Leslie and David's Wanderings: 17 June 2019 Norris, Mammoth Springs and Tower Falls

Hi folks, sorry for the delay in posting but we have been boon docking and did not have internet access.

Hoping the crowds might be a little reduced, we figured we needed to get to the park earlier. We got up earlier, but dragged our feet getting ready so we ended up getting the park entrance only 30 minutes earlier. But we zipped through the entrance gate and drove to the Norris Geyser Basin parking area. Surprisingly, it was already fairly full, but we were able to find a spot pretty easily. We arrived just in time to catch a Ranger led tour of the basin. Ranger Laura, is a second generation Yellowstone Ranger (her father was a Ranger at Yellowstone for the last 30 years and she grew up in Yellowstone). She led us through several features and explained their history and how their names were assigned. We were particularly entertained when she explained that a visiting female guest in the late 1800’s was walking through the field and surprisingly the little geyser erupted, spaying her with the fallout and she shouted out…”Why you little vixen!” Therefore her name.

From there we drove up to Mammoth Springs, walked the boardwalks and drove the loop road. The flows at Mammoth spring were beautiful and very impressive. Definitely worth the walk! While working our way through the traffic and Mammoth Springs, there were Elk walking through the parking lots. Leslie jumped out to get a picture and got to hear her first Elk bugle.

We then drove the northern portion for the Grand Loop Road to Tower Falls. Along the way we saw a back up of cars and eventually could see two black bear cubs playing in the distance (too far to get a good picture). We knew momma bear had to be around somewhere but could not see her. Further down the road, another back up revealed a Grizzly Bear in the distance (300 yards from the road). With no place to pull off the road, we snapped a quick picture and kept the traffic moving. We parked and walked to the overlook for Tower Falls. After waiting our turn to get pictures, we walked to the trailhead and saw a sign that said the trail did not lead to any other views of the falls. We decided to hike it anyway but about half way down the steep trail, we could see it only took you down to the river and we turned back.

It had been a busy day, so we climbed back in the Behemoth and headed for Canyon. Along the way we saw another Grizzly Bear in the distance along with lots of Elk and Buffalo along the road. Lots of critters! Making it to Canyon, we completed the Grand Loop Road of Yellowstone.