Wyoming Road Trip

 

Wyoming is known to have beautiful scenarios and full of wildlife roaming around. Both Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park are located in the state of Wyoming. Both national parks are known to be popular wildlife viewing place for people to spot bisons, wolves, and even bears. People often fly to Jackson Hole airport since that is the closest airport to these national parks. However, we decided to do a road trip to Wyoming from Portland.

The drive time from Portland to Wyoming is about 13 hours. It is quite a drive but we did this in a single day. We left Portland early in the morning around 5AM. When we got to Idaho, it was around noon. We decided to have brunch at Griddle and we really enjoyed the food there. Once we were recharged, we drove 6 more hours to Yellowstone National Park.

We went to bed early when we got to Old Faithful Inn since it was a long drive. On the second day morning, we went to Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. After that, we went to Hayden Valley to check out wildlife. Then we went to Mud Volcano and West Thumb Geyser Basin to check out various thermal features. In the afternoon, we watched the eruption at Old Faithful. Then we walked around Upper Geyser Basin area to check out each individual unique geyser. In the late afternoon, we went to Grand Prismatic Spring to check out this largest hot spring in the world.

On the third day, we went to Lamar Valley to check out wildlife. Then we drove even further to Beartooth Highway which is said to be the most beautiful highway in United States.

On the fourthly, we went to Mammoth Hot Spring in the early morning. After that, we went to Norris Geyser Basin to checkout the largest Steamboat Geyser. Then we went to Artist Paintpot to check out the mud jumping thermal feature.

On day five, we went to Black Sand Basin to check out the super clear Sapphire Pool. Then we went to Fountain Paintpot which has similar feature as Artist Paintpot.

On day six, we went to Grand Teton National Park. We first rented a bike there a biked to Jenny Lake. When we returned the bike, we had lunch at Dornans Chuckwagon Grill while enjoying the view of Grand Teton mountain range.

On day seven, we enjoyed the sunrise at Schwabacher Landing. Then we did a 7.5 miles loop hike around Jenny Lake. In the afternoon, we went to Oxbow Bend to see the sunset.

On day eight, we drove 4 hours to Kemmerer to do fossil digging at American Fossils Quarry. It was an amazing experience. When we drove back, we had dinner at Jackson Drug Co.

On day nine, we decided to do more hikes to enjoy the nature. We first went to Taggart Lake, and then continued down the trail to Bradley Lake. Since it was still early in the day, we went further to Amphitheater Lake. It was a great experience and we enjoyed every minute of it.

On day ten, we made our way back to Portland. Although the drive was long, but we really liked this road trip. We saw many things that we have never seen before. We would definitely do it again.

Grand Teton National Park

 

Grand Teton National Park is located in the state of Wyoming. It is just south of Yellowstone National Park. Compared to Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park is less well known and not as popular. However, although it may not be as well known, it still attracted lots of visitors every year. Its famous Grand Teton mountain range is still a beautiful sight to see for everyone. All the alpine lakes are perfect places for people to relax and enjoy.

We drove to Grand Teton National Park after visiting Yellowstone National Park. It was just about 1.5 hours south of Yellowstone National Park. The drive from Yellowstone National Park to Grand Teton National Park was quite scenic, especially  when driving by Jackson Lake. The Grand Teton mountain range and the lake was just perfect in a picture frame.

We first drove to Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center down at the South first. While we were on the way there, there was a lot of bisons on the road side. The visitor center was quite large with a lot of information. We decided to rent bikes at Dornans and do some biking.

There is a dedicated biking trail from Dornans to Jenny Lake, and that was where we went. When we got to Jenny Lake after about 40 minutes of biking, there was so many people. Jenny Lake also has a visitor center there with a lot of information for visitors. The lake was beautiful. We did some walk around the lake and enjoyed the time there. When we got back to Dornans to return the bike, we had lunch at Dornans Chuckwagon Grill.

In the later afternoon, we checked in to Jackson Lake Lodge. From the patio of Jackson Lake Lodge, we could see Grand Teton mountain. It was a great place to enjoy this view at sunset. We also got some milkshake from the cafeteria and just sat there to enjoy our relaxing time.

On the second day early morning, we went to Schwabacher Landing to see the sunrise. The sunlight shone on the mountain was beautiful and the reflection on Snake River was so clear. We then went to Jenny Lake to hike around the lake. The hike was about 7 miles but we enjoyed it quite a lot. In the evening, we went to Oxbow Bend to see the sun set. There was a lot of people there hoping to see some wild animals.

