Highlights of the day
- Admire morning light in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone
- Photographing female grizzly in the Hayden Valley
- Met a bull bison while hiking
- Enjoy the view of frozen Yellowstone Lake
- Wait for the eruption of the Old Faithful Geyser - a unique natural spectacle and a crowd puller
- Watch out for herd of bison on the street
At 5 a.m. we head north via Norris to Canyon Village. The sun is only just beginning to rise and thick clouds of fog block the view. The road is still often lined with high walls of snow.
Next stop is the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. We visit the fascinating Lower Falls and the somewhat less impressive Upper Falls in glorious morning light. Then we drive through the Hayden Valley, which is known for its bear population. In fact, we are lucky we can watch a female grizzly foraging for roots from a safe distance. We have to interrupt our onward journey soon because two mighty bison bulls are crossing the road. We march along a trail at Mud Vulcano and its surrounding geysers. Suddenly, barely 5 meters away from us, a huge bison bull appears around the corner, which seems just as surprised as we are. When he goes back to eating, we slowly walk past him with a somewhat queasy feeling.
The next highlight is the mighty Yellowstone Lake, which to our surprise is still completely frozen. After a snack, we will visit the West Thumb Geyser Basin. The secret stars of this flying visit, however, are the elk, who wander directly between the crowds and geysers.
Then comes one of the many highlights of the day and the Yellowstone. The eruption of the Old Faithful Geyser. To do this, we have to wait about half an hour until the relatively precisely predicted outbreak occurs. A unique natural spectacle, which of course many visitors do not want to miss. On a hike through further geyser fields of the Upper Geyser Basin we come dangerously close to grazing bison again. It bubbles and splashes from countless holes, a sulphurous smell surrounds us, steam heats the air and many colored pools amaze us.
Then we hike again to the Grand Prismatic Spring, which appears even more impressive in the glaring daylight. We climb a mountain opposite to get an overview of the land below. At Madison Camp we take a break before going out again for the evening safari. Today we drive towards Westentrance. We see a lot of bison in the wide river valley and a herd of elk deer in the most beautiful evening light. Then we drive towards Norris where there is a lot of traffic chaos. The reason for this is a herd of bison walking in the middle of the street. Finally we stop at the Norris Geyser field and do a little evening hike. Then we cook rice cazimir on the gas stove in the camp, as it is already darkened today.
