Yellowstone – Round 2

On the first half of our big adventure, we skipped a few planned stops due to weather and vehicle repairs, and other stops were shortened due to weather as well.  Yellowstone was one of those, and a place we wanted to return to.  This put us far ahead of our original schedule, and the resulting “surplus” of time prompted our decision to see Yellowstone again on our way south.  We went back to the campground near Gardiner which was quite full, but we found a site and set up.  The campground host recognized the Jeep and came over to chat for a bit, and let us know where he’d seen a couple of bears, as well as where to get free drinking water – very nice and helpful of him.  We finished situating things and headed off for the park.  After negotiating the elk-induced traffic jam at Mammoth Hot Springs, we took the road east.

Hot Spot Hopping: Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, Craters of the Moon, Yellowstone

The time had come for us to leave Mt. Rainier and set out for Mt. St. Helens.  While finishing packing the Jeep, we were graced with a brief visit from this Clark’s Nutcracker.