Adventure Date: 08/24/2020 – 08/31/2020
We made it to the east entrance with plenty of daylight to spare, but we still needed to head into the park for about another hour to get to Bridge Bay campgrounds. The original plan was to come into the park from the northeast entrance via the Beartooth Highway, but due to the time constraints and unexpected stops along the way, we opted for the more direct route. By the time we got to Bridge Bay campgrounds, checked-in, and setup our gear, it was about 4 PM. From camp, we went to Grant Village to grab some stuff from the general store and then walked around West Thumb Basin just north of Grant Village.
We tried to do as much as we could with everything going on like the pandemic and road closures throughout the park. We took our time to enjoy everything together instead of rushing from one thing to another because this was first and foremost a vacation. Camping was fun and certainly an interesting experience when a thunderstorm is involved. The rest of the time we spent lodging in West Yellowstone, Montana, just outside of the westside of the park. From there we would head back into the park super early in the morning to start our day.
There was a forest fire in the southern part of the park by Old Faithful when we got there, so the road from Old Faithful to West Thumb Basin was closed. It opened up however after a thunderstorm rolled through the first night and a full day of rain the next day. It might have also opened up because they had to close down part of the road from Mud Volcano to Fishing Bridge due to a semi-truck carrying gasoline had overturned on the road. It’s now opened up though (just checked as of 3:00 PM 09/08/2020).
Aside from Yellowstone National Park, we did explore other nearby places too such as Grand Teton National Park, Shoshone National Forest, the Buffalo Bill Dam, etc.
The following photos below show various locations that we explored that didn’t warrant having a post of their own because of how few photos were taken at those spots. Some locations include:
- Camp at Bridge Bay campgrounds
- Gibbon River
- Artist’s Paint Pots
- Old Faithful
- Roaring Mountain
- Gibbon Falls
- Madison River
- Lake Butte Overlook
- Buffalo Bill Dam
Enjoy!
