Yellowstone - Day 3

Today was a long-ish Yellowstone Day Trip. We were in the park about 8 am and there was a family of 5 elk just after we passed Madison Village. We pulled over and got out to look. Addison thought the baby elk was walking across the river to see her and she kept clapping and calling to it. The elk were tame and grazing and she cried when we finally left after about 25 minutes because she LOVED watching them. The last picture is the view of Middle Geyser Basin along the drive.

We decided to do a 3 mile-ish moderately strenuous hike to see Mystic Falls and the overlook. You can hike to the falls in .7 miles but we decided to do the longer loop. At the beginning of the hike there is a board walk to look at geysers along the way. We let Addison walk most of the boardwalk since she had been in the car for over an hour and was going to be in her backpack for another 2 hours while we hiked.

(click on the first picture so you see how deep the geyser is)

Here we are at the overlook. Oliver had never really hiked in Yellowstone before - just into Old Faithful and back to the Tetons - and it was spectacular to see the caldera from the top of the overlook. And, we don't worry about Addison getting dehydrated while we hike, because she LOVES drinking out of the camel bak. She would prefer to drink out of mine, but we try to distract her with the one dad carries.

We then hiked down to the waterfall (and would recommend that everyone hike the loop "backwards" to the overlook and then the falls). We were planning to let Addison get out and play but she decided to nap instead. For a baby who refuses to nap in the car, she actually naps fairly consistently in her hiking backpack.

After our hike we pulled out at a picnic spot to have lunch and then went and toured Middle Geyser Basin. I loved the waterfalls coming out of the geyser and into the river below. Also, the very common postcard geyser (Grand Prismatic Springs) is located at this boardwalk stop. It is .5 miles to walk the boardwalk but around much of it there is no guardrail, just small lip on the edge of the boardwalk. We didn't let Addison walk much of this boardwalk because, she has a mind of her own, and we wouldn't want her ending up in the boiling water. There was a railing around Excelsior Geyser and Addison loved peering over the railing and watching the bubbling water and steam. She didn't love having to return to her stroller to finish the walk and get back to the car though.

We had a great time on our longer hike and Addison enjoys the short stops we take that get her out of her car seat. We haven't seen a lot of wildlife yet because we are trying to make sure Addison gets at least one nap at the cabin everyday. She is a happier baby that way.

She is also quite the park celebrity and everyone loves to take her picture. They are amazed by her hat, her Deuter Kid Comfort II Pack, her smile, her friendly wave, and that she says hi to almost everyone she passes. We are grateful that she kept her hat on for the first time in her whole life! It doesn't really bother me when people ask to take her picture - maybe it should - but I let them and just feel a little weird...