Day 15 - Farewell Tour of Yellowstone

We headed into the park by 8:30 am. We took Sandy with us today because we knew that we wouldn't be taking hikes today.  We took the Firehole Canyon Drive.  It was a two-mile loop that went through a deep canyon.  There was a clear river that followed the floor of the canyon rolling over huge boulders here and there.  There was a beautiful waterfall.  This drive is definitely one we would take again.  In fact, we did take it two times to get all the pictures we wanted.  The pullovers were small and sometimes full so we drove it the second time to get all the pictures we wanted.

From there we headed north past the Norris Geyser Basin area.  We found an overlook that showed a wide view of the basin with the steam from the geysers.  We stopped, took pictures, and then took a short walk to see if we could get a better picture.  When we got back to our truck, there were several other people there and they asked us if we had seen the wolf.  What wolf?  They had seen a wolf run across the road and down the way we had gone.  That is why they had stopped.  We missed it all.

The most northern point we went on the road was to an overlook of the Gallatin Mountain Range.  There were beautiful purple bushes in the meadow along with the golden grasses so we had to take pictures.  We made another stop and this time Sandy got into the water up to her tummy.  She really liked the water.

It was getting close to lunch time and we had packed a picnic lunch but all the picnic areas were full so we ended up pulling into a large pullover with a beautiful view and eating in the truck.  We also stopped at another place in the park that we  had never been.  It was called Sheepeaters  Cliff.  It was a very unusual rock formation.  It was called Sheepeaters because the Shoshonni Indianas lived here and they herded sheep.  Anyway, it was worth a look see.

On the way out of the park, we came upon a small herd of elk and I managed to get a picture of a couple of females beside the road.  About 2:00 pm we left the park for the last time.  We have enjoyed being here but it is time to move on.  When we got back we went into town to do a little more shopping, have a pizza for supper and fill the truck up with gas so we would be ready for the big drive tomorrow.  We aren't sure where we will stop tomorrow but we are going to take two days to get to South Dakota.

One of many unusual rock formations seen on the Firehole Canyon Drive.

Firehole Canyon Falls.

After leaving the canyon, the river becomes quieter.

Gallatin Mountain Range

Shades of fall in the Gallatin Valley.