No Yogi sightings

From Lander, WY, we drove on to Yellowstone National Park. Because of the government's stimulus package, Yellowstone was re-paving/expanding their roads. All five of them. (And this park is bigger than Delaware and Rhode Island combined.)
So we thought it was exceedingly ironic that we hit the most traffic thus far in our trip (including the May leg) in Wyoming, the least populous state. There is one town, Buford, that has one person. We seriously contemplated setting up our tent in this dude's backyard and messing with the town's numbers but we found out it actually is somewhat of a kitschy tourist stop with a general store and museum--totally not worth it.
Like I said, Yellowstone was a construction zone but we got there in good time and got to explore the hydrothermal phenomena our first night. It really is truly incredible. Even just driving around the park and seeing steam in the distance rising sporadically from the pine trees is so cool. The Shoshone Tribe (of which Sacajawea was a part) believes that they evolved from that very spot.
Our campsite, Grant Village, wasn't too far from Old Faithful itself. (The Geyser pictured is the Riverside Geyser, which actually erupts into the river.) We got there early the next morning to beat the crowds and it was worth it because we got to see all of the major attractions by early afternoon.
The drawing we snapped was a warning all over the park. The ground around the geysers is extremely unstable so the park wants everyone to stay on the boardwalks. We just think this picture is downright hilarious.
One sensory memory I will take with me from the hydrothermal sites was the smell. The springs, the mudpots, the geysers, and the pools all smelled like sulfur. (Obviously, because the majority of Yellowstone is inside of an old volcano.) It smelled so much that our clothing smelled. Though I bet all of the steam was really good for our pores. The picture to the left is Yellowstone's Grand Canyon.
Another aspect of Yellowstone that I really appreciated and wished there was more time for was the wildlife. We got some really great pictures. We passed a young buck on the highway and Mickey got so close and managed a really great shot. We saw baby bison with their herds and many solitary bison causing traffic jams! On our last day, an elk walked through our camp ground!
Speaking of elk, we saw a whole herd on our awesome horseback trail ride. I was so happy and so grateful that we did it in Yellowstone (especially considering our current situation which is for another post). I got to ride a horse called Bluedot and Mickey rode Mort. On the ride, I got to learn Bluedot's story. He was rogue horse who was missing for months from the pasture the horses live in during the off- season. They'd just found him a few weeks ago! He was such a gentle horse and all of my riding experience came back to me (though my forte was always English saddle) and it reminded me how much a really loved horseback riding.
On our last day, we headed up to Mammoth Springs (still in the park) to see the terraces. From there, we headed into Montana.....