It's About the (RV) Journey....: Lots of Lakes....

After an evening of strong thunderstorms, and even hail, we got ourselves up and out very early again to engage in our favorite new hobby....wildlife viewing! I love the early morning in the park. It's so quiet, and really beautiful. The pictures only hint at how beautiful it is.

check out the hail on the windshield wipers

early morning

more early morning

so peaceful

bear in the distance by the tree (and carcass)

So we were on our way to see if we could spot some wildlife. Turns out, there were 3 bears on the carcass we were watching yesterday. A mom, and 2 young ones. And, across the street, three grizzlies came up over the ridge and were chasing 2 wolves down the hill. Of course, you needed binoculars to watch the show, but it was so amazing. Way too far away for pictures. There were a bunch of us looking in all directions, 'cause you never know what will show up and where. I have to say, everyone doing this early morning viewing is so friendly and enthusiastic.

One bear had enough, and after a while, took a swim in the river. Maybe he was cleaning himself off from the meal? eeww....but that is nature!

bear heading to the river

just trying to stay clean?

close up

We stayed around for about an hour or two. Watching wildlife like that is really addicting. (Almost as addicting as Candy Crush-haha!). We wanted to explore Fishing Bridge area and Lake Yellowstone, as we hadn't spent any time there. We had a beautiful day, and the water and views were really nice. The whole Yellowstone area is pretty wild and crazy...even along the banks of Lake Yellowstone, there are hot springs. There are geysers in the lake in some areas too. Wild stuff!

Yellowstone Lake

this lake is HUGE

mountains in the background

some of the shoreline

hot spring right next to the lake

Much of the forest in this area has burned down, but you can see the regrowth. At one overlook, in the middle of the very young forest, a grizzly was checking under the logs for some insects. The grizzlies are just everywhere...in the mountains, meadows and near the lake too!

charred forest

grizzly bear scavenging for insects among the dead trees

the grizzly is off in these woods...right near the lake

We rode past Lake Yellowstone and out the East Entrance to the park, just to check it out. There are lots of impremountains and forests here , and it is much quieter than other areas of the park. That's good for the wildlife! When we first got to Yellowstone, the fire danger chart was in the green....little chance of fire. Now, its progressed to yellow-moderate chance.

beautiful impressive mountains near the east entrance of Yellowstone

beautiful mountain views

more bikers! as in bicycle!!Wow...on these hills!!

fire danger...in the yellow now

beautiful scenery all around, mountains, rivers, streams

impressive canyons

looking for bears?

a lake along the drive to the East Entrance-nice!

again!!

pretty

Remnants of burned lodgepole pine forests are everywhere and the underlying green underbrush and wildflowers can be seen growing. Lots of burned areas visible throughout the park. The forest fires actually help keep the ecosystem balanced, and are just as necessary as water and sun. Fire is needed to melt the wax on the pinecones and enable new growth. There have been many forest fires in Yellowstone, the largest one in 1988, when 36% of the park burned. For more information, click here.

lots of charred forests

you can see the greenery coming back

more char

Lake in the background

sad to look at...but its nature

imagine a roaring fire right next to this huge lake

greenery and wildflowers coming back

more..so pretty

still can't get enough of the wildflowers!

so many nice colors

randomly growing wildflowers

so pretty-really!

Heading back "home", we stopped again at the lake and admired the beautiful view with the mountains in the background.

such a huge lake (Yellowstone Lake)

what you can't see are the millions of mosquitos!

very scenic view

We made one more stop and that was to explore Firehole Lake Drive, which had been closed earlier in our stay here due to the road melting. It was hot during the days (mid 80's and that wicked sun), and its really hot under the ground here, obviously. I'll never forget the one visitor said to us at one of the geyser basins....this place seems like its ready to blow!! Anyway, glad the road was reopened. There were some really neat hydrothermal features.

first stop...isn't that beautiful

really hot bubbling spring

this geyser went off for about an hour and a half (we heard!)

I like this deep blue springs too

hot hot hot

pretty interesting landscape, huh?

love the colors

from a distance

close up

a good reason to stay on trails only! Check out this landscape

still spouting-for about an hour and a half

this is a stream geyser

we did not wait for it to "go"

very interesting to see the layers

its pretty hot here...no wonder the road melted

this road was closed for about a week

very interesting area...glad the road reopened

I just love all the colors and patterns we see here in nature. And I can't help but think some of these hot spring pools would make great prototypes for a spa/hotel/home pool, complete with the coloring and water bubbling up. Of course, the temperature would have to be adjusted.