2011 WY/MT Trip – Day 2
Today we left Jackson and headed toward our next stop of Gardiner MT via Yellowstone Nat’l Park. On the way up, we knocked out the more ‘touristy’ portions of the park. And man, I can safely say that this is by the far the busiest park I’ve ever been in (even if it is labor day weekend). Stand in line to see something, 20 seconds to take a couple of photos, then get out of the way before you get mobbed by a tourist.
Anywho, we covered about 200 miles today:
We started out by going back through Teton park and nabbing a few photos on the way (No officer, I’m not parked in a handicapped spot, I’m just posing!):
Sunrise:
Heading up the “Mormon Way” to see a barn the wife wanted to get a few photos of:
Barn:
Stopped by to see the Grand Teton Point:
Snake River:
Jenny Lake:
Entering Yellowstone:
We stopped at the Thumb Basin which has a lot of thermal springs. Kinda neat how much heat these things put out. The pools are amazingly clear and interesting colors as well.
Then the wife nearly walked into this guy:
After we left the Thumb area, we headed up to see Old Faithful. The lodge they have up there is pretty dang neat too:
Buses they have running around:
And of course, the Old Faithful Photos (Much quieter than I thought it would be):
We then went on to see Grand Prismatic Spring. Instead of battling the crowd on the boardwalk around the spring, we took a hint the wife read about online and started down a nearby hiking trail.
Not far down the trail, there is a hill with unofficial trails climbing up the side. These trails lead up to a nice overlook that really gives you a true view and scale of just how large this spring is. The colors are pretty amazing as well. 
On to Gibbons Falls:
Falls:
Continuing on to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone:
This is a must see spot for sure. Hard to show in pictures just how big and tall the falls are and how deep the canyon is:
These are the Lower Falls:
We also visited the overlook for the Upper Falls:
And then the long winding trek out of the park to our hotel:
And that wraps up Day 2. And a way to do Yellowstone in one day! (sort of)