Yellowstone National Park, WY | Part 1

I'm so excited to start sharing Yellowstone!

We drove into the park from the North entrance after finishing our drive through Beartooth Highway. We arrived late in the day, near dusk (there wasn't even anyone at the entrance gate to check our pass). After driving a while through the woods we started to see more open fields and a lot of wildlife out for their evening feedings. Watching the wildlife roam against the setting sun was pretty special.

We were short on daylight with a lot to see (and a three hour drive to the cabin where we were sleeping) so, instead of stopping to set up the tripod for photos, we tried to slow down enough to photograph the animals whenever we passed by them. This strategy proved difficult since both we and the animals were in constant motion. It didn't help that the park rangers heavily patrol the roads to ensure the cars don't stops traffic (except if wildlife are crossing), meaning if there's no shoulder or pull out area, then you have no choice but to keep driving.

We learned quickly that we were doing it all wrong.  We started noticing herds of people were lined up on the roadsides, seemingly for hours, with giant (I mean HUGE) camera lenses, binoculars, and tripods. They had staked out their spots and were ready to capture the wildlife as it passed by them. On our next trip to the park we will be sure to plan plenty of time to photograph the animals!

The buffalo seemed to rule the park - they cross roads when they want and seemed to often stop traffic. We were stopped by a herd of buffalo near 10 at night as we were driving to our cabin. It was a nerve-wracking encounter, as the buffalo were circling the car and seemed to be protecting something. This went on for a while and traffic was stopped in both directions. Finally, the buffalo decided to cross the road and, as they started to clear out, we could see that some mama buffalo had been nursing their baby buffalo, right in the middle of the road. The male buffalo were circling the cars to keep them from driving forward, in order to protect the mama and babies. So sweet!

The wildlife we saw: buffalo, elk, deer, antelope, a black bear with its cub, and a wolf. Our next trip to this park will be when we have kids - talk about an exciting vacation for children!

-Amanda

Beartooth Highway | Part 2 (plus a video!)

If you missed it, find Part 1 of Beartooth Highway here!

The second half of the drive was the most stunning, I think.  As we drove up to near 11,000 elevation, there were gorgeous mountain views and a lot of snow still sticking to the ground. Taras said parts of the drive reminded him of the beauty of Switzerland, and then I told him he needs to take me there so I can compare. :)

I honestly don't think these photos give justice to the beauty of the drive - you just have to go see it for yourselves!

-Amanda

This video doesn't do much for showing off the gorgeous drive... but you get to listen to us ramble! Yay!

Beartooth Highway | Part 1

Thank goodness we had the drive through Bighorn National Forest under our belts before making it to Beartooth Highway.  This scenic drive is on the Montana-Wyoming border and has been called the most beautiful drive in America. The trip up to the 10,947 ft high Beartooth Pass is both stunning and terrifying.

The switchbacks are intense and every time I looked over at Taras he seemed to be taking in the sights instead of looking at the ROAD. I was terrified and cried at least once. But do not let my words deter you! It is a beautiful drive, and so worth it. And, bonus, I was a professional car passenger by the end of that day and well-prepared for all the mountain drives that came later in our travels.

Enjoy part one of these photos - tomorrow we'll be back with the second half of the drive (when we reached the snow!).

-Amanda

Note: The pass is not open year round due to snow, but is generally open from May through October. The route is about 70 miles and took us a couple hours to drive. There are pull out spots along the way and one rest stop with bathrooms (and giant, friendly squirrels waiting to be fed).

Bighorn National Forest, WY (plus a video!)

We made our way to Bighorn National Forest in Wyoming, near the Montana border.

We went for an afternoon hike-turned-firewood-scavenging-mission, in which we both lugged sizable sticks back to our campsite, while doing arm exercises, for good measure. (Gota use what you have handy! -T) We camped through a very chilly night - pretty sure it got down to the low 30's! It was quickly evident that our camping gear was not up to snuff for the extreme mountainous temperature swings; I don't think we slept more than a wink that night. The next morning there was a steady rain so Taras built us a tarp shelter so we could have a fire for breakfast (crafty, that guy!).  The beautiful campground made up for the weather - we camped right next to a little creek and there was the most delicious well water at the campsite.

Later that day we set out for a drive through the National Forest. This was our first day driving through legitimate mountain ranges, with steep grades and sharp curves. I was white-knuckled the whole time. Thankfully there were a few lookout points to pull over and enjoy the stunning views - at one point we even had to pull over and cool off the car brakes. At an elevation of 9,287, we were driving through the low-laying clouds and spotting snow that had yet to melt (it was June!).

Enjoy the video at the bottom of the post of Taras trying to cross the creek by our campsite :)

-Amanda