Days 55-57: Wild West Museum, Yellowstone National Park

October 16-18, 2017

We managed to wake up early enough to get to the Buffalo Bill Center of the West right when it opened. The museum was amazing. There are actually 5 different museums within the one building – Buffalo Bill, Plains Indians, Whitney Western Art, Draper Natural History, and Cody Firearms Museums. Each museum was unique and fascinating.

After spending a few hours in the museum, we drove to Yellowstone National Park. Before leaving; however, we bought some bear spray after reading all the warning and stories of bear attacks in the park. Four miles before entering the east entrance, we spotted a grizzly bear charging down the mountain towards our car. It ran across the road and into the woods. We turned around and pulled into a gravel road near the river and waited – hoping the bear would show up to get a drink. A few minutes later, the bear appeared along the river and we watched it for a bit before it disappeared back into the woods. We decided the bear spray was a good investment considering the bear was in a campground that was closed for the season. We entered the park, drove by Yellowstone Lake, visited Fishing Bridge and Canyon Village. We took the main boardwalk trails at each location and enjoyed some spectacular views. On our way out to West Yellowstone we saw bison and elk. We got to witness one of the bull elk bugling which was very cool. We stayed at the Holiday Inn in West Yellowstone which is located just outside the west entrance of the park.

Zoom in to see the bear

Elk

Elk

Elk

The next day we did Madison, Norris, Mammoth Hot Springs, and Tower Roosevelt along with trails at each location. I’ll let the pictures Lauren took speak for themselves. As usual; however, pictures don’t do it justice.

Frosted Tree

Bison Crossing

Elk

Prairie Dog Field

Bison

Sunset

Our final day at Yellowstone, we visited Old Faithful and West Thumb. While in the Old Faithful area, we managed to see it erupt 3 times. Once when we first got there, once after we ate lunch, and once after we did over 3 miles worth of trails.

Old Faithful

Morning Glory

In the afternoon, we drove down through the Grand Tetons and enjoyed views of Jackson Lake and the mountains along the way. On our way we saw our first moose! It was a bull with large antlers munching on some shrubs near a creek. We stayed the night at a hotel in Jackson Hole.