Favorite Yellowstone Days, Part One

After two 'tourist' days in the park we started our third by taking the Storm Point trail near Mary Bay. This is a great hike that goes through four different ecosystems. You start off in a meadow, go through a lodgepole pine forest, and at the midpoint you're at the sandy lakeshore with surprise thermal features. You return through a wetter forest, with more wildlife. We saw lots of butterflies and evidence of a fox. 

 There's a butterfly in there, I think.

Feeling beachy.

The lake at the end of the Storm Point loop.

That afternoon a huge rainstorm came through, so we played some board games in the RV and breathed a huge sigh of relief that wet and cooler weather was there. It made venturing further off trail easier knowing that the likelihood of needing to evacuate without our RV, should we be too far away, was minimal. (It probably already was, but we can be worrywarts.)

Day four we wound around to the Fountain Paint Pots. This was a great walk, and a short hike up a hill to view the thermal features from above. We didn't bring the camera (?), but I'd recommend this side trip, as it's very quiet. We then went on the Firehole lake drive, which isn't open to tour buses. We met a nice ranger, and she also let us know about the Firehole Canyon (coming up in a later post). 

Geyser on the Firehole Lake route.

 Ice cream at the lodge after the crowds are gone.