June 26, 2011: Day 9, World Museum of Mining

World Museum of Mining

June 26, 2011: Day 8, Earthquake Lake and West Yellowstone

At the Hebgen Lake/Earthquake Lake visitor center, we watched a movie about the earthquake and the results of it.  It is scary to think about something like that happening to us while we are camping.  Whole families were wiped out by the slide.  A summary of what happened is... During the night, near a small lake called Duck Lake, a large earthquake struck.  This earthquake caused many changes to happen.  200 geysers and thermal features in Yellowstone erupted simultaneously and a large landslide flowed across the Madison River, damming it and forming Earthquake Lake.  Many families lost their lives, and it upsets my stomach to be here and think about it.  :(

 Earthquake Lake

After Earthquake Lake we went to the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center.  We loved seeing the bears and wolves up close.  We got to watch a short movie about the animals in the wild, and the girls learned a lot.

 Grizzly bear

June 25, 2011: Day 7, Midway Geyser Basin and Canyon

June 24, 2011: Day 6, Grand Teton National Park

Today we drove through Yellowstone and to Grand Teton National Park.  We caught of glimpse of the mountains the other day, and they looked beautiful.  We decided to stay the entire trip in one campground instead of packing up, we we just had more driving to do, but less packing and unpacking.  On our way south, we stopped at the Grant Village visitor center.  The exhibits were neat, and we got to see the boat launch area.  It was chilly this close to the water.  It was cool to drive here because we crossed the Continental Divide twice, and passed Isa Lake, that flows both towards the east and the west.

Once we were out of the Grant area, it started pouring rain and hail.  It was very loud and wet.  Along the road south of Yellowstone, on the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial parkway, we saw a grizzly bear!  Our first one.  It was hanging out on the side of the road eating a snack.  On our drive south, we stopped at Cunningham Cabin, a national historic site.  the girls liked the cabin, and think it would be fun to live here.  

Once we got into Jackson, we stopped at the National Elk Refuge.  The visitor center was really cool.  the had binoculars set up and let us look through them at the animals.

On our way back north we saw a moose hanging out.  We drove up to the Lawrence S. Rockefeller Preserve, and I must say, this place was AMAZING.  I hiked in alone since the girls were asleep in the car, but it was totally worth it.  What a beautiful building in a beautiful place!

Once we got to back in the main part of the park, we learned that you must hula-hoop through the cross walks?  That's all I could figure this sign meant.  :)

Abby was sad, and Selena drew this picture...

Journal

7:45 am  June 24

Today we are headed through Yellowstone and to the Gran Teton National Park!  We caught a glimpse of the mountains the other day, and they look beautiful.  For the rest of the trip, we've decided to stay at the same campground, since we are all set up and comfortable.  Tomorrow we will use for park catch-up.  Whatever we don't finish today.  I think it will mostly be Midway Geyser Basin, Biscuit and Black Sand Basins.  Maybe some lake activities.  On Sunday we are going to sleep in and do the West Yellowstone stuff and swim and play in the park and, and, and...  We will leave early on Monday, and go to the Mining Museum and Hell Roaring Gulch in Butte, before heading for home ~ and Hebgen Laek / Quake Lake!

On our way south, we stopped at the Grant Village Visitor Center.  The exhibits were neat and we got to see the boat launch area.  It was chilly this close to the water.  It was cool to drive here because we crossed the Continental Divide twice, and passed Isa Lake, that flows both towards the east and the west!!

We continued on our way towards Grand Teton National Park!  Once we were out of the Grant area, it started POURING rain and hail!  It was very loud and wet. 

Along the road south of Yellowstone, on the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway, we saw a grizzly bear!  Our first one.  It was hanging out on the side of the road eating a snack.  The pictures look really dark on the camera, so I hope they turn out.  

On our drive south, we stopped at Cunningham Cabin, a National Historic Site.  The girls liked the cabin, and think it would be fun to live here.

Once we got into Jackson, we stopped at the National Elk Refuge.  The visitor center was really cool.  They had binoculars and a scope set up and we could watch the animals.  We also visited the Moose, Jenny Lake, and Coulter Bay, Visitor Centers. 

June 23, 2011: Day 5, Mammoth

June 22, 2011: Day 4, Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and More

Our plan for the day was to get to the Artist's Point along the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone by 945 am today.  I had read that there is an awesome rainbow that appears at the base of the falls at precisely 945 and lasts till 955.  They were right!!! At 10 there was a Junior Ranger program about squirrels, and it was interesting to hear about the different types of squirrels that live in the park.  We did a bit of hiking along the canyon, and the most exciting was the "Brink of the Lower Falls".  It was a hard hike, but worth it.  We went to the visitor center and watched a short movie, enjoyed the exhibits, then had a picnic lunch.
Along the drive from Canyon to Yellowstone Lake, we stopped at Sulphur Canyon and Mud Volcano.  There were some really neat things to see and hear here.

Journal

8:15 am Wednesday June 22

We are just leaving camp on our way to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.  We are hoping to make it to Artist's Point by 9:45 to see the rainbow.  We had a really rough night last night with Abby's rash.  They are really bothering her.  We may need to find a doctor today :(.

9:45 am

We made it just in time!  We got to see the rainbow grow out of the base of the falls.  It was pretty neat.  After we watched the falls we got to listen to a ranger talk about squirrels.  We learned that there are five types of squirrels in the park.

The Red Squirrel is very important because it gathers white bark pine cones and this is an important food source of the Grizzly Bears.  The Uinta Ground Squirrels sleep 8.5 months of the year, short tails, marmot like.  Three types of chipmunks are also squirrels.  They have stripes that cover their eyes and go along their backs.

We did a bit of hiking along the canyon, and the most exciting was the "Brink of the Lower Falls" it was a 600 foot drop over .75 mile.  It was a hard hike but worth it!  At the Canyon Visitor Center we watched a short movie and enjoyed the exhibits.  We had a picnic lunch and an ice cream treat. 

Along our drive from Canyon to the Lake, we stopped at Sulphur Canyon and Mud Volcano.  There were some cool hot springs (not cool temp, but neat!).  We drove along the north part of the lake and up to Lake Butte, we could see all the way to the Tetons!  There was a large snowbank that we played in. 

At the Fishing Bridge Visitor Center we enjoyed looking at the bird exhibits and playing by the lake.  There was more snow here, and the girls played in it. 

Journal

10:45 pm

We are all tucked into bed and tuckered out!  I have lots to digest before I'm ready to write for the day.  We enjoyed the Canyon area and our drive through Fishing Bridge.  The camera started acting up so we missed some good pictures.  We did see a bear!!  A black bear.  That was fun .  I feel like I'm going to ramble, so I'll finish another time.