12 Aug
This morning we drove down the road a few miles to Emigrant MT. The smoke continues to obscure the mountains.
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| This is one from last night at the campground. |
At Emigrant Doreen ran a few items into the post office and then we walked across the street to their "farmers market". There was a table of native American jewelry; another table that looked like a mini-garage sale with used books and used jeans; and another table with a wide variety of scents. That's it! No veggies, no baked goods, no nothing really. OK, so we walked across the street from there to a barbecue restaurant that also boasts a bakery. They had no breads at all. Doreen bought their last muffin and a couple peanut butter cookies. You can really tell the tourist season is about done here. The Camel Experience we did yesterday was their last day of the season. Our white water rafting guide's last day was the day we did it. And on, and on...
Across the highway at Emigrant was a gas station with a car wash and a small mercantile store there too, so I filled with diesel and then washed the truck. It really needed washed especially with all the bugs here. Doreen went shopping in the mercantile store.
We headed back to the RV and hung around until after lunch. Technology is being used at the National Parks as we are able to look at a web cam and see how far the cars are backed up waiting to get into the park. It appeared the north entrance was not busy at all so we decided to head down to the park one last time to do a walking tour Ft Yellowstone, which is located at Mammoth Hot Springs and then also do a walking tour of Mammoth Hot Springs itself. We had been there before but did not take the time to really check it out then.
We were a bit surprised to see some huge elk crossing the highway in the middle of the afternoon but they brought traffic to a stop for a couple minutes.
We made our way down to Gardiner and then to the north entrance of Yellowstone National Park. There was no-wait and we got right in. Traffic was pretty much all coming towards us meaning folks were leaving the park. Good news! On the way I tried one more time to capture 45.000000 North Latitude, but traffic behind me did not allow me to stop at the right point, again!!
Soon we arrived at Mammoth Hot Springs which is where Fort Yellowstone is located. We found parking right away and headed off on our walking tour of the Fort grounds.
Fort Yellowstone was established in 1872 to help prevent exploitation from poachers, souvenir hunters and developers. Yellowstone turned it over to the Army in 1886 and they controlled it for 32 years until 1918. Fort Yellowstone was built including these buildings. They remain in excellent condition today:
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| The Administration building housed two cavalry troops (200 men) and is the largest building here. |
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| Captains quarters. Still used as residence today |
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| The Post Exchange(PX), gymnasium and barber shop. Today it serves as the credit union building |
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| Cavalry Barracks. Built to hold 60 men and now contains offices |
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| Double officers quarters. Among the first buildings built at Fort Yellowstone |
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| The stables. Housed the horses used by the cavalry |
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| One of these stores grain for the horses. One stored blankets, clothing and equipment. The last one was the commissary. All of these now are residence. |
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| Front side of one of the double officers quarters |
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| Front side of the captains quarters. |
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| Engineer's building. Now the US Army Corps of Engineers. This building housed the team that designed and built the park's roads. |
They have done a beautiful job of preserving these old fort buildings while still using them to their fullest potential. The down side is they are in use and not open for tours.
After our walking tour we headed up the road and found parking near the beginning of Mammoth Hot Springs. This tour takes place on a board walk which winds around between the terraces. Maximum water temperature here is 163 degrees F.
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| Liberty Cap. 37 ft tall created by a hot spring that was active in one location for a long time, depositing minerals to build slowly and continuously. |
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| Palette Springs. Water flows creating a changing palette of reds and browns |
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| Water flowing out of the springs |
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| Devils Thumb. Amazing rock formations from the mineral deposits |
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| The upper part of Devils Thumb looks like an ice flow but it is minerals |
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| Another view of Devils Thumb |
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| This shows the terraces that make up Mammoth Hot Springs |
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| A lot of walking and climbing here. Some ramps and some stairs |
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| Minerva Terrance |
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| Upper view of Palette Springs |
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| Because the day was so overcast, the colors of these mineral deposits do not stand out, but it was incredible. |
The rain started (badly needed around here) just enough to send everyone scampering, but did not last too long. We headed back to Gardiner and stopped at a local grocery store to pick up a few items. I had no idea bear spray was so expensive!
On the drive back to the RV we stopped by the local lighthouse (what??), yep they have a little lighthouse at a local restaurant and Doreen could not pass it up!
I will miss the drive from Gardiner to the RV park. We follow the Yellowstone River the entire way and it is beautiful. There are rafters and trout fisherman all the way along the route.
Tomorrow we will do laundry, housekeeping chores around here and make preparation to depart Monday morning.
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