On the third day, we went to Taggart Lake hiking trail. The trail was short and thus we went to Bradley Lake as well. Then we decided to do a longer hike and went to Amphitheater Lake. We really enjoyed the time there.

In the afternoon, we drove to Colter Bay to have lunch at the cafeteria. We also walked around the harbor area. After gaining some strength, we drove to the top of Signal Mountain. From the top of Signal Mountain, we had a panorama view over Grand Teton National Park. It was quite amazing. At night, we took our last opportunity to head out at night to do some astrophotography at Grand Teton National Park.

Overall, we loved Grand Teton National Park. Grand Teton has everything to offer such as mountain, lake, biking, and wild animal. It is a perfect place for a family to enjoy.

Amphitheater Lake

 

Amphitheater Lake is a lake formed by glaciers in Grand Teton National Park. It can be reached from Lupine Meadows trailhead or Taggart Lake trail head. The hike to Amphitheater Lake is considered to be strenuous due to the 10 miles round trip distance and the elevation gain. However, Amphitheater is still one of the most popular lake that visitors go to.

We hiked to Amphitheater Lake from Taggart Lake. We were not planning to go to Amphitheater Lake originally. But since we visited both Taggart Lake and Bradley Lake already and still have a lot of time left, we figured that we might as well go visit Amphitheater Lake. When we got to the junction of Lupine Meadow trail and Taggart Lake trail, we were still 3 miles away from Amphitheater Lake. We had a look at the amount of water that we still got and figured that we should still be good to go.

The hike started to climb rapidly from the junction. The good thing was that it was still early in the morning and the temperature was not hot yet. We kept our pace and did quite well for the first 1.5 miles. We passed many other hikers who were taking rest for a long time.

We then got to another junction where the trail branches off to the other canyon. We stayed on the trail and knew that there was only 1.5 miles left. There was a lot of switch backs. Since we were so high up, we could see Taggart Lake and Bradley Lake far below us.

After about an hour, we got to Surprise Lake. Now we know we were only 0.2 miles away from Amphitheater Lake. We were tired due to the hot weather. The last 0.2 miles seemed to take longer than ever. The trail was still climbing and we finally got to Amphitheater Lake.

The temperature at Amphitheater Lake was amazing due to the glaciers and the ice cold water. It had really cooled us off. When we got there, there wasn't that many people around as we were the first few to get here. The lake has mountains surrounding it with patches of snow here and there. We sat down to really enjoy this beautiful view while having some snacks.

While we were resting, more people started to come up to the lake. We also noticed that there was another path that goes up to the mountain. This trail was not on the map but we figured that it probably leads to the top of the mountain. We were thinking of doing that next time.

Over all, we really enjoyed the hike to Amphitheater Lake. The lake was really different from the other lakes that we have seen so far. The temperature was perfect there and we almost fell asleep.

Bradley Lake

 

Bradley Lake is another famous lake located within Grand Teton National Park. The lake is in the same area as Taggart Lake and shares the same trail head. Bradley Lake is a little bit further however. Bradley Lake is about 2.5 miles from the trail head. People usually just go to Taggart Lake because it is more easily accessible. People can also do a loop that passes by Bradley Lake.

We hiked to Bradley Lake after had some fun at Taggart Lake. It was just about 1 mile North of Taggart Lake. The hike to Bradley Lake was essentially flat and not much hurdle on the way. We got to Bradley Lake quite early around 8AM in the morning. The surface of Bradley Lake was just as clam as Taggart Lake. It also had beautiful reflection on the lake surface. The water was ice cold of course.

We walked around Bradley Lake and found few people fishing on the far side. They seemed to be here quite early. They had chairs all set up on the side and was just having a relax time on the lake side. The breeze of the wind felt so good too.

As we continued down the hiking trail, we came to this wooden bridge the crosses the lake on the narrow side. This trail continues down and intersects with other trails. Most people don't head down this way since the hiking trail gets more difficult and wonders into the wild.

We were thinking of whether to continue down the trail or not, but was also worried about running into bears since we did not carry bear spray. We then saw 2 people hiking by and continue down the trail. So we decided to follow their foot steps and followed closely behind them.

Bradley Lake was no doubt a beautiful lake. However, we still think Taggart Lake was a much better lake to enjoy.

