We had breakfast at the Cody Hotel and set off again on the road heading west. We drove up along the Shoshone River passing the Buffalo Bill Dam that we visited the day before and continued on past the large reservoir. We then drove up along the North Fork River passing through the Absaroka Mountains. Most of this is National Forest land, and there are many bizarre rock formations. We stopped at Pahaska Teepee Lodge for a pit stop and to stretch our legs and were visited by a nice white tail deer.

Shortly afterwards we entered Yellowstone National Park, the US’s first national park signed into law by President Grant. We crossed Sylvan Pass at an elevation of 8530 feet, and our first stop was at the Fishing Bridge Visitors Center which borders on Yellowstone Lake. We ate our sack lunches at the picnic tables, viewed the excellent bird exhibit in the visitor’s center and snapped some wildlife photos.

Leaving the Fishing Bridge area we crossed the Yellowstone River and then headed down river taking a short walk at LeHardys Rapids. Next, we walked the boardwalks by Mud Volcano, Dragon Mouth Cave and Sulfur Cauldron. As we continued on, we came upon a large bison herd and even more tourists — with traffic backed up for miles. We made stops at Geyser Crater and Prismatic Spring with its large bacterial mats.

We then made our way to Old Faithful Inn, at an elevation of 7770 feet. Shortly after arriving and before getting our rooms, we were able to see an Old Faithful eruption. Our dinner was at the cafeteria where many of us had their excellent trout.