Great trip report. Thanks for taking the time to share.
I'm looking forward to the next episode ;)

When you see somebody with bells hooks to their belt they're usually referred to as dinner bells.

The tone is too hike.

They say the best is your voice.

It's funny. Sometimes you'll hear people hiking and sing "Hey near. Come out, come out wherever you are".

Our favorite sight, 3 bears - real ones this time, and you can't get there from here.

Our final day in Yellowstone dawned and we were off. Our plan for this day was to do the northern loop and there were a number of stops that we wanted to make. Lots more bison this morning, but our goal was Mammoth Springs. We spotted a couple of female elk along the way and did some side walks and drives on the way. We arrived at Mammoth Springs and Wow!, I was blown away. The varied geologic formations and colors were, using that overworked but appropriate in this case word, amazing. Substitute dazzling if you like. I have a load of photos taken there, already processed on iPhoto and as soon as I figure out how to create a link I will post them here together with others. I could not believe the purity of the whites which were of calcium carbonate - the same stuff as Tums or Rolaids. We spent nearly 2 hours there looking at the site in detail. IMO Mammoth Springs alone was worth the trip.

Hitting the road we once again saw a crowd running, and again some rangers directing traffic. It had to be a bear, and this time it was 3 black bears. A sow and two cubs. No river to protect the tourists this time and some idiots were getting far too close to the sow which was getting visibly agitated, but some people just must get those selfies next to the bear. They were lucky that the sow gathered her cubs and went off into the woods. I hate to think of what would have happened if they got between her and her cubs. It wouldn't have been a pretty sight (but probably the ultimate selfie).

It was time for lunch and we drove to a restaurant the park, (I forget its name) it was yet to open,but there was place there selling sandwiches, fruit, yogurt and such, so it was fine. The restaurant was not far from Yellowstone's version of the Grand Canyon, another not to be missed site where we spent a fair amount of time.

Our plan was to continue to Yellowstone lake which we did, and then drive down the eastern portion of the southern loop to end up at the cafeteria near Old Faithful in time for dinner. That was not to be. In order to reach the Old Faithful area, there is a bridge to cross but the bridge was out. I understand the bridge will be out for quite a while it is being reconstructed. That meant that we had to double back toward the north to where we could cross over to the eastern side, a drive that took about an hour and a half. On crossing over to the east we did see herds of bison coming together for their evening snack. Considering all, we thought we would just leave the park and head back to our room for a nice dinner at the 3 Bear restaurant which IMO is the best restaurant in West Yellowstone, it truly is quite good, and do a load of laundry before heading on to Grand Tetons in the morning

The missing bridge impacted our planned drive to Grand Teton since the shortest and fastest way there from West Yellowstone would have been to re-enter Yellowstone Park and drive to the south entrance where it would be a fairly quick drive to the Grand Teton north entrance. However, to do that we would have to cross the non-existent bridge. The detour meant a much longer drive which meant an earlier start in the morning and having to rehash the order of things to do in Grand Teton. We had planned to reach our lodging at the Alpenhof in Grand Teton Village, located at the southern end of Grand Teton park in the evening, sightseeing along the way. Now we would arrive at the Alpenhof in the early afternoon and start our sightseeing from the opposite direction.

This turned out to be a good thing.

Next: Serendipity strikes and another crowd, but this time, no bears.

Your report makes me want to head for Yellowstone again soon. Thanks for posting and let us know when you get the pictures posted.

I'm so glad the water is running again at Mammoth and the colors are back. It's always been one of my favorite places ever and it was a shock to see it completely "dead" a few years ago. I really need to return.

Great trip report! Thanks for taking us along.

Trying out my new smugmug account. Not sure if it works so we will find out together. These are a small sample of some geothermal photos.

http://basingstoke2.smugmug.com/Basi...e2/i-Pm837vd/A

Gorgeous

Thanks starrs.

Here are a big bunch more. No Mammoth Springs yet. I am learning this site, so they are not organized, pretty much random for now. Works best if you click "slideshow"

http://basingstoke2.smugmug.com/Basingstoke2/i-8qqwH3t

Love the TR and the pictures. We've been to all these parks, and this brings back wonderful memories. Looking forward for more :)

These should be all of the Yellowstone, including the bears and Mammoth Springs around the end. They are a bit more organized now, so if you have seen these photos before, sorry, but they are repeated in this set together with the rest. For anyone interested, I used a Fujifilm Finepix S1 with a circular polarizing filter to try to compensate for the gray sky and overall overcast feeling. I think that for the most part, that filter worked. Again, the site seems to work best on slideshow.

http://basingstoke2.smugmug.com/Basingstoke2/

Great photos!!!

Yes, a polarizing filter makes a big difference cutting down glare if used properly.

There's a waterfall you show about half a dozen times. Which waterfall is it?

I'm really enjoying your report and photos!

Lee Ann

Thank you Lee Ann and Myer.

Myer, if the falls you are thinking of is the one surrounded by woodlands, that would be Gibbon Falls. That CP filter was worth its weight in gold not only for the overcast gray days in Yellowstone and Grand Tetons, but for the very bright days in Arches and Canyonlands. The brand of filter is ICE and it is relatively inexpensive but seems to do the job as well as the more expensive ones I have used.

Extraordinary photos, basingstoke, especially the first set - wonderful colours.

