Wednesday, June 28th, 2023

Starting mileage: 5238, distance travelled: 64

Hiking distance: 3 miles

We set off from Colter Bay RV Park and headed north toward the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway. The landscape was striking, with acres of toothpick trees on either side of the road, remnants of the 2016 Berry Fire, we learned from the guidebook. We also finally captured our Grand Teton sign picture on the way out of the park! 😂

As soon as we entered Yellowstone National Park, a ridiculously deep canyon opened up to the east, right next to the road. The Snake River seemed to drop down 100s of feet.

We landed at West Thumb Geyser Basin and walked the boardwalk past geysers, holes, and cones. The boardwalk protected us from boiling in pools of bubbling water and mud. The colors were spectacular: brilliant aquamarine to dusty orange to bright yellow, all on the western shore of Yellowstone Lake.

Our last excursion for the day was a 2-mile hike up the Yellowstone Lake Overlook Trail, which fulfilled its promise of a beautiful view of the lake. We got some bonus thermal activity sites with a small waterfall and a couple of bubbling pools of water at the top.

We drove back outside the park for one night at the Headwaters RV Park at Flagg Ranch and drove by Lewis Falls (named for Meriwether Lewis of the Lewis and Clark expedition). It was right in the middle of a construction site so we only got a quick drive-by pic.

Back on the Ranch, we checked in at the RV park, did laundry, and grabbed local beers and appetizers at the lodge saloon. We began planning for our next Yellowstone adventure tomorrow.