Jackson Drug Co

 

Jackson Co is a classic and well known restaurant located at Jackson. From its name, you may think it is a pharmacy store, but it is actually a restaurant serving various type of food such as burgers and milkshakes. Jackson Drug started back in 1919 and it has been serving as soda fountain and as a pharmacy. Then it pivoted to start the restaurant business and has been rather successful. Many visitors to Jackson come here to dine and the line up for its ice cream has always been quite long.

We came to visit Jackson after finishing off fossil digging at American Fossils. We got to Jackson around 4:30PM and thought that we might as well get early dinner. There was a lot of people on the street and we weren't quite sure where to go for dinner. Then we spotted a long line at Jackson Drug and figured that we should try the restaurant that has a long line.

The only thing that we were worried about is the wait time. Luckily most of the people in the line were getting ice cream, thus we did not have to wait for the table to be ready.

We ordered an Elk Burger and a Bison Burger since these are quite rare for us to see on the menu. We also chose to have waffle fries and tots as the side. We also ordered huckleberry ice cream because we were told huckleberry ice cream or milkshake is a must try when visiting Jackson.

It took a while for the burger to arrive, but the burgers look good nonetheless. The vegetable includes lettuce, tomato, onion and pickles. They looked rather fresh. We tried the bison burger first. The bison burger meat tastes just like beef, but it was quite firm and less juicy. We were wondering if it was because the bisons are always running around. The elk burger on the other hand was a bit dry as well. We weren't sure if it is always like this or due to the way how it was cooked. Overall, both elk burger and bison burger were not as good as we were expecting. It was just something new to try. Regular burger with beef would taste a lot better.

The huckleberry ice cream came after we finished off the burger. The ice cream seemed handmade and look quite good. The ice cream looked quite soft. The color of the ice cream was light purple color. When we tasted it, the flavor of huckleberry was quite faint. If we did not know it was huckleberry, we wouldn't be able to tell.

Overall, it was an interesting experience to try elk burger and bison burger. However, the beef burger would be more juicy and tasty.

Taggart Lake

 

Taggart Lake is one of the most popular lake with hiking trail. The lake itself is so calm that it essentially reflects anything on its lake surface. The trail itself is about 3 miles long round trip with opportunities to extend the hike to other trails. Since it is a very popular trail, the parking lot often gets full very quickly early in the morning, thus it is recommended to get to the trail head as early as possible.

We have driven by Taggart Lake trail the day before and did see lots of cars with many other cars parking on the road side. Thus we got to Taggart Lake really early in the morning at 7AM. There were only about 5 cars when we got here. The sun has just rose above the horizon and the air was fresh.

The trail itself was quite easy with limited elevation. From the start of the trail, we passed by a rushing stream of water and we crossed it on a wooden bridge. We then passed through a bamboo like forest area and then came to a wide opening. From here we could see Grand Teton mountain range on the far side. It was a beautiful morning and the day was amazing.

From here the trail split into 2 different directions. Both directions can get to Taggart Lake. 1 is 1 mile long and the other is 1.5 mile long. We were thinking of doing a loop so we took the 1.5 mile long path first. The path led us through a pine forest. Once we got out, we arrived at the lake.

When we arrived at the lake, we could not believe how calm the water surface was. It was like a mirror reflecting everything that surrounds it. It was so beautiful. There was a big rock near the shore and we sat on it for a while to enjoy the view. We even saw little fish swimming in the lake.

Overall, Taggart Lake was amazing. The hike was quite short and the trail was nearly flat and quite wide. We highly recommend visiting Taggart Lake. This was definitely one of the highlight of the trip.

Dornans Chuckwagon Grill

 

Dornans Chuckwagon Grill is located on the South side of Grand Teton National Park. It is a very popular outdoor dining place due to having a magnificent view of Grand Teton Mountain Range. Dornans Chuckwagon Grill offers various sandwiches, burgers, and fries. It also offers some alcoholic drinks as well. Other than that, it has some fun toys for kids to play at its play yard. The restaurant is often full of people but it always has enough seat to accommodate everyone.

We went to Dornans Chuckwagon Grill after we returned the bikes at Dornans. When we got there, there was already a lot of people. The line was long but we still lined up. While we were lining up, we saw another Italian restaurant on the other side and has a second floor patio. The Italian restaurant looked quite nice too, but we decided to stay to try out Dornans Chuckwagon Grill.

