Lamar Valley and Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone Natl Park

Another beautiful morning here at Yellowstone, so we head up to Mammoth Hot Springs at the northern end of the park. It’s a long drive and we end up making several stops to enjoy the wildlife (including wolves, elk, buffalo, pronghorn and big horn sheep),

stop for a picnic lunch and also decide to make a side trip to the northeast entrance/Lamar Valley. We’re glad we do; the Lamar Valley is a beautiful part of the park and many of the buffalo herds are still in their Lamar Valley winter home.

We stop at the Mammoth Springs Visitor Center, have a second picnic lunch outside the museum, and then head over to hike around the hot springs. I am initially very disappointed: much of the large structure is dry and pretty dismal looking, but we eventually find areas where the hot springs are running and see some pretty scenery.

It’s getting late in the day, so we decide to drive into Gardiner for dinner. We had stopped here on the way home from Bozeman Montana and had some really good buffalo burgers, so we head back there. They do not disappoint: these buffalo burgers are just as good as our first. I highly recommend this little drive-in: Helen’s Hamburgers Corral Drive-in. Doesn’t look like much, but incredible burgers.

We make the long drive back to the campground, with frequent stops, including a stop to see another black-colored grey wolf.

Our last stop is at the Norris Geyser Basin, for a quick stroll around the basin. This is probably our least favorite geyser area; not much geyser activity and the pools are not as picturesque as other areas of the park.