July 30 - 31, 2014 Travel to West Yellowstone and Bakers Hole Campground

Wednesday, July 30th

This morning we awoke at 4 AM.  Yes, that’s right 4 AM.  We wanted to be on the road early because we had hoped to avoid the traffic jams and get to Bakers Hole Campground north of West Yellowstone early.  That campground is part of the Gallatin National Forest and it is first come, first serve.  This time of year it fills by noon.

So at first light, we made our way west thru the Shoshone National Forest into Yellowstone National Park:

Going up to Sylvan Pass – the sun was rising:

Past many waterfalls:

Thru Sylvan Pass:

And down the other side:

Past thru all the beautiful wildflowers:

Early Morning Boat Ride:

Beautiful Hot Springs:

Pelican Creek Area:

We stopped at Fishing Bridge RV Park, used their dump station, and then headed north along the Yellowstone River where we saw the fog:

Remember the picture of Hayden Valley and the buffalo herd from Monday?  Well, the valley was really fogged in so we took it very slow.  Almost didn’t see these guys until we were upon them:

At Canyon Village, we turned west.  In 1981, I was thru this area and called it “The Avenue of the Giants.”  There was row upon row of very tall lodge pole pine – it was awesome.  In 1988, many were destroyed in the Yellowstone Fire.  In 1997, Andy and I were thru here and it was still pretty bare.  It is nice to see all this growth since then.

At Norris Village, we turn south along the Gibbon River where we came into the fog again:

Past more hot springs:

Into Madison Village where we turned west again, out of the park, into West Yellowstone, and lastly, north to Gallatin National Forest, Bakers Hole Campground.

We arrived at 9 AM and did our rounds looking for an electric site.  We did not find any so we pulled into a non electric site and walked around the campground to see if anyone was leaving today.   And, yes, we found someone who was, and he told us to pull in behind him until he was ready to go.

We had some great conversation with them in between them packing up – what a wonderful couple.  They left around 1 PM and we pulled up and spent the afternoon getting situated.

Here is our site:

The other end of our site – it is a HUGE pull thru:

Our backyard:

Andy enjoying himself and the campfire:

Dusty just loves the forest and the greenery.  He had a great time exploring:

And our Bella kept an eye on Dusty.  We do not let her out because she gets very scared and wants to run and hide.

What a wonderful day!  We hope to be here for a while to enjoy the forest and do some exploring.

Stats for today: 103 Miles

Miles Traveled: Routes Traveled:

Wyoming: US 14/16/20; Grand Loop Road; US 20/191/287

Montana: US 20/191/287; US 191/287

Thursday, 31st

We were in bed very early last night and just took it easy this morning.  After lunch, we decided to check out West Yellowstone.  So we drove around and made stops at the Laundromats (to check out), the hardware store, the grocery store, the Visitor Center, the Gallatin National Forest Visitor Center, Grizzly RV (they have a dump station for only $6.00) – and checking out the scenery along the way.

One of my beading buddies, Nora, is working at the guilt shop here so we stopped in to see her – what a nice surprise.  The store was getting busy so we only stayed a short time and hope to get together soon.

I spent the rest of the day getting the blog caught up and answering emails.  So if I owe you an email and you haven’t received it, please email me again.  We do have phone and internet service here with our Wilson antennae.

Another wonderful day in the forest –