As soon as we entered the park, we were greeted by bison on the side of the road. Immediately Eric and I were excitedly on the edge of our seats with our cameras out.
Our first stop was Fountain Paint Pot. There were so many hot springs to explore. It was mesmerizing, gorgeous, and a little bit smelly.
We continued on to Old Faithful. We completely lucked out on our timing. We got there within 5 minutes of it erupting.
The wind was not in our favor and we got completely soaked, but it was so fun and worth it.
As we were about to leave, we found out Beehive Geyser (right next to Old Faithful) was about to erupt in the next 10 minutes. This geyser is one of the best in Yellowstone. However it is erratic and unpredictable, they only ever have about a 5-15 minute heads up before it erupts, and it usually only erupts once a day. And we happened to be there right on time!
It lasts 5 minutes, is 200 feet high and maintains its height for the duration of the eruption. It's also loud!
We realized quickly that the bison greeting us on the way in was not a once in a lifetime photo-op. They were everywhere! At least 5 times we were stuck behind them on the road. It was quite entertaining.
Then we headed to Norris Geyser Basin, which was also beautiful. There was every color imaginable swirling together.
Canyon Village was another site to behold. At this point we knew we had to start making our way back on the road, but we couldn't stop stopping at everything there was to see!
On the way out as we were passing Yellowstone lake, we even spotted a bear on the shore. I'm pretty sure this is the only time I've ever seen a bear in person, aside from a zoo.
It was an incredible day, and we could have stayed so much longer! We are so thankful we had the time to take the route we did.
