August 16

Sad to know this is our last day in the park, we packed up in the morning and then headed south. Drove back past Old Faithful, then followed the Grand Loop Drive alongside Yellowstone Lake (more fruitless fishing, but a nice picnic) and on up north toward the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. So happy we decided to take a pit stop at the campground near West Thumb because suddenly we were in the thick of a bison brigade in the parking lot! The ranger in charge of keeping us at a distance said he'd never seen the whole herd (dozens of them!) tramp right down to the boat launch. Felt lucky to be there.

North toward GC of the Yellowstone but caught in 2 hr buffalo jam. Cars should be equipped with those cow-catchers they used to put on trains. Or tourists should have their cameras taken if they block progress for more than two minutes!

Great visit to Yellowstone Falls when we finally arrived. Breathtaking really. Walked the 300+ steps down Uncle Tom Trail to the platform below Upper Falls and felt like we were right in the middle of it all.

Much later than

expected out the Northeast Entrance of

the park, but that meant we got to see several hundred more bison (ho hum) and one of the most spectacular sunsets ever.

Refreshing break from the mobs of people we sometimes encountered at the real hot spots in Yellowstone. This feels like wild country, big and open and beautiful. No room at Pebble Creek, the last campground in the park, then consecutive disappointments at four national forest campgrounds outside the park (first in Montana, then back to Wyoming). One was closed outright, then three had signs up saying no tent camping was allowed due to bear activity. What could we do, at ten o'clock and high up in the mountains? Yep, we pulled all the gear out, folded up seats and bunked up all in the car. Some of us actually slept a little, I hear tell. We'd find out in the morning from the campground hosts that the severe response was from the National Forest Service. They've prohibited tent camping in a large radius around the Northeast entrance to Yellowstone after a bear incident earlier this summer that resulted in a fatality. Yikes. Now kind of glad we haven't been following the news.