Day 3: Bison Traffic, Long Hike, Cool River

Today we were going to go back to Old Faithful and do a hike, but we had a hard time getting there. Everyone stops for wildlife in Yellowstone. Which is understandable, but it makes for some traffic issues.

Our first sighting was some elk. I got a picture of this female one that was collared.

But the real traffic was caused by big male bison that that liked to walk right in the road.

Here you see one being "herded" by a police car.

We eventually made it to the Old Faithful area where we started our 3 mile hike to see lots of hot springs, geysers, and pools.

Here is the kids in front of Castle Geyser.

The mid point of the hike was Morning Glory Pool:

We happened upon Beauty Pool which seemed appropriate for Emily:

Clark and Blake were excited to find Belgian Pool:

The hike left us tired and wanting to find some shade - so we stopped at Whiskey Flats for lunch:

Here is a good photo showing how tall the trees are.

Now for the highlight of the day! Just when the day was warmest, we stopped at the Firehole River for a swim. This is looking down on the river from the road at the top of the canyon. You can see Clark and Emily and Blake in the water in the lower center of the photo:

And more up close:

The water wasn't really warm but once you got in your body adjusted. Katie didn't like it though.

But the rest of us had a blast. I especially enjoyed going upstream a bit and floating down:

By the time we got back in the car, Kate was exhausted. She is cuddling the little bear that Grandma bought her.