We ordered pulled pork sandwich and a vegetarian burger. We took the number card and picked a table to wait for our food to arrive. It actually took a while for the food to be ready, probably around 15 minutes. The vegetarian has a veggie patty with cheese on it. It wasn't outstanding or anything, but worth a try. The pulled port sandwich looked more appetizing. It had grilled onion in it which made the sandwich quite flavorful. The fries was perfectly fried and was still quite juicy. We really enjoyed having a relaxed time here to enjoy both the food and the view.

Overall, the food at Dornans Chuckwagon Grill was not spectacular. However, it is one of the few choices in Grand Teton National Park and it is always great to have food while having a magnificent view of the mountains.

American Fossils

 

American Fossils is a fossil digging quarry located in Southwestern Wyoming. It is the only fossil digging site that allows visitors to take home any fossils found. Other than offering fossil digging, visitors can also purchase fossils from the quarry site if interested. American Fossils offers different fossil digging package, such as 2 hours, 4 hours, or 8 hours session. It also offer private group session. This is quite a well known place for people traveling from Utah to Wyoming since it is just on the way.

We drove to American Fossils from Jacksons early in the morning. It took us 4 hours to get there. While we were driving to there on the highway, we saw a pronghorn standing on the side of the highway and waiting for us to drive by, then it crossed the road. We were surprised by how smart it was.

American Fossils is near the town of Kemmerer. We had to go off road for the last part of the drive. The road was in semi-good condition with mid sized gravel rocks. The last part right before the quarry was a bit sketchy. It was a steep grade going downwards. We had to go extremely slow here.

We signed up for a 4 hours session. The owner asked us to sign waivers and showed us the tools. She gave us a hammer and a chisel, then she showed us that we need to chisel along the layer so that the rock can be split beautifully.

In the begging we were having difficulty finding fossils. However, we were getting a hang of it and started to find fossils. Most of the fossils we found were fish and some fish poops. If the rock is not split perfectly, part of the fossil could still be in the rock. Then the fossil does not look good anymore. We split one of the rock and the fossil appeared on both sides of the rock. This was the best piece of fossil we found.

After 2 hours, we were already quite tired from fossil digging under the glaring sun and called it a day. We found about 10 good fossils and were quite happy about it. One nice lady gave us bubble wrap to wrap the fossils so that they don't get damaged in the car.

Overall, this was a great fossil digging experience. We definitely highly recommend to visit this place to experience fossil digging.

Schwabacher Landing

 

Schwabacher Landing is one of the most popular scenic view point at Grand Teton National Park. It offers amazing view of Grand Teton Range with reflection on super calm Snake River surface water. This is also a great place for sunrise view when the orange sunlight shines upon Grand Teton Range. The color is one of the most amazing one ever.

We visited Schwabacher Landing twice in the morning to see the sunrise. On our first attempt, we drove all the way to the end of the road and most people come here to see the sunrise. When we got there, there were already several people there with camera and tripod set up. We were all prepared to take photos as soon as the sun comes out. We were all very excited.

While we were waiting, a moose popped out right in front of us. It was just across the river and was so close to us. We wanted to take the photos of the moose but also did not want to miss the sunrise. We were hoping that the moose would stay there until the sunrise.

When the sun rose above the horizon, it was beautiful. The orange grow at the peak of the mountain was beautiful and the reflection was amazing. We kept on taking photos until the sun rose way above the horizon.

As we packed up and about to go, the moose showed up again and this time it was even closer. We were so excited and took out the camera again with zoom lens. The moose was big but its antlers were not the biggest that we have seen.

The second time we went to Schwabacher Landing we went to the other look out place. This second look out place was right before the end of the road. This place was less crowded and was just as beautiful. When we were there, we also saw 2 dams built by otters. We saw 5 otters swimming around and were attacking the ducks.

Schwabacher Landing was an amazing place and the view was magical. It is a must visit place at Grand Teton National Park. Although we were only here during the sunrise, the sunset is just as beautiful.

Jenny Lake

 

Jenny Lake was one of the most popular attraction at Grand Teton National Park. Jenny Lake has a large visitor center with shops. There are also several outdoor activities such as boat ride, kayak rentals, hiking trails, and bike rides. Although there is a huge parking lot at Jenny Lake, the parking lot gets full very fast in the morning. This place is always very crowded.

