Last day at Yellowstone

On our last day at Yellowstone, we decided to take a short hike located near the entrance of the park to Boiling River.

 

The trail was a nice easy trail running parallel to the river.

And it was a perfect morning for a walk.

Towards the end of the trail was a walkway where people could walk down to the river where the hot springs flowed in.

The hot springs were very warm and have very green moss and grass growing in it.

You can barely see the steam coming off the river where the hot springs flow into the cold river.

but a lot of people were enjoying nature's jacuzzi.

Near the hot springs were what looked like old dormant geyser holes.

And you could see hot springs below in some of the areas where the ground had broken apart.

On the way back, we noticed this big juniper tree like what the animal statues were made from that we had seen at Red Lodge, Montana, yesterday.

Not only does the Boiling River provide a jacuzzi for the tourists, it also creates tropical microclimate where brown trout spawn in December.

After getting back to the camper, I began looking for where we would go next and knew we might have some difficulty with the 4th of July holiday coming up in two days.  After checking with 3 different places, I found where we will spend the 4th:  Butte, Montana!

You can view all of our Yellowstone pictures at:  

https://plus.google.com/photos/102237234745150456662/albums/5897108116340077409?authkey=CN7Ktfz8-aX9Mw

and all our Beartooth Highway pictures at:

 
 https://plus.google.com/photos/102237234745150456662/albums/5900131054519045265?authkey=CNXptI_GvOrCIQ