Wednesday, July 4, 2001
Well despite earlier statements in my journal, I decided to break camp. The Tetons are nice but it would be a lot nicer if you had a large boat to cruise the lakes with. So I got back on the road and headed north back into Yellowstone again.
Today I was the TOTAL tourist, even though I HATE the idea of being a tourist but lets face it, THIS is what Yellowstone is all about. Everything in Yellowstone National Park of any particular beauty and interest can be reached almost without getting out of your car. Now, that having being said, if you want a BETTER view, like being right at the base of a waterfall well that takes a bit of effort.
I think I hiked down to 4-5 waterfalls. All of the hikes were relatively short, some were even paved BUT what they lacked in distance and roughness they made up for in change of altitude. Lets just say I got a good workout trying to get back up all of these mountainside zigzagging trails. They don't call this Yellowstone's Grand Canyon for nothing.
Despite my desire to boycott taking pictures of Old Faithful I did go to see it. I was just in time too when I got there as it blew only a few minutes after I had found a good viewing spot. Thank goodness Old Faithful blows out so high into the sky! With what seemed like a ½ Million people in front of me on this 4th of July holiday, good viewing spots were all but taken up. I also checked out those "famous" paint pots while I was in the area. They were not overly spectacular to look at, but it was still interesting to see once. While walking around the paint pots I met up with this other woman and got to talking about the tour group that she was biking with. It seems the group consisted of largely strangers to each other, who were brought together for a biking tour/holiday through a company named "Backroads". I had seen this group of travelers all through Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons and had assumed it was a promotional race or bike trial of some kind, since they were all riding the same bikes. But the woman I met corrected me on that. It seems like a nice way to spend a holiday.
So after a long day of playing tourist I feel asleep at a pullout overlooking the Undine Falls. I have but one tourist stop left to hit tomorrow, namely the Mammoth Hot Springs and then im on my way to Montana and Glacier National Park! Woo hoo!! | 
