the travertine terraces, which were formed from thermal water and limestone. It was so cool, so beautiful, and so weird! The thermal activity in Yellowstone is simply amazing.

We grabbed beer, salad, and pizza at K-Bar. It was ok. The restaurant was very hot and the service wasn’t great, but the food was decent.

On the way back to Slough Creek we saw a cinnamon black bear! At first everyone was saying it was a grizzly, because of the lighter coat; however, once you looked closer at the body it was easy to see that it was a black bear. You could easily spot him from the road, but it was fun to get a closer view through the scope.

Do you see his fluffy rump in the middle of the picture?

Then it was bedtime. The trip was off to a fantastic start!

Yellowstone Day 2

Morning Routine

On most mornings we woke up around 6:30am so that we could get out wolf watching shortly after 7am.

Our typical breakfast consisted of one of two options:

1. Milk (dry milk powder + cold water) and granola
2. Mountain House Breakfast Skillet on tortillas or English muffin

There was always pour over camp coffee. Always.

Morning Wolf Watching

We spotted a group of people with scopes set up in Lamar Valley and joined them. There were six of the eight members of the Junction Butte pack hovering around a recent bison kill (who died in the rut). Six wolves! There were four black wolves and two gray wolves. It was one of my favorite animal sightings of the whole trip!

Afternoon & Evening Activities

We were driving towards Grand Prismatic Springs and spotted a black bear near the road. It was the same one we saw the previous evening. He just got done doing some swimming in a nearby pond. I don’t blame him, it was hot!

A few miles further we stoped to check out a grizzly bear. As we were watching the bear through the scope some other visitors mentioned that they were just at Hayden Valley, where there was a bison kill site that had both grizzlies and wolves. We immediately packed up our scope and headed that way.

We were able to see three grizzlies and two wolves! The kill was a little over a mile away from where we were standing, so we had to strain to see it through our scope, but we still could make out the animals and it was awesome.

There were also some bison herds running around!

We continued on our drive towards Grand Prismatic Spring, stopping first at the Fountain Paint Pot. There was a .5-mile boardwalk around the area that went through hot springs, bacteria mats, mud pots, fumaroles, and geysers.

Then we made it to the Grand Prismatic Spring, which is the largest hot spring (and most beautiful in my opinion) in Yellowstone and in the US. There was another .5-mile boardwalk that went through the Midway Geyser Basin, so besides seeing Grand Prismatic Spring we also walked by the Excelsior Geyser, Opal Pool, and Turquoise Pool.

The colors around the pools/springs come from all the bacteria. Weird and beautiful. Oh science.

We stopped at Hayden Valley kill again on the way home. This time we saw nine grizzlies and two wolves! So crazy! 

Yellowstone Day 3

Morning Wolf Watching

We went to the same place in Lamar Valley as we did the previous morning. This time we saw three wolves around the same kill. They were wandering up and down through the sage brush, which made them slightly tricky to follow. It helps to watch wolves with a group of people. There are so many eyes keep track of them!

Afternoon Hike & Activities

We hiked 6.5 miles on the Slough Creek Trail near our campsite. It was so beautiful and was my favorite hike of the whole trip.

Later in the evening we headed to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. The Yellowstone River created the both the canyon and the falls. We went to Artist Point and had a view of the lower falls. Breathtaking.

On the way back to our campground Michael happened to look over and spot a big horn sheep! A) I couldn’t believe he spotted it. And B) I couldn’t believe he spotted it in time to pull over into the turnaround. We set up the scope and spotted a mom with two babies. The cutest darned things!

Evening Wolf Watching

We saw three blacks wolves in the same spot in Lamar Valley! We’ve been so so lucky with our wolf spotting.

Yellowstone Day 4

Morning Wolf Watching

Again, we went to the same spot in Lamar Valley. There must have been a lot of meat on that bison! We saw two black wolves and one gray wolf. Both the alpha male and alpha female from the Junction Butte pack were there.

This is our wolf watching view into Lamar Valley.

Not bad!

Afternoon Hike & Activities

We did the Hellroaring Creek hike, an out-and-back 4.5-mile trail down to a creek near the Tower-Roosevelt area. Unfortunately hellroaring was hella-boring. The beginning of the hike was pretty. We hiked down into a valley filled with wildflowers, went through some woods, and crossed a suspension bridge. Then we ended up walking through mounds of sage brush to the Hellroaring Creek. It was mosquito central! We also felt pretty exposed. You never know what could be hiding on the other side of the rolling hills.

Right after we turned around at the creek to head back to the trailhead Michael spotted a mama bear and her cub about 150 yards away. Yikes! I was so scared! At first Michael thought they were grizzlies since the cub had a more golden coat; however, it turns out they were black bears. Still scary! Luckily they were plenty far away from us and turned around to walk in the opposite direction.

So I guess the hike wasn’t that boring after all. And it was actually a pretty good workout! The hike back up to the trailhead was quite steep.

After the hike we headed to the Canyon Visitors Center area for a lunch of smoked salmon and triscuits. Have you tried the the dill sea salt & olive oil flavor yet?! They are so good. Perfect with salmon!

Anyways, after lunch we went to the camper services area to take a shower and do laundry. I had a lot of sunscreen, bug spray, and sweat caked on my body. The shower was glorious! Clean clothes never hurt either.

We took a quick detour up Chittenden Road near Mt Washburn. It was the cloudiest day we had then entire trip.

Evening Wolf Watching

This evening we didn’t see any people set up with scopes in the normal spot and we weren’t quite sure what to do! So we kept driving through Lamar Valley and spotted a group near the Pebble Creek campground on the east side of the park. I guess there was an elk kill near the creek. Unfortunately we missed a couple of the wolves and it started raining so everyone packed up their scopes. Such a bummer!

As always, we saw plenty of bison.

To Be Continued…

This post is getting long. I’ll continue with the rest of the adventure soon!