Friday 9-11-26 Hiking, Camping & Motorcycle Ride in Yellowstone

 

Kayaking on Lake Yellowstone

We woke up to a brisk 41 degrees in West Yellowstone and it got up to 64 degrees. A front came through early this morning and brought rain. When we woke up the roads were wet. We had wind all day. Not complaining because it was great weather.

I crawled out of bed at 7:15 and Larry had been up since 5:45. He had already lit the heater so it was comfortable when I got up. I got dressed and then made a pancake for breakfast. After breakfast we got ready to go on a hike to the Visitor Center and Grant Village. The hike was for 4 miles round trip.

We got on the trail to the visitor center from the campground. The trail took us through the trees and along the shores of Yellowstone Lake. It was an easy trail to hike. As we hiked the trail we got magnificent views of the lake and forest. We walked on a lot of pine needles and we saw a guy walking the trail. There were places you could get off the trail to get a closer view of the lake. We saw a couple walking their Golden Retriever by the lake. We walked over a big suspension bridge. The trail dropped us off by the amphitheater and visitor center. The visitor center was very small but it had a nice museum about Firefighters, the trees and plants in the area and the animals in the area. The firefighter displays explains how the firefighters fight the fires in Yellowstone. There a few rangers in the Visitor Center and they were very friendly. The Visitor Center had a gorgeous back porch, where you go outside and sit and have a great view of the lake. It had a beautiful Lakeshore Pavilion, that had a super view of the lake. After walking around the Visitor Center we walked around Grant Village, there are 600 lodging rooms across six two story buildings named after the wildlife in the area (Fox Lodge, Deer Lodge, Bear Lodge and Elk Lodge), two restaurants (one looks over the lake), a gift shop and a lounge. It also has a gas station Sinclair, General Store and a Post Office. We walked around the gas station to see what it offers. There's a dump station behind the gas station with fresh water. We took the road back to the campground. While walking the road when it came to bridges one side had a walkway for pedestrians, that looked over the river and creeks. We had a very nice hike.

Larry getting ready to cross over the river via the suspension bridge

Grant Visitor Center

Firefighter display

A couch to sit on in the visitor center

Lakeshore Pavilion

Yellowstone Lake from the visitor center

Fox Lodge

Deer Lodge

Grant Post Office

We were back to the Minnie at 10:15, time to relax before lunch. For lunch we had chili with corn chips. 

After lunch we went on a motorcycle ride. We drove to West Thumb Geysers Basin. The parking lot was full so we drove around the parking lot. There was no motorcycle parking but we were lucky someone was leaving so we took her spot. West Thumb Geysers Basin was very busy. We walked a boardwalk around the geysers. Some of the geysers were marked with a name (Black Pool, Surging Spring, Ledge Spring and Abyss Geyser). I was taking pictures of the geysers and didn't realize the phone was on video mode. When I realized it Larry took it off video but we were almost finished. So I only got one picture, which was Black Pool. After walking around we took a bathroom break. Then we got on the bike and drove towards Lewis Lake and Lewis Lake Campground, which was about 10 miles down the road. The motorcycle only has a 1.7 gallon tank for fuel and we can only get about 50 miles before needing fuel. We had driven 42 miles on this gallon so Larry found a place to turn around. We were almost to Lewis Lake Campground but we didn't want to take a chance of running out of gas. But we did see Lewis Lake. When we got back to the campground we drove through a couple of loops. We made it back with fuel to spare. We had a beautiful motorcycle ride.              

Black Pool Geyser

After dinner we went for a walk around the campground. We walked for an hour and did 3 miles. Larry walked with me the first mile. We walked loops I, H & G together. Then Larry went back to the Minnie I continued walking another 2 miles. I walked loops J, K, F, G & H. While walking I was an Elk. I probably would have must her if it wasn't for a jeep, where the driver backed up to take pictures. We had a great walk.

Elk during my walk

For the rest of the evening we read. I baked cookies. By the end of the day I had done 17,600 steps.

We had a super day.