Yellowstone Day 2 - July 5th

We were not in a hurry in the mornings which was really nice. We slept until we woke up and then got ready. We usually kind of planned our day the night before right before bed. It was a great system and worked good for us. We only had one full day in Yellowstone so we wanted to make the best of it.

We started with the artist paint spots

 Just a short little walk to get our legs moving. Very similar to what we saw at Old Faithful but it was good to move a little.

 Next we stopped at the visitor center by the grand canyon of Yellowstone. Here we learned how to use bear spray from Sally and she told us what road to take that would most likely allow us to see a bear. We also asked some questions about various hikes.

We settled on hiking the south rim of yellowstones grand canyon so we could do Uncle Toms stairs. The rim trail was nice and easy and the stairs added a little cardio to our day.

 So Pretty.

 On Uncle Tom's Trail we so an awesome rainbow.

The bottom of Uncle Toms trail. Totally worth it.

After we finished the hike we headed to tower falls via Dunraven pass. This pass is where Sally we would be most likely to spot a bear.

We stopped and hiked Tower Falls. It was a shot hike to waterfall and then to the river. The view down by the river was amazing.

 After we finished the hike we headed towards mammoth hot springs. Between Tower falls and Mammoth we saw our bear. It was a black bear cub and it was adorable. We spent a long time watching him play in the grass through binoculars. My phone camera couldn't get a very good picture but it was so cool. Also third time is a charm at Yellowstone for me.....I finally got to see a bear!

The drive to Mammoth was gorgeous.

 Yellowstone is so diverse and such a beautiful place.

 Mammoth was a little disappointing for me. I had been in 2009 and there was water in the springs and my pictures are so beautiful. No such luck this year.

 2009 versus this year....the same exact tree

There was very little water coming out of the springs.

 We saw a fun little waterfall after Mammoth and stopped to take a picture.

We were leaving Yellowstone as the sun was going down and the evening was amazing.

 Our last stop in the park was Gibbon Falls.

 Well and then a stop at the Yellowstone sign.

 Yellowstone was good to us we saw: elk, antelope, deer, bison, black bear, coyote, and lots of birds and mosquitoes. With all of our little hikes we hiked over ten miles so despite lots and lots of driving we also got to get in a little exercise as well.