On day 10 we woke to rain. This was the first and only day that it really rained on us the entire trip. So no one was really complaining about it, but I was worried that it might be really cold and that just wouldn't be cool. This day was also our last day in Yellowstone, and honestly, I just wasn't ready to leave yet. I don't believe that I was the only one either. Today's agenda included a trip to the northern part of the park to see the Mammoth Hot Springs and travel on up to the northern entrance and Gardner, Montana. The northern entrance was the original entrance to the park and you drive through the Roosevelt Arch, which is located at the spot that President Theodore Roosevelt officially opened the park.
So after another great breakfast in the dining room, we hit the road toward Mammoth Hot Springs. Along the way you pass several interesting natural wonders. One spot is a very tight and windy part of the road that you travel along the edge of steep cliffs and these huge round boulders. Another spot is called Roaring Mountain. This is a a spot where many heating vents are located along the side of a mountain. The heating vents make a roaring sound...hence, the name Roaring Mountain.
Mammoth Hot Springs is hard to describe. It is a huge mountain that has hundreds of hot springs. These springs constantly are overflowing their edges and the off flow carry deposits of this mineral which cause the springs to grow in height and width. The hot springs have formed these beautiful terraces that grow on top of each other, basically making their own mountain. The activity at the hot springs is determined by water levels underground. Apparently, while we were there, the water level was very low. There were only a few of the springs that were active at that time, and some had dried up. Which, of course, was a little disappointing. I had envisioned this beautiful mountain of hot springs with water flowing over terraces. But what we got was this white mountain with a few trickles of water in a couple of spots. Oh well, I am sure it is impressive when the underground water levels are high.
We then traveled on to Gardner, Montana and the northern entrance to the park. We had decided to have lunch there on this day. On the way, we got a huge treat. Along the side of the road, we had the opportunity to watch about fifty big horn sheep run and jump along the side of a mountain. The majority of this mountain side was really a cliff. But it was amazing to watch these big horn sheep run and jump across these rocky slopes. We were sure some of them would fall. Then they made it to top and stood at the edge of the mountain looking down at us as to say, "What are you looking at?"
We then traveled into Montana, through the Roosevelt Arch and into Gardner. Now the arch is absolutely beautiful. But the town basically has grown right up next to it, which is kind of sad that someone allowed that to happen. Also, Gardner is not really the type of town that you want to be walking around at night in either. It is your basic small isolated western town, that has a lot of the old cowboy attitude still in it. We did each lunch there a one of the local diners. It was decent. But while there, Ian, for some reason, got his "tickle box" turned over. I can't remember exactly what started the laughing, but he was quite entertaining. By the end of it, he basically had the entire diner laughing at him.
We then headed back into Yellowstone. Of course, stopped and took many pictures of the arch and the Entering Yellowstone sign as well. We then decided to travel over to the western entrance and West Yellowstone, Montana. It was a long drive and it was raining again. But we did get to see some of the park we normally would not have seen. Once we got to West Yellowstone, we discovered that we were only five miles from Idaho. So you know what we did, don't you? We went to Idaho, crossing the Continental Divide again! From what I could tell, Idaho is a nice state. It was getting late, so we headed back to the Old Faithful Inn for our last night in the park.
We had dinner reservations at the Inn's dining room. This is the only night we ate here for dinner and reservations were required. Now, I will have to say this is the only part of our time in Yellowstone that I was really disappointed and put out. Our reservations were late at 9:15pm. We were not seated until 10:00pm. We didn't get our food until 11:00pm. No lie. There really was no excuse for this, as there were empty tables in the dining room. By the time we got our food, Abby was not feeling well and went back to the room without eating. Of course, we had done a lot during the day and not getting food until that late probably didn't help her. Howerver, the food was really good, and our waiter was good also. He did take our order soon after we were seated. So I don't think it was his fault we didn't get our food until 11:00. But it was very irritating. We were the last guest to leave the dining hall. So if you ever go to Yellowstone, and decide to eat here for dinner, make your reservations early.
We went back to the room...LeAnn had already gone to the room to check on Abby. We packed the rest of our stuff up. Took our showers and loaded up some of the luggage into the car. Then settled in for our last night at the Inn.
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