We got to Jenny Lake early in the morning around 7AM and thus we were able to secure our parking space easily. We wanted to do the hike around the entire Jenny Lake. When we started hiking, we passed by the boat dock that takes people to the other side of the lake. People riding the boat were still required to wear mask on the boat.

After we hiked for about 1.5 miles, we saw a separate trail that goes to Moose Pond. We were thinking that we may be able to spot moose there. Unfortunately we did not see any moose there. We were also the only people there and we were scared that we may run into bears.

We then hiked 3 more miles to Hidden Falls, which is a popular attraction at Jenny Lake. There was a lot of people here taking photos. Many people came here by riding the boat across the lake. Then the hiking portion would be much shorter.

After visiting Hidden Falls, we went upwards to Inspiration Point. The hike has some elevation gains but not difficult. There is a short portion of the trail that require you to walk on rocky surface with vertical drop on one side. It could be intimidating for some people. Just make sure to go slow and it will be fine. From Inspiration Point, it has a great view of the entire Jenny Lake. However, we did not thinking the view was that great. It was just a view of a lake but no mountain on the far side. We had higher expectation than this.

When we were at Inspiration Point, we were thinking whether we should go through Cascade Canyon. But then we did not prepare for this and then hike was quite long. Thus we decided to turn back and finish our Jenny Lake hike first.

The sun was high in the sky and it was getting quite hot. When we finished the Jenny Lake hike, it was 2 hours later. The total hike around the lake was about 7.5 miles long with limited elevation gain. Although it was a good hike, but the water was really hot. We were thinking that we should have started earlier.

As we get back to the Jenny Lake Visitor Center. we saw a Black Labrador. It was only 7 months old but it was already so big! It was a beautiful dog.

When we were leaving Jenny Lake at the parking lot, there were 2 cars fighting for our spot. The passenger of one of the car came down and used her body to secure the spot. It was crazy. It was our first time seeing people using their body to secure the parking spot.

Overall, Jenny Lake is a very family friendly attraction. It has everything needed for people to enjoy the lake. If you want to hike the Jenny Lake trail, bear spray may not be need since the trail is always quite crowded.

Oxbow Bend

 

Oxbow Bend is a famous view point at Grand Teton National Park. It has a great view over Snake River with Grand Teton mountain range on the far side. Since the view point is on the high ground looking over the river and the marsh land, many people come here to do wildlife watching. Sometime you could see moose or deer if you are lucky.

We visited Oxbow Bend several times. The got here during the day time when we visited this place for the first time. The parking lot was quite small but there were additional spaces on the road for people to pull over. The view during the day was amazing. The water of Snake River was very calm. The river was like a mirror reflecting the mountain and the cloud. There were also people here fishing on the far side. Not sure if they caught anything.

The second time we went was in the evening. We wanted to see the sunset behind Grand Teton mountain range. There was quite a few people there watching the sunset and taking photos. The sun setting behind the mountain was beautiful. The setting sun lights up the sky behind Grand Teton with golden color. The colorful sky was also reflected on the lake surface. While we were taking photos there, there were flocks of mosquitos all over the place biting us because we were standing there and not moving much. We had to put on bug spread to keep it away.

We also saw several ripples on the surface of the water. Not quite sure what it was. We were thinking it could be the fish eating the bugs on the water surface.

Oxbow Bend is definitely a must visit place when coming to Grand Teton National Park. Not only you get great view of the mountain and the river, you could also spot wildlife with binoculars.

Yellowstone National Park

 

Yellowstone National Park is the first national park in the world to preserve its unique landscape and wide variety of wildlife. The Roosevelt Arch near the North entrance indicates "For the benefit and enjoyment of the people". Yellowstone National Park is quite a large national park. It crosses 3 different states including Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. It is one of the busiest national park in US.

We visited Yellowstone National Park during the week of Independence Day long weekend. It was a very long drive from Portland to Yellowstone. It took us about 13 hours to get to Yellowstone National Park, but we did this in 1 day. By the time we got to Old Faithful Inn, it was already 8PM at night, but the day was still bright. The Old Faithful Inn was a beautiful piece of architecture. We could really feel the history behind it. The upper level of the Inn was incredible with many different stairs and indoor balconies. 

The very next day early morning, we visited Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. We could see the waterfalls running down the canyon. It was cool to see the waterfall instead of geysers. We then headed to Hayden Valley to check out the wildlife. There were many bison herds even just on the side of the road. After spending some time checking out the bisons, we went to Mud Volcano. It was a special thermal feature with bubbling hot mud in the ground. We spent about 30 minutes here and drove to West Thumb Geyser Basin. This basin is right by Yellowstone Lake and it was cool to see some geysers beneath the lake water.

