day 10: storm point, west thumb, lonestar geyser, upper geyser basin.

On Friday we packed up our room at Canyon Lodge, and set out for a morning 3-mile hike along Yellowstone Lake to Storm Point. We were the first vehicle to the parking lot and the only people on the trail, and this made us more than a little jittery as we hiked. What David failed to mention is that it’s a noted spot for bear activity. By that point of the trip, we’d been well-rehearsed in bear safety protocol, so walked along talking loudly, clapping our hands, and Amie and I often resorted to singing. While we tried to keep the bears away, Noah called out, “Oh bears, come out to play!”

Yellowstone Lake is enormous, and it was lovely to watch the sun climb the sky over all that glittering water.

 

 

 

 

No bears. All we saw were lots of ducks and a couple of bison. We drove to the West Thumb Geyser Basin boardwalk.

 

 

 

 

We had another hike scheduled before lunch, but I confessed to the family that I didn’t think I had another hike in me. Noah said, “Me either!” Gabe felt the same way. So we dropped Judah, David, and Amie at the Lonestar Geyser trailhead, then drove about 20 minutes away to Old Faithful Village to explore the spot where we’d be spending our last night in the park.

The boys and I checked out the Old Faithful Inn and gift shop. All the kids got to choose a souvenir from our trip. The three youngest picked a stuffed animal from national park wildlife, and Judah chose a t’shirt. As we emerged from the Inn, we saw the throngs of people gathering around the geyser. Old Faithful erupts every 90 minutes, give or take 20, and the boys and I hit it at just the right time. We scooted toward the front and got a great view of the geyser.

 

 

 

The Old Faithful Village is so crowded that it feels like Disney World. I’m so glad we got to experience many other less populated parts of Yellowstone.

We spotted our hotel, the Old Faithful Snow lodge, then headed back to the trailhead to pick up the others. They’d had a hot, five-mile hike, and arrived at the Lonestar Geyser only to find that it had erupted 10 minutes before they arrived. Ah well.

We drove back to the Old Faithful Village, and had almost two hours to kill before we could check into our hotel room. We got boxes of veggie wok from the cafeteria there, ate outside, then got to see Old Faithful again.

As we tried to figure out a place to nap, I told David, “Let’s just ask at the Snow Lodge and see if they’ll let us check in early.” They did! It was amazing.

 

 

After naps, David offered to walk with Gabe and Noah to see the nearby Upper Geyser Basin while the rest of us had some downtime. Judah, Amie, and I walked to the visitors’ center for a stamp in our passport book, watched Old Faithful again (because it’s just right there!), and had a splendid hour relaxing in our room, catching up on texts and chatting, while the other three saw some spectacular pools.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And that wrapped up our last full day in Yellowstone. Our lodge actually had a microwave in the lobby, so we could heat up our lentils for dinner. We’ve eaten lots of lentils and rice by this point.