Day 1 (Sunday 7/9)
Packed up and left home around 1pm. Drove to 50000 Silver Dollar in Haugan Montana and camped in their free campground. Ate bierox for dinner and watched part of stage 10 of TDF.
Day 2 (Monday 7/10)
Drove to Missoula and went to Planet Fitness for showers. Stopped at Target for some supplies. Got to Canyon Campground on highway 89, about 45 minutes south of Livingston MT, just north of Gardiner. (This “Canyon Campground” is not to be confused with the “Canyon Campground” that is inside Yellowstone NP). It is first come first served. We got one of the 3 remaining spots at 5pm. By 6pm the rest were taken. It is a nice spot. Finished watching stage 10 (rest day for the riders). Had bierox again for dinner.
Animal sightings:
~50 prairie dogs at 50000 Silver dollars, 1 deer, 1 chipmunk
Day 3 (Tuesday 7/11)
Had breakfast at the campsite with one chirpy chipmunk. Drove into Yellowstone thru the north entrance. Stopped in Mammoth and went to the visitor center. Ate lunch. Walked over to the Liberty Cap thermal feature. Shopped at gift store and bought some shirts. Drove around the north loop. Did a short hike to Wraith falls. Drove via black tail butte dirt road to Tower. Stopped for a short hike to see Calcite Springs. Stopped at Tower Falls and bought some more souvenirs. Another short hike to see Tower Falls. Drove to Canyon and checked in at the campground. Went back to Canyon Village and checked out the shops. Tracey bought some more stuff. Back to the campground and set up our site. Ate jambalaya and salad for dinner.
Animal Sightings
1 chipmunk, a few elk (one up close)
Day 4 (Wednesday 7/12)
Got up, ate a little breakfast and headed to Old Faithful. Saw two bison near Canyon. Thought we see a lot more near Old faithful but never did. Stopped at a few sites along the way. Hiked 7 miles around Old Faithful and saw a few other geysers that were much more interesting. Also you were a lot closer to them. Lots of neat stuff to see. Saw a ground squirrel who was posing for all the tourists.
Animal sightings
Small red squirrel (not like the ones at home, more chipmunk sized) in the campground, chipmunk, ground squirrel, bison, osprey birds (one flew into an erupting geyser), ravens.
Day 5 (Thursday 7/13)
Got up late. Ate a little breakfast and then headed out. Went to Canyon and did a few hikes to various viewpoints of the canyon and falls. It was super nice. Saw a bison from the car but couldn’t pull over to stop. But the road to the trailhead parking lot wasn’t far and it looped back around towards where we saw the bison. So, we hiked thru the forrest back towards the highway to get a closer look. But halfway there we saw a 2nd bison. We were a little close so backed up and watched him eat. Then the other one came by. Pretty cool. We then went to hike the trails to see various views of the lower falls. Drove to the upper falls and had to stop to let a mule deer cross the road. Pulling into the upper falls area, a bridge crosses the Yellowstone River. A bison was walking down our lane across the bridge. So, we waited for him to cross. Then pulled into the next picnic spot that was just past the bridge and got out and took some good photos of him. It was funny to see him wander up and startle people who were there picnicking already. Hiked around the upper falls viewpoints. It was nice but not as cool as the lower falls. Drove south towards Fishing Bridge and saw an elk with huge velvet antlers. Also passed a bison walking along the side of the road. Tracey rolled down the van window and videoed as we drove by. Got within ~6 feet of him as we rolled by cautiously. He didn’t seem to care about any of the cars. Stopped at Hayden Valley overlook and saw a herd of elk, 1 bison, a swan, and some geese. But they were too far away for any good pictures. Got rained on and tiny hail while on the way to Old Faithful. Stopped at Old Faithful but didn’t stay since the next eruption wasn’t for 1.5 hours. Drove back to Canyon. Saw 2 sandhill cranes in a meadow. Otherwise, no animals on that side of the park. Took showers. Had salad and jambalaya for dinner.
Animal sightings
Bison, mule deer, elk, trumpeter swan, red squirrel, geese, osprey, sandhill crane, ravens, butterflies.
Day 6 (Friday 7-14)
Got up a bit earlier, ate breakfast and packed up our campsite. Tent was a little wet because it rained a little overnight. But it was nice and sunny the rest of this day. Took showers, bought a couple more souvenirs, and got gas before heading out. Stopped at some sites along the way in Hayden Valley. Saw several more bison. One was really close at the mud volcano. We were behind an elevated wood platform and railing and a ranger was right there so even though we were much closer than the “stay 25 yards away” they post everywhere, it was ok. Had lunch at a picnic area along the shore of Yellowstone Lake. Went back to Old Faithful. Got there just after it had erupted. So, we hiked around to see some of the other geysers. Saw a marmot. Got back to old faithful about 10 minutes before it was due to erupt. But it was not very faithful and was 20 minutes late. But this time it shot up higher and was more impressive. Drove to Flagg Ranch and checked in to our campsite. Had Mac and cheese and bierox for dinner.
