Three Weeks in the Park come to an end

Only YNP has it's own archive and library in Gardiner, MT. The Park Service mentions a museum, but on site, run by the Nat'l Archive, it is considered something of a storage facility open to tours on a limited basis. We went to see the building and inspect the holdings ( this is what happens when you have more time than the average visitor) and found an interesting selection of books on Yellowstone and a willingness by the staff to unearth documents from the archive for specific requests. A great place to hideout in a rainstorm with terrific views from the windows facing the northern edge of the park.


The Petrified Forest is in the national forest in Montana adjacent to the north of the YNP. Ralph got us a permit to collect petrified wood, dimension not to exceed 2.5 cubic inches. We failed to find anything that large that wasn't embedded in hard lava. A grizzly -bear-phobe complained more than we did about the arduous climb on an uncertain trail through certain grizzly country for such small evidence of petrification. It was a little disappointing for collectors and photographers of wood chips, but the views were grand and the grizzlies failed to put in an appearance!




On a hot day what's a
girl to do? Go to the local watering hole and splash around with your best friends. Along with a few dozen more lady elk, these three passed a pleasant day, but blocked the trail we had selected. After enjoying the refreshing water ballet we gave up the trail and headed for our own human designated water sport area.




On the way out of the park headed west, these three graced the last meadow in the park headed for the town of West Yellowstone, MT. It was good from start to finish!

This guy is a bonus to those curious in an entomological way about YNP's smaller fauna!