9 September 2015, Wednesday
Yellowstone it is! I spent part of last evening checking on which campsites fill
the latest in the day at Yellowstone. Turns out Indian Creek, which
is about 15 miles south of the North entrance is a good candidate,
and because generators are not allowed, it is very quiet and good for
tent campers.
We woke about 5:30 am today so that we could get an early breakfast and get
Jazz to the Subaru dealer for an oil change and tire rotation. We’ve
driven 5,000 miles since leaving Pennsylvania. Everything goes
smoothly. O gets Jazz to the dealer after breakfast while I finish
updating my blog. Then we head east, back across the Continental
Divide and south again from Bozeman to Gardiner. As we enter
Yellowstone we see the iconic stone Rossevelt Arch marking the
entrance. It is surrounded by construction. We surmise that the park
is being spiffed up for the 2016 centennial celebration of the
National Park Service.
We head directly for Indian Creek Campground after entering the park. As we arrive at
the campground office five more groups of anxious-appearing campers
suddenly appear behind us. The campground host lectures us all on
bear safety. Nothing is to be left out at the
campsite other than our tent. Even water bottles have
to go in the metal bear locker or in the car. We are all given an
orange tag and sent to find the last remaining open sites. O and I
are supposed to be first in line since we arrived first, but our car
is blocked in by the other campers. No worries – we follow the
other cars and pick site #5, the first site we come to. There are
trees for shade, a smoothly functioning bear locker, and a nice flat
surface for the tent. And it’s Warm and Sunny!!! The wet tent dries
quickly in the low humidity.
After camp is set up we return to Mammoth Springs which we passed on the
way in. We need a hiking guide, a good map and some fresh fruit for
breakfast. At the visitor center we receive information on
challenging hikes. The Mammoth Springs Grocery Store is rather
limited, but we do find some apples and blueberry yogurt for
tomorrow’s breakfast. The yogurt will be a real treat. I haven’t had
any since July.
We return to camp and cook up some honey-mustard-smoked paprika salmon
with pasta. It’s pretty good! We clean up carefully, not wanting to
attract bears. My bear spray is on the picnic table at my right hand.
Next we decide to walk down to a marshy area to look for wildlife.
The wildlife finds us first. The road is blocked by an elk, standing
and watching us. We return to camp and prepare for bed. I’m going to
like Yellowstone – especially the warm, low humidity weather!