Lake Yellowstone

Sep 27

Gull Point Sunrise, Yellowstone National Park

Day One

We made the long drive from Denver to Lake Yellowstone in the center of Yellowstone National Park. We drove through Casper, Thermopolis, and Cody to start our adventure via the East Entrance to the park. Fall colors are turning around the park, only helping the grandeur of Yellowstone. We stopped at Sylvan Lake on the way into the park before getting checked in to our room at the Lake Yellowstone Hotel. This first evening, we made our way to Pumice Point along the shores of Lake Yellowstone, hoping to capture some magic at sunset. Due to some cloud cover on the western horizon, the evening was somewhat limited, yet still a fantastic place. As usual, it was windy and cold on the shore of the lake.

Sylvan Lake and Pumice Point

Day Two

I got up early and drove back to Pumice Point. A massive wall of clouds over the Absorakas kept any good light from happening. On my way back to the hotel, I stumbled across Gull Point. What a fantastic place. I went back to the Lake Hotel, had breakfast, and then set out for Lake Butte. We slowly made our way around the lake stopping at Lake Butte, Steamboat Point, Mary's Bay, Sedge Bay, and then hiked a little on Storm Point. Then we walked the Pelican Creek Nature trail before having some lunch at Fishing Bridge. We had a gourmet lunch consisting of Lunchables and then headed to Elephant Back Mountain. This trail is about 3.5 miles and has sweeping Lake Yellowstone views from the Pelican Valley to Mount Sheridan. Next, we hiked about 3 miles round trip to the Natural Bridge. Finally, we ended up at the West Thumb Geyser Basin for a couple of hours. Overall, we hiked about 9 miles and finished off our day with a solid dinner at the Grant Village Lake House.

Gull Point Sunrise

Lake Butte Overlook

Pelican Creek Inlet

Elephant Back Mountain

Natural Bridge and Wildlife

West Thumb Geyser Basin

Day Three

Jole slept in - I almost did; however, I went back to Gull Point and got some lovely sunrise photos. I did go back to Pumice Point without any new luck. To finish off the morning, I went to Fishing Bridge. I got some great photos with steam rising off the river. However, my new Tamron lens is susceptible to lens flare - really bummed. After having another great breakfast, we set out to hike the Pelican Valley, 14 miles round trip. We ran into a great group of people; Jess, Bob, Larry, Meem, and Dewayne. It was comforting to have some additional hiking companions in this protected grizzly bear habitat. Together we witnessed 4 grizzly bears, one mom with two cubs, and one solo bear. We also saw what seemed like every bull bison in the park. We met a couple of rangers going in for the night to the patrol cabin. A perfect day followed by an exquisite dinner at the Lake Hotel.

Gull Point, Pumice Point, and Fishing Bridge

Mount Sheridan across Yellowstone Lake from Pumice Point

The Pelican Valley

Bear Management Area

Pelican Valley Grizzlies

Pelican Creek and Bridge

Pelican Valley Bison

Group Photo of Bob, Meems, Duane, Jole, Jess, Larry, and Jason, friendly group of hikers we partnered with for the day.

Lake Yellowstone Hotel at Dusk

Day Four

We both slept in today, utterly exhausted from our 14-mile hike in Pelican Valley. We did some shopping at the Fishing Bridge store after our late breakfast at the Lake Hotel. We bought several gifts and souvenirs for friends and family. After this, we drove slowly through Hayden Valley, stopping at the Mud Volcano area- nasty smelling! We then headed straight to Dunraven Pass and the Mount Washburn Trailhead. Incredible views. We did the entire hike in 3 hours, including a lunch break in the watchtower (they recommend 4-5 hours). After hiking Washburn, we headed to Canyon Village to check out the waterfalls. The North rim was closed for construction, so we went to Artist Point on the South edge. While driving from Artist Point to the Upper Falls, we spotted our fifth Grizzly bear in a meadow. Really cool. We then headed back for a very late dinner and to get packed up for the trip home.

LeHardy’s Rapids, Mud Volcano, & Hayden Valley

Mount Washburn

Artist Point

Day Five

We woke up on Friday, our final day in the park, ate breakfast at 6:30 AM and checked out of the hotel room. We headed out to try and capture sunrise at Pumice Point one final time, this location proved to be challenging for me. We then went back to the 'Black Pool' at West Thumb on our way out of the park. Ironically, we spent so much time hiking in grizzly bear habitat looking for them and as we were leaving West Thumb, we encountered a grizzly bear 50 feet from the highway. We drove toward the Southern exit stopping at the Lewis Falls and Moose Falls along the way. Moose Falls is one of my favorite places because of their overall beauty and the photogenic bridge that crosses Crawfish Creek. The rest of our day was spent in traffic and construction via Moran Junction, Dubois, Lander, Rawlins, Laramie, Fort Collins, and finally home.