We got back to Old Faithful Inn around noon to get a brief rest. Then we went to check out the eruption of Old Faithful. It was our first time seeing a geyser erupt! Afterwards, we walked around Upper Geyser Basin to check out all the geysers in the area. Later in the afternoon, we checked out Grand Prismatic Spring. It was extremely crowded.

On the third day, we went to Lamar Valley in the morning hoping to see more wildlife. We were able to spot bisons, pronghorns, and even a wolf! We spent quite a lot of time there checking out the lone wolf. As we were really focused on the wolf, a bison showed up and scared us. After this, we then did a scenic drive to Beartooth Highway. It was beautiful! As we drove back, we also saw a small bear pup resting under the shadow of the tree with its mom. Unfortunately we only had a glance of it.

On the fourth day, we went to Mammoth Hot Spring in the morning. We saw so many elks! After that, we went to Norris Geyser Basin to check out the largest Steamboat Geyser. As we finish here, there were already so many cars. Later in the day, we went to Artist Paintpot and saw popping mud. At night, we came to the Old Faithful geyser again to see it erupt at night. It was really cool. The milky way was quite amazing as well.

On the fifth day, which was also the last day we spend here, we went to Black Sand Basin and Biscuit Basin. The Sapphire Pool was extremely clear. We also went to Fountain Paintpot which has similar thermal feature as Artist Paintpot.

The vacation time at Yellowstone National Park was great! We have never seen these many geysers before! It was unfortunate that we didn't really spot a bear fully, but seeing a wolf was still great! We would definitely want to visit this national park again in the future.

Fountain Paintpot

 

Fountain Paintpot is another popular thermal feature located in Yellowstone National Park. It is located at West side of Yellowstone National Park. Although it is not as popular as many other thermal phenomena in the park, it has quite a large parking lot to accommodate a lot of cars. The board walk at Fountain Paintpot is also very family friendly for visitors and the total hike is quite short.

We got to Fountain Paintpot at around 9AM and there weren't as many cars as we thought. The parking lot was only about half full. The board walk first took us through a swamp like area with dead trees on the side. We could see that the water in the swamp seemed hot with smoke coming out. The board walk was also quite wide here. Compared to other board walk we have been on, this board walk can probably allow 4 people walking side by side.

We then got to Fountain Paintpot. Just like Artist Paintpot, the Fountain Paintpot is an area with lose mud that is quite hot with smoke coming out. We could see some bubbles popping at its surface. From time to time, a large piece of mud would pop out into the air. It was quite interesting.

As we continue on the board walk, we walked by a huge geyser with lot of steams coming out. The geyser was kind of erupting but not quite. We could see the hot spring water trying to burst out of the hot spring, but it was just teasing.

Overall, it was a short visit at Fountain Paintpot. It was interesting to see the mud popping into the air just like Artists Paintpot.

Black Sand Basin

 

Black Sand Basin is another thermal basin located in Yellowstone National Park. It is located in the Southwest corner of Yellowstone National Park and quite close to Old Faithful. There isn't any popular thermal features at Black Sand Basin and the parking lot is also quite small. However, it is still good to take a short walk here to check out the thermals features when the time allows.

We got to Black Sand Basin early in the morning around 6:30AM. The sun had just rose into the sky. The golden sun light over the Black Sand Basin was quite glamourous. Instead of white steam, the steams are shone with golden color. It was pretty cool.

When we were there we thought we were going to be the only car there, but we the Yellowstone Tour Bus was already there taking the tourists around. There was a guide taking them around the board walk and providing information on each geyser and hot spring pool. We saw few people wearing shorts as well. Although it gets really hot during the day, it was quite cold early in the morning.

As we walked around, we also saw a geyser pool bursting like crazy. The hot spring water did not shoot all the way up into the air, but it was like a little fountain that kept on bursting like crazy non-stop. We thought it would be done in 15 minutes, but it was still going strong.

The Emerald Pool near the end of the board walk was a bit of a disappointment. The color of the pool was not that color nor clear, and with a lot of steams over the pool it was very difficult to see.

Overall, it was a fun walk early in the morning. We didn't see ani wildlife but we enjoyed the quick morning walk.