More pictures from Yellowstone and Grand Teton

This is the original entrance to the park at Mammoth Hot Springs. When the park was created in 1872, it was the only park of its kind in the world. However, things weren't going well. There was a lot of poaching and vandalism in the park, so the cavalry was called in to keep order. People visiting the park would arrive at Mammoth and take a five day tour of the park on what was called the grand loop, the figure eight road that encompasses the park. After several years, the park service was created and park rangers took over from the cavalry. There are lots of original buildings in Mammoth. The original jail (although it wasn't called that), officers' quarters and barracks for enlisted men are still in use. The recreation center is now a credit union.

A herd of elk with several cows and calves and one juvenile bull showed up to graze near the visitors' center at Mammoth Hot Springs. They have to keep all the flowers and trees surrounded by fencing to keep the elk from eating them.

Mammoth Hot Springs

This is from Mammoth Hot Springs. It is different from the Old Faithful area. The springs here create travertine steps from the minerals in the water that is constantly flowing. There is a 2 mile boardwalk around the hot springs, and there are signs everywhere cautioning people to stay on the boardwalks because the ground is thin in places. However, there are pictures all around the park from the late 1800's that show people looking into the mouths of geysers and sitting on some of the travertine steps.

Olivia got tired of walking so I carried her some. We would pull off the road to see some geysers and she would say, "Not more geysers. We keep finding them and they keep finding us."

The black spot in this picture is a black bear. He was moving pretty quickly up the side of a mountain. Brent snapped this from the safety of the car.

Another grizzly bear. This one was in Yellowstone. The other one was spotted in Grand Teton.

Yellowstone National Park.

Lower Falls in the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. They estimate that it only took days for the Yellowstone River to form the canyon.

A bubbling mud pot. They are called paint pots, and a picture really doesn't do justice to the pots. They are noisy and smelly!

Upper Falls in the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.

Yellowstone is home to the last free-roaming bison herd in the world. During our trip, at least one person was gored by an angry bison.

A hot spring in Yellowstone. The white and orange colors are from bacteria and algae that live around the spring. You can see the water bubbling on top.

Here are some more pictures from our travels.