Haphazard Happenstances: Road Trip Day 8

Our second day in Yellowstone was to explore the far reaches of the park, including a trout pond, wandering wildlife and Mammoth Springs.

Because Yellowstone is so vast, the trip to the Lamar Valley was almost 2 hours long. The speed limit inside the park is 45 mph and it's winding and scenic. You definitely want to take your time, since spotting wildlife along the way is part of the fun.

We stopped at Trout Lake and hiked an easy trail to get there. We hiked the perimeter of the lake and happened upon trout, swimming upstream to spawn their eggs. I guess that's why they call it trout lake!

As we continued to hike, I noticed two animals running down the hill and splash into the water. It was these two happy otters playing and with each other. They put on quite a little show for us and we stayed there watching them for nearly 20 minutes. (I think I want an otter for a pet!)

Beautiful wildflowers were all along the path. I took many, many pictures of the different flowers and could bore you with all of them... but I won't. However, this is my favorite. It's called "Prairie Smoke". It looks so delicate and I love the color.

Prairie Smoke (Geum triflorum)

We left Lamar Valley and continued our drive to Mammoth Springs in the northeast corner of Yellowstone in Fort Yellowstone. (Tally up another hour long drive to get there, but again, the beauty of the surroundings make it worthwhile.)

It's hard to depict the vastness and beauty of this area. Again, lots of desolated areas due to boiling volcanic magma underneath the surface, but simply amazing to see and words can't hardly do it justice.

On our way back to the lodge, we stopped by the petrified tree. Yes... singular... tree. Apparently, at one time, there were three petrified trees, but early explorers and visitors chipped away at the trees for "souvenirs" and only one remains today.