On May 13 we took the day off from work and visited the park. We saw more snow in the park than we had seen in prior years. Since this is our fifth season here, we spent some time at different places than we had before. We walked around the buildings and walkways in the Old Faithful area, which gets really busy later in the season. Today we drove around the southern loop.
Bison calves and moms at the Madison River.
We had lunch at the Old Faithful Lodge. This is a view of the famous geyser through one of the windows there.
The new Visitor Center at Old Faithful.
This entrance was not being used yet because of the danger from snow sliding off the roof.
One of the many boiling hot springs.
We were amazed at the beautiful blue water in this hot spring.
We saw many bison in the thermal areas. They frequent them this time of year as so much of the park is still covered in snow.
Having some fun chasing one of the babies.
Old Faithful erupts again as we take a walk on the boardwalks enjoying the variety of thermal features.
The Old Faithful Inn. If you look close you can see one of the old yellow buses they still use for tours parked out front.
A look at the interior of the Inn with it's very interesting woodwork.
As we continued our drive around the southern loop, we encountered a tremendous amount of snow. This section of road was just opened today. This brave cyclist is getting plenty of exercise and hopefully enjoying the day as much as we are.
The lakes are still frozen over. Doesn't really look like spring.
Yellowstone Lake. The only open water is where there are hot springs near the edge. We saw ducks, Canada Geese and various other birds here.
We believe this is an Audubon's Warbler.
This coyote walked past our truck while we where we stopped to take pictures of the lake.
Hayden Valley. This is a popular area for the bison and elk to spend the summer. We didn't see any here yet.
This pair of sandhill cranes were by the Yellowstone River in Hayden Valley.
The Lower Falls of the Yellowstone is one of the highest in the park at 308 feet.
There was a tremendous amount of water coming over the falls and as you can see there is still quite a bit more snow and ice to melt.
On our way home we saw this group of elk grazing on what fresh grass they can find along the river.
More bison heading for their summer home.
