First Yellowstone National Park Visit This Year

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.

Visiting Friends in Twin Falls, Idaho

On our way to West Yellowstone we stopped in Twin Falls for a few days to visit friends. They were gracious enough to let us stay in their back yard. They also took us to see some of the beautiful sites in the area.

Our friends George and Gail plant a tree in their yard on Arbor Day, April 30.

A beautiful spring day.

George and Gail visit with a couple of their neighbors.

The next 4 pictures we took at Shoshone Falls. It is known as the Niagara Falls of the west and is 212 feet high, 45 feet higher than Niagara Falls with a rim 1000 feet wide. We were lucky to see the falls before a large amount of the water is diverted for irrigation.

This is the Perrine Bridge over the Snake River Canyon. It is 1500 feet long and 486 feet above the river. It has 4 lanes for traffic with pedestrian walkways. We saw BASE jumpers preparing to parachute from the bridge to the canyon below, but didn't wait to see them jump. We read that it is the only bridge in the US where BASE jumping is allowed year round without a permit.

The Snake River as seen from the end of the bridge.

Three waterfalls can be seen in this picture as well as a golf course.

Return to Winter

These are the scenes that greeted us when we arrived back in West Yellowstone. A little more snow than some years and a little less than others. It should all be gone by the end of the month and we should have a nice cool summer.

The Community Center

Don't think they have to worry about anybody parking here right away.

Our home for the next 5 months.

We are not alone.

A view of the storage building at one of the stores we work in. It will be a while before we get in here.

Don't think we'll be using the back entrance of the store for a while.

Historic Railroad Trail

Before leaving the Hoover Dam area, we walked the Historic Railroad Trail. It has 5 tunnels, the longest being over 300 feet. It was a windy day, but warm enough. We only saw one other couple on the trail, besides the few families we saw near the trail head. It was very apparent that they were not planning on going the whole distance. The purpose for this railroad was for the construction of the dam. It's amazing that it only took them 5 months to build back in 1930. The last train went through in 1961 and the tracks were dismantled after that.

You can see the second tunnel through the first.

Lake Mead as seen from the trail.

They have shored up some of the entrances with additional wooden supports.

Each tunnel was different.

You can see the trail and the entrance to the fifth tunnel, the longest one. At the top right hand corner, next to the power poles, there is an overlook. The next two pictures were taken from there a couple of days before.

Fourth tunnel.

Third tunnel.

Hoover Dam and Bypass Bridge

A couple of days ago we spent the morning visiting Hoover Dam and the new Mike O'Callaghan - Pat Tillman Memorial bypass bridge. We walked all the way across the bridge from Nevada to Arizona and back. We had driven across a couple of days earlier with the rig, but you can't see the dam from the driving lanes. Later we parked in the visitor center parking garage and walked on the dam from one state to the other and back again.

Looking down at the dam from the bridge.

Hoover Dam nestled between the steep walls of the Black Canyon.

Lake Mead behind the dam.

The parking garage for the visitor's center. Notice how they built it to fit around the rock and power line towers.

What a beautiful day, blue sky and blue water.

Looking down the sidewalk to the Nevada side from the apex.

Plaque embedded in the sidewalk in the center.

Looking at the Arizona side. The walkway starts on the Nevada side and dead ends on the Arizona side. Most people only walk out a short distance, enough to see the dam and turn around. We enjoyed walking all the way to the end.

View from one side of the bridge to the other.

Now we are walking across the dam looking up at the bridge.

It's a long, long way down. If you can see those two white specs in the middle towards the top of the picture, they are actually trucks for the people working down there.

The Mike O'Callaghan - Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge.