Wednesday - September 25, 2019
Today we decided to travel to Canyon Village area and the Hayden Valley, about a 1 1/2 hour drive. We stopped by the visitors center in Canyon Village and spent some time with an excellent exhibit on the Yellowstone Super Volcano. It was here that I realized in my rush to get everything loaded this morning, that I forgot my CAMERA. I have never done this before and I was terribly disappointed. The result is, the few photos I posted for today I took with my cell phone.
Several trails in the "Grand Canyon of Yellowstone" were closed, and it was not possible to get close to the falls. This was a disappointment. Not only did we not get great views, we did not get our hike. We only spent a few minutes at each fall overlook and then headed to Hayden Valley. It was only about a 15 minute drive. It was amazing what 15 minutes in Yellowstone can do to change the terrain.
It was still early, only about 10:15 so we decided we would drive on to Mammoth Hot Springs. This was another hour and fifteen minutes drive. It turned out to be an hour and 45 minutes because of road construction.
We had lunch at the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel Restaurant. Kay said her burger was great. My Reuben was only OK.
The drive back to Old Faithful Lodge took over 2 hours instead of the 1 1/4 it would normally take, due to the construction.
The redeeming factor was - we finally saw a bison herd, not just one or two animals.