Days Eight, Nine and Ten/Yellowstone and Montana

Ok, we're back! A three-day blog...yikes. I'll call Friday "Welcome to Yellowstone." We knew we'd have signal trouble, but we didn't realize how much. It turned out to be a welcome rest from being connected, though, I have to admit. Yellowstone was like nothing I've ever experienced. Once again, pictures fail to portray fully the awe-inspiring beauty, the grandeur of the mountains, the vastness of the meadows, the depths of the gorges, the heights of the waterfalls, the crazily-pitched inclines we saw cows and buffalo walking around on... but we kept on snapping anyway! We grabbed the first open campsite we found (not our first choice, which we're now glad of as it was in bearier country and we've since heard that a man was killed by a grizzly while hiking alone on Friday in very beary country; no one knows what really happened, but it was scary to hear nonetheless). Our site was at Tower Falls, and we used it as our base for two nights. We put down roots! Here is a bit of what we saw. First, as it was open range country, we saw cows...

Then, we saw buffalo. Lots of buffalo.

Then we saw geyser after geyser. We had no idea how much of the US is just a hot, thin crust covering boiling water with brilliantly colored microorganisms. The crazy-looking spouts were everywhere, steam puffing up from holes large and small for miles. The runoff caused brightly colored landscapes around the spouts as well. The hot steam and sulfurous odor kept us from lingering too long, but it was a singular experience (each time we checked out a new area, which we did the next day, too, when you'll see more color).

Here's some of the scenery we enjoyed, including the falls near our campsite.

And me with my toes in the Yellowstone River.

I''ll call day nine "Buffalo, fish and crater day." We got up with the sun and headed to Slough (pronounced slew). There was a buffalo between us and our desired spot, and I was not keen on getting anywhere near him, but Pete was not going to be deterred, so we took our time and crept by. On our way back, we found that he had acquired a buffalo buddy, but we were able to skirt by them, giving them both plenty of room. I was still pretty nervous, but smiled (sort of) for the camera as requested!

We didn't have much luck at Slough, so we headed for the Lamar.

There was a herd of buffalo on the far shore, so we felt perfectly safe heading down to the rocky shore to fish. That's when Pete caught the Cutthroat trout in the previous photo, and below. They're a threatened species, so fishers have to be very careful and not even remove them from the water. All fish hooks have to be debarbed, too. Shortly after that, we suddenly realized we weren't alone. Behind us, another buffalo herd appeared on the hill and it was clear they intended to cross. I moved back toward Peter, wondering where we would go if they decided to cross on both sides of us. Much to my relief, they all went to our right and were not at all concerned with us, hence, the photo of Pete and the buffalo...they were about 50 feet behind him (and 60 in front of me!). It was, without a doubt, the most exhilarating experience of my life!

We went back to camp for breakfast, then off to see Old Faithful. Lots of colorful geysers on the way and on the way back, and more beautiful scenery.

Here's the big one...

...which we watched from the porch of the beautiful visitor's center with an Old Faithful Ale and Stuart Coffey, who is cycling the TransAmerica Trail in 60 days and also keeping a blog at crazyguyonabike.com/stuartcoffey. Wow.

Some wildlife...

Yellowstone Lake...(it's rather large).

And Pete at Lower Falls.

And another day comes to a close, while we enjoy a camp meal of hot dogs and beans.

Now for today...day ten: "Montana fishing and Butte." We woke at camp, packed up and headed out of Yellowstone, reluctantly. If we were going to spend two days on this trip anchored in one place, we chose well. We wanted to get in more fishing, so after breakfast in Livingston, we purchased Montana licenses. Here's a shot of an interesting (and slightly nerve wracking) rock formation near our camp site, the Yellowstone exit and Livingston, MT.

Montana is big-sky country and the views are spectacular. I love the old buildings (a real ghost town is on the books for tomorrow--yay!).

Looking for fishing holes off the beaten path, we ran across this remnant of a town near Twin Forks.

We fished at a couple of out-of-the-way places, then the Missouri in Fairweather, where ironically, a storm came up and we ran for cover.

Tonight, we stopped in Butte, an interesting mining town with a lot of history and hills, as well as Montana Tech, situated at the top of the town. The downtown is a unique mix of old storefronts, crazy hills, beautiful old west architecture nestled next to new buildings, poverty and nice restaurants, one of which was recommended in our AAA book, Metals Sports Bar and Grille. Everything was very good, from the nachos to the BBQ plate Pete had to my Southwestern pasta. We tried Quarry, local beers, and Pete had his first Moose Drool, which was molasses-flavored but lighter than Guinness. There is a very large safe in the building, built around 1905.

In the distance, you can see the huge Madonna that sits over the town. We haven't figured out what it's made of, but it lights up at night like a beacon. One other strange thing about Butte--there seem to be a lot of dogs running around without collars or owners. It had a creepy effect that made even a small yappy dog we passed look menacing!

After dinner, we drove around town, found a high spot and watched the sunset.

Back to our room (where we had a much-appreciated shower earlier) to do laundry and catch up with everyone. Not even halfway through our trip and we've done so much my head swims to think of it. Very happy, very tired. Goodnight!