Matt, Christen, Derek & Rylie

Yellowstone National Park

We left Utah and drove to Yellowstone going through Jackson, Wy and seeing the Grand Tetons. These mountains are incredible.


These are elk antlers that we saw driving through Jackson, WY. Jackson is such a cool town and reminded me a little bit of Park City, UT. On the way back from Yellowstone we stopped for lunch at Snake River Brewing Company.


Here is the caravan that we traveled in from Utah. Matt and I rode in Kevin and Valeri's van with Keegan and Finley, while Paul and Marilyn drove in the volvo with Abby (their dog) and all the food.



Here are some pictures that we took of the amazing landscape of Yellowstone.



Petrified tree

We had so much fun camping. Kevin and Valeri planned out all the meals and food we would need. We ate so well - taco soup, one pot chicken, chili, hot dogs, sandwiches, lots of marshmallows, banana boats, hot chocolate and fruit. Thanks guys for all your preparation.
Thanks to Melanie and Steve as well for letting us borrow their sleeping bags, chairs and lantern.



One afternoon we went to the Boiling River to go swimming. The runoff water from Mammoth hot springs flows to create this river. It was felt like a hot tub.


On the way back from the Boiling River our path was blocked by a herd of elk. There were about 30 elk that crossed our path. A few of them actually stopped and grazed keeping us from walking by. It was incredible to be within 10 feet of them.


I love this picture of Kevin and Finley. On the way back from hiking Mammoth hot springs Finley fell asleep on Kevin's shoulders tired from all the walking. Mind you she is only 3.

This waterfall is in the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and is called Lower falls. To get to it we had to climb 327 stairs. On the way down we saw an amazing rainbow. The waterfall is twice as long as Niagra Falls and was very impressive.

Here we are after having hiked 654 stairs in all. It was well worth it.

Here is Old Faithful. It is not the largest gyser in Yellowstone, but is the most popular because it is so faithful in going off every 90 min. We were not so lucky to see the largest gyser go off. It goes off every 12 years or so. It is quite impressive though.