One Awfully Long Day Of Fun

Our day started at 5 a.m. as we rose and left Arco for Idaho Falls and then up the highway to cross through three states (Idaho, Wyoming and Montana) and cross the Continental Divide four times during the trip.  Call us crazy but we decided that 450 miles plus for a day trip wasn't a big deal.  I can honestly say we all enjoyed ourselves but we were very tired when we got back to Arco.  The destination?  Yellowstone, West Entrance.

We entered the West Entrance and did the entire lower loop as seen on the map bringing us back to to the same entrance.  Since we only had the day we went through the park rather quickly stopping at several places along the way to allow our resident geologist to explain what we were looking at.  He started off by telling us that we were actually crossing through a volcanic caldera created by three super volcanoes the last being around 640,000 years.   So under us, hiding from all the beauty of nature around, lies a hotspot of molten rock.  And above ground, Yellowstone reminds us with mud pots, steam clouds and constant earthquakes.  Earth plates are moving and magma is flowing constantly.

While all of that is going on underground, above ground hundreds of people admire the beauty of nature and the wild animals that inhabit the park.  It is amazing how pristine the park is considering the 3.5 million people are inside the boundaries on an annual basis.  It was hard at times to move or find a place to park but it was worth all of the inconvenience.  We all had an amazing time and learned a lot.  I'll let some of the pictures we took speak about the beauty of the park.

I took over 500 photos while in the park.  Obviously we wouldn't suggest that anyone do it this way and I am sure the next time we come back, we won't.