Until this past month I had never been to Yellowstone, that’s right never. People always seem shocked when I tell them that but to be honest I had always been weary of the hustle and bustle of the most touristy park in America. Now that I have been I understand what all the fuss is about, Yellowstone is truly an amazing place unlike anything else I have ever seen.
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Day 1:
We started our trip out with a long drive and heavy traffic in Salt Lake and Davis counties. We made great time and pulled into the west entrance in the early afternoon and made our way to the artist paint pots for a short hike around the broad walks. The kids loved seeing the bubbling mud and the boiling hot pots.
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Next we drove to Norris for a longer walk around the Geyser Basin. Again the combination of boiling water, steam, and boardwalks kept the kids very entertained for the 2-3 hours that it took us to complete the loop and spur trails.
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April, 6months pregnant
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Whitney, flying at Norris
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We checked into our campsite at Canyon around 6pm, set up our tents, and cooked dinner. April, Whitney, Bowen, and I tried to chase down a sunset but the thick cloud cover prevented any light from getting through. We ended up wandering around the various overlooks on the north rim of canyon alone where I shot a few long exposures of the lower Yellowstone falls.
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Day 2:
Friday morning I was up early for sunrise and went back to the same overlooks to get some shots of the falls in the morning light. I drove back to camp, helped prepare breakfast, and then we were off to hike down to the brink of lower falls. The amount of water pouring over the edge was amazingly hypnotic, I used my 10mm fisheye to try to capture as much of the scene as I could in a single frame.
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April on the Brink
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The Roots
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The plan for the day was to drive the grand loop up to Mammoth, and as expected Mammoth was a complete cluster of tourists. But yet again, the kids loved the boardwalks and we saw everything the area had to offer.
Our family shot.
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Endless amount of textures and layer at Mammoth.
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After a few hours in the crowds of people at Mammoth we made our way back to Canyon. As soon as we arrived the rain started to come down quite heavily. We spent a few hours trying to keep dry in the visitor center and various little shops until the weather let up then drove back to the main Canyon to hike down Uncle Toms trail and view the lower Yellowstone falls from yet another vantage point.
The kids smashed the 300+ stairs… in fact it was nearly impossible to keep up with them going up and down.
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Again sunset was a complete bust.
Day 3:
Sunrise was a bust with perfectly clear skies. Ate our breakfast then packed up camp and started working our way towards old faithful. We ran into the bear jam and just missed seeing two Grizzly bears by a few seconds, we waited around but they never came back out of the trees so we continued down the road to see a few sets of geysers and hot pots in the lower geyser basin.
again… they loved the boardwalks
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I had been expecting a lot of people at old faithful but I was completely blown away by the massive parking lots, lodges, cabins, buses, and people in this area. In my mind it brings me to question the ultimate goal of the park service. Sure they will tell you that it’s to preserve and protect the land for future generations but I believe this is a cover of the fact that they are trying to make money to support their over inflated infrastructure. I found it hilarious that a Ranger scolded a group of teenagers who had cut a corner of intersecting sidewalks when there was acres upon acres of concrete and buildings all around us.
We ate our lunch and watched old faithful erupt along with a few thousand other people. Then we hiked along the upper geyser basin loop trail to check out all the different features in the area. Of course the best thing about a high traffic area like this is that if you get 1mile beyond the parking lot the crowds were non-existent. By the time we made it to Morning Glory there was only a handful of people around.
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Morning Glory Pool
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Roots
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We completed the loop on the boardwalks and made a quick stop at the Yellowstone lodge before hunting down our car in the huge parking lot. As an added bonus someone tried to break into our Thule roof box while we were out hiking… good news is that they didn’t get in and all our camping gear was still inside. It took a while to get the latches to work properly but we were soon headed south to Grant to set up camp for the night.
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Day 4:
There was not much going on around Grant, sunset and sunrise were a bust and Yellowstone lake was so high it was not ever photogenic with trees and bushes in the water off the shoreline. We packed up camp first thing and started driving south to the Tetons. We stopped for lunch at Jackson lake and the kids were instantly swimming in the cold water. We watched them swim and enjoyed the amazing views of the Tetons before driving south to the Oxbow bend, Jenny Lake, Gros Venture, and then Mormon Row.
After setting up camp we drove into Jackson for dinner then back to the Tetons for a short hike before sunset. For the first time on the entire trip we had an amazing sunset.
Bowen in Jackson Lake
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The Oxbow Bend
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Mid day shot of the Moulton South Barn on Mormon Row.
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Day 5:
I got up extra early and drove from Gros Venture to South Moulton barn for sunrise. There was 10 or so photographers there waiting for sunrise and to get their shot of the most photographed barn in America. I returned back to camp just as everyone was waking up. April and I cooked breakfast then packed everything up and we headed home. It was a fun trip with lots of people but was definitely worth it.
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Yellowstone was a fun place for the kids and I was surprised at how kid friendly it was. We will be going back again someday, if it’s still there.
Tags: canyon, family trip, geysers, mamoth, old faithful, springs, waterfalls, yellowstone