Animal sightings
Bison, ravens, marmot, chipmunks, squirrels
Day 7 (Saturday 7-15)
Got up late. Ate breakfast. Watch the campground security confiscate a bunch of our neighbors stuff. They left a bunch of food and cooking stuff like coffee maker, ice chest, utensils, etc. out and left without putting it inside their camper or the bear box. The campground employees make a big deal about it when you check in and there are signs everywhere. So they definitely should have known about it. Went for a hike around Flagg Ranch and down along the snake river. Left around 11am to go back into Yellowstone. Went to see the Grand prismatic pool and hiked around biscuit basin. Had to wait about 45 minutes to get to the grand prismatic pool because the rickety boardwalk broke and the rangers had to fix it. But once it reopened it was nice because we were one of the first and nobody was there yet. Got back to our campsite at Flagg Ranch around 5:30. Our scofflaw neighbors aren’t back yet. It will be interesting to see how they react to all their stuff being confiscated. Took showers around 6:45 and the neighbors returned while we were out. Didn’t see any sign that they cared. I guess they got their stuff back. Had pasta for dinner.
Animal sightings
Prairie dogs, squirrels, red tailed hawk, raven, osprey
Day 8 (Sunday 7/16)
Got up leisurely, had breakfast and packed up. Drove south towards Jackson. Took the route through GTNP and took Moose-Wilson Road to the Jackson Hole ski area. Walked around the base area. Watched some ultra trail runners finish a 50k 8000ft vertical trail run. Saw some baby horses, super cute. Drove into Jackson and bought some groceries and gas. Walked around the square and bought some souvenirs. Drove back up to Colter Bay. Saw ~12 pronghorn in a meadow. Got checked in to our campsite. It is a short hike to Jackson Lake. So, we took a swim. Water is cold but not too bad once you get used to it. Super scenic swim with the Tetons as the backdrop. This is our favorite campsite so far. Ate salad and jambalaya for dinner.
Animal sightings
Squirrels, ravens, pronghorn antelope, geese with babies.
Day 9 (Monday 7/17)
Got up and had a quick breakfast but didn’t leave the campsite until 10:45. When cleaning our dishes a little chickadee kept flying around and landing just a couple of feet from us. I guess she wanted to help wash dishes. Drove down to Jenny Lake. Parking was full as expected so pared on the side of the highway about 3/4 mile from the trailhead. Made some lunch and packed it and Bunbun and Nut in our packs and headed out on a hike to Hidden Falls. Saw a garter snake on the trail. Saw a moose in a pond eating. She would put her head under water for a long time. Not sure what she was getting to eat. Got to the falls and ate lunch. Hiked up a little further and looked out over Jenny lake then headed back. When we got to the car we noticed another VanDOit parked nearby. Drove down to the main GTNP Visitor Center and checked it out. Watched the movie about the park and bought some souvenirs. Started heading back to Colter Bay. Saw the other VanDOit still parked so we pulled over and got a picture of the 2 vans together. Tracey posted it on the VanDOit Facebook page. Took the drive up to the top of Signal Mountain. Saw a bear walking through the forest. That was really cool. Took some pictures of the Tetons from the top of Signal Mountain. Drove back to our campsite at Colter Bay and hiked down to a lake and went for a swim. It was pretty windy and the water was churned up so it was a bit colder than yesterday. Swam for a bit then sat out and let the wind and sun dry us off. On the hike back to our site we ran into a mule deer on our trail. We backed off and took some pictures. She seemed a little scared of us but eventually meandered on into the woods so we continued along the trail. But the we saw her little fawn. We didn’t want to be between mama and her baby so we walked on by and the the little one trotted off after her mom. It was super cute. While getting ready for dinner a raven was flying near and squawking at a bald eagle the was flying by. While sitting around before dinner a robin, woodpecker, and chipmunk kept coming by to check on us. We had a really good animal sightings day. Had leftover pasta and a salad for dinner.
Animal sightings
Ground Squirrel, garter snake, moose, giant butterfly, black bear, mama mule dear with baby, bald eagle being harassed by a raven, chipmunk, downy woodpecker, robin, chickadee that really wanted to help clean dishes.
Day 10 (Tuesday 7/18)
Got up and walked down to the lake while most were still sleeping. Took a couple of pictures of Colter Bay. Came back to the campsite and relaxed. Saw a deer walk through the campsite. She hung around for a bit and wasn’t too concerned with the campers. We had some breakfast and packed up. It was so hot south of us (Colorado, Idaho, Central Oregon were 100 Degrees), we decided to cut our trip short and avoid the heat as much as possible. So, we took the northern route similar to how we came here. We drove north back through Yellowstone but went out the west entrance thru West Yellowstone. We stopped for lunch in Idaho overlooking Hebgen Lake. Drove on to Missoula MT and stopped at Planet Fitness to take showers and clean up. Then, we headed on to 50000 Silver Dollar. Ate dinner at their restaurant and camped in their free campground.
Animal sightings
Deer, Chipmunk, Ravens, Prairie Dogs
Day 11 (Wednesday 7/19)
Got up and had some breakfast and then got on I-90 for the drive back home.
Animal sightings
Prairie Dogs, Hawks
