Day 6

So day 6 dawned in mammoth campsite, yellowstone national park, wyoming, and it was lovely. Not much tops waking under a mountain freshly light by the rising sun, a mild fog rolling away and a full day of exploring ahead of you. We had seen a good portion of the park the previous day so we decided to head south to Teton national park, which shares a border with yellowstone. On the way we stopped at some sights we had missed yesterday and stopped in to see old faithful one last time. Serendipity seemed to be on our side when, just after faitful did her thing, another geyser, this one named beeshive, erupted very close to where we were standing. W e were later informed that this one only erupts once a day and is fairly unpredictable in it's activites. Shazam.

So then we headed further south and into the rain which had missed us this entire time. The clouds obscured the mountain range which we had heard was spectacular in scale and beauty, but we pressed on and eventually turned into a turnabout to check out a cliff section that looked interesting. We climbed up and up and up, following my policy of "is there somehing higher than this? Yes? Then why are we still here?". There was a great view from the top and some cool flowers that I didn't see anywhere else in our travels. Again going a little bit off course rewarded us well.

Food was next, a calzone for me and a pizza for Alex, from a cool bar with a great view of the mountains which were now visible due to the rain leaving and blue skies replacing what had been a gloomy and foreboding horizon. Replenished and happy that we could actually see what we came here for, we drove north and then back south, takin pictures of the mountains, elk, pronghorns, and bison we came across. No sign of any moose yet :(. We traveled up a mountain (cleverly named summit peak) and had great views of pretty much everything around for I can't even imagine how many miles.

Returning to the main road we came across a path that led down to a lake which the mountains on the other side bordered perfectly. The sun was setting, mildly obscured by the remaining clouds, and the tranquility was refreshing and much needed after all the driving we did today (probably around 9 or 10 hours).

Now we're back at our campsite on the river and I'm thinking about the 2 leg journey we're starting tomorrow to yosemite (seven hours to a camp to nap for five or six hours then nine to get into the park earl and get a good site to sleep in). But for now I look forward to falling asleep with the river's rush in my ear and the dawn's light on the great teton mountains just to our west.