With today being the last day consisting of National Parks, what better way to go out than with visiting parks such as Yellowstone and Grand Teton?Yellowstone came first and took up most of the day. We had been here a few years ago, and saw sites like Old Faithful as well as the Upper and Lower Falls, but today we entered through a different part of the park with some news site programmed into our GPS.
We first stopped by Mammoth Hot Springs. The whole place smelled like rotten eggs but it was really neat to see some of the springs bubbling and spurting water out their tops and down the sides of the formations. There were so many in the area, and they all came in different sizes and colors. Some areas were a deep orange color while other were as white as snow (ironically those were the hottest spots).
Our next stop was at the Upper and Lower Falls of Yosemite. This was a location we had been to before but it was nice to get some pictures to compare with our younger selves. The hike to Upper Falls was short and easy and brought us right next to the massive falls that pounded through the gorge and over the cliff. They were so powerful and the scene reminded me of a smaller version of Niagara. Off in the distance though, we could the balcony lookout for the Lower Falls and decide to head over there, seeing as we get a better, full-length view of both the falls. The hike down to the Lower Fall however was much more strenuous, but it did have another great view. Though there were lots of families at the upper balcony, by the time we hiked down to the lower one, we found the lookout deserted. Wanting to get a nice family picture, we had to wait several minutes before another family met us at the bottom, but eventually one finally came.
The last stop in Yellowstone that we made, not counting the numerous times we pulled off the road to get some pictures of wild bison and elk, was at Artist’s Point. The ranger at the Visitor Center told us that this was the most photographed spot in the park, and when we walked up to the overlook, we could instantly see why. The whole gorge was painted with different colors of rocks, ranging from golden yellows to bluish grays to dusty purples and greens. It was absolutely beautiful, and the Yellowstone River that cut its way through the bottom after flowing over the falls, along with the scattered trees and puffy white clouds from above made the pictures even more magnificent. We took lots of pics here, wanting to capture every inch of the view in our cameras.
After Artist’s Point we were on our way out of the park and onto the Tetons. With the day winding down, we would have a few hours to spend in this National Park. We asked a ranger at the Visitor Center of his recommendations and he directed us to an overlook on top of a mountain, and a one-way scenic drive alongside Jenny Lake, which bordered the enormous and glorious Teton Mountains.
The overlook on top of the mountain, didn’t have a great view of the Tetons. Instead it looked out over the grassy plains of the park and we had to pull over at a turnout on our way back down and walk a short trail in order to get the view of the Tetons we wanted. Unfortunately, the sunlight was all wrong and we had trouble capturing the magnificence of the mountains in our pictures. Despite the poor lighting, we still took tons of pictures, especially when we were at Jenny Lake, because the glistening waves that rolled below the mountains made the view even more spectacular. As we drove out of the park we also made several stops where we looked back and snapped a couple more pics. The Tetons were without a doubt the most awesome mountains I’ve seen, and probably will ever see. From the moment we drove in the park, to even after we left I found myself gazing up at them in awe. They were like mini Everest’s, towering over all that surrounded them. I really wish we could have spent more time in the park, but if we were planning on making it to our hotel before midnight, then we had to leave soon.
Though the drive was long, we passed an old, abandoned schoolhouse that overlooked some distant mountains as it sat alongside a set of gravel crossroads amidst the prairie fields and thunderclouds. The structure was old, and had plants growing out of its windows, and the black and white pictures we captured it in only added to its beauty.
After a good twenty minutes though we were back on the road and heading to our hotel for the night. This was the night were we could finally sleep in as long as we wanted, and I planned to take advantage of that opportunity with great pleasure.
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