Yellowstone Day 2

We woke up this morning in our cabin to cold, sleet/rain.  The mountains out our window were covered in snow, but by that afternoon, it was all gone.  We got a fairly early start today but due to the weather, we planned on driving around the park and seeing and saving the hikes for a warmer day.  We started at Mammoth Falls first, and the sun had peeked out just for a short time.  It was a short and easy hike, and incredible formations that this geyser had formed.

After we left Mammoth Falls, we took off to head towards the lake and Larry was pretty sure he saw a black bear.  He turned around as soon as he found a spot to do so, and we spotted it right off the road. We were lucky enough to have a turn out spot right there in front of this bear.  He climbed up into a tree then quickly got down and started walking around.  He actually was probably only 15 or so feet away from us. INCREDIBLE!!!!!

Next thing we knew we were facing sleeting rain again.  So we kept driving.  We stopped a a couple waterfalls.  We also stopped a couple of times as people were pulled over looking at something.  We saw two more grizzlies up high in a meadow.  We also saw a mama grizzly with her two cubs and the cubs were sledding down one of the last snow patches left in the mountains.  It was so cute, but it was too far away to capture on my camera.  But I will always remember it!  Soon we found ourselves stuck in traffic again, but with no where to pull over.  Soon we found out why.  There was another mama bear with three cub, but it was black bear this time.  Like I said we couldn't pull over, and a ranger was there yelling at other cars to move forward, so once again, no picture.  The cubs were in a tree close to the road, and they were so tiny!  The mother was on the ground possibly looking for food.  I regret we didn't get a photo of the babies, as they were close, and so small, but oh well, another memory.

 Another geyser.  This one was cloudy/milky and bubbling.  A little eerie looking.

 Lake Yellowstone.  It is the largest high elevation lake in the US. 

On the way back to our cabin, we saw 11 old Ford's all parked at a restaurant.  They had passed us the morning, in Yellowstone.  What a fun way to travel, huh??