Another place to add to my bucket list.

Basingstoke - thanks for a very readable trip report and gorgeous photos. So glad you had a good trip.

You are a riot! .... It wouldn't have been a pretty sight (but probably the ultimate selfie).

Loved seeing and hearing about your trip! I'm stoked to plan for 2016.

Basingstoke, wonderful photos and trip report! We are going to GT and YS in early September and these whet the appetite. Now I need to sit down with the map and guidebook to figure out where all these things are. It sounds like you did a lot of driving through the park and then walking/hiking to sights. Is that accurate? Will my physically fit 81 yr. old husband manage hiking alright? I'm thinking he should be good except very high altitude. He did well in Zion last year. He has a little COPD. Did you use hiking boots/shoes or good athletic sneakers? Looking forward to the rest of your report. :-)

bassingstoke,

Gibbon Falls is one of the few waterfalls in our path that we didn't stop at.

I have a Hoya CP filter that I started using several trips ago.

I find it fantastic especially on sunny, glary days. Slows me down slightly as you have to adjust it every time you move due to the angle of the sun but after a while you get really good at doing that.

In Yellowstone I got amazing rainbow photos of the Lower Falls and the polarizer enhanced things a lot.

Slw, you ask some very good questions and I will do my best - as I mentioned in the beginning of this TR, I was close to my 74th birthday for this trip. At this age we believe in doing things while we can because one never knows what is coming around the corner.

As far as altitude, the average elevation of Yellowstone is about 8000'. Compare this to an airliner where the cabin is pressurized to 6-8000'. However during a flight you are not exerting yourself, which may be the case in Yellowstone. The average elevation of Zion NP is about 4000'.

We drove both loops, actually we drove the southern loop twice. Turnouts to many of the very interesting and photogenic sites are well marked and often close to the road. Lots of sights are reached by boardwalk, particularly in the thermal areas, and one just walks along the boardwalk around or to the area. I could not be easier. Most people that we saw were using sneakers, but I assume they were not planning any of the more difficult walks.

Other areas like the Artist's Paintpot, just north of the Madison junction(prime area to see bison) that will take you to the west entrance and West Yellowstone, require a longer walk. This one is perhaps a level half mile each way, but one can then opt to get fuller views by following the path to the upper ridge, a path that can be steep in spots with stairs cut in. I did that and DW did not. There are several other areas that are similar where the walks are not difficult but require some uphill walking. There are of course strenuous trails which we did not take. One can have a marvelous tour of the park doing what is accessible.

Frankly, we thought most of the walks would be longer and more difficult than they were and we perhaps over prepared. DW had waterproof hiking boots and she appreciated the additional ankle support, and I had waterproof hiking shoes. The waterproof part came in very handy because of all of the rain. We both had trekking sticks, which I could not recommend to you more highly. They make walking much easier, especially on uneven terrain and hills. We did not use these as much in Yellowstone and Grand Tetons as we thought we would, but got good use at Arches.

Grand Tetons is similar in that much can be seen from, or not far from your car. There are many well marked scenic turnouts. There are difficult hikes there as well but one could get a good idea of the park even if they are not taken.

Do you have a Senior National Parks pass. For a $10 pass, the senior and all in the car gets unlimited NP entree for the remainder of his/her life. You would be hard pressed to find a better bargain anywhere.

Moving on with the TR---GRAND TETONS

An aptly named park with a character very different from that of Yellowstone. In GTNP we move from an extravaganza of geothermal activity, to one of mountain scenery as well as sagebrush covered prairie. We had one full day there and 2 partial days. As mentioned, our intention was to enter the park from the north but since the necessary bridge to exit Yellowstone was under reconstruction, we had to go around the long way and enter through the southern end.

We had planned after entering through the north to spend our day touring, and reaching our hotel in Teton Village in the evening. Since we had to turn our tour of the park upside down, literally, we arrived at the Alpenhof in Teton Village at around half past noon after a very lovely drive, the high points of which were driving the Teton Pass in sleet and snow, but quite thrilling, and on approaching the turn-off for Teton Village, seeing our one and only moose of the trip. A lone female walking in a stream. No photo though because by the time I got out of the car and revved up the camera, the only photo available would have been her butt disappearing into the bushes as she left the stream.

We arrived at the Alpenhof and had a serendipitous moment when we were offered the owner's suite at no additional cost since our booked room was not ready. It was a no brainer to accept and we spent a luxurious 2 nights.

Although on the map, Teton Village looks to be right on the edge of the park similar to W Yellowstone, in actuality there is a 7-9 drive to the GT entrance. The road is not paved for about half of the distance, but was certainly passable with very enjoyable scenery along the way. As we were approaching a marshy area we saw another small crowd, with people leaving their cars and running. Now, we were well trained and expected another bear but no, instead it was a beautiful Grey Owl, one of the largest in the owl family perched on the very top of what looked like a reed about 10' off of the ground. It did not move and of course I took some photos, soon to be posted. Interestingly, the owl was still in the same spot when we left the park that evening.

We went straight to the visitor's center to get an orientation and then set out on our planned route up the eastern side in a northerly direction. At that time it again began to, what else, rain. This time it rained pretty much the entire afternoon, and when not raining, it was overcast and gloomy.

Next: Mountains, more mountains and the best and worst dinners of our trip.