Yellowstone National Park - All good things must end

The Roosevelt Arch

When our stay ended at Bridge Bay, we wanted to spend more time in the park, but I didn't want to try to get a reservation. At most visitors centers they know the fill times the previous day at all of the campgrounds in the park. I had my heart set on Mammoth CG which is at the extreme northwest corner of the park. I asked a ranger at the visitor center at Canyon when Mammoth had been filling. He said “Mammoth? You want to go to Mammoth? You ever been to Mammoth?” Like why the heck would you want to go there? Well actually we have been to Mammoth CG. We spent 5 nights there in May 2011 on our way to Alaska and enjoyed it very much thank you. Mammoth is a little different. It's about 1400 feet lower elevation than those campgrounds in the interior and it is less wooded and has more sagebrush. Actually Mammoth has a lot going for it.

1. Mammoth Hot Springs is gorgeous.
   
2. You can always see elk at Mammoth. They actually have a “wildlife resource ranger” whose sole job is to move orange cones and barricades around town to keep tourists away as the resident elk cross the street and move to different parts of the village.
   
3. It is the historic entrance to Yellowstone and the location of Fort Yellowstone, where the cavalry were stationed in the early years of the park as they provided order and protected the park from poachers. It is park headquarters and just a happenin' place.
   
4. It is close to Gardiner MT, where you can buy relatively cheap fuel and groceries.
   
5. It has good Verizon cellular (Internet) service.
   
6. Mammoth Hot Springs is gorgeous.
   
   
   
   
   

Elk on the lawns

 





The campground at Mammoth generally fills later than the other first-come camp grounds, usually mid afternoon and has a lot of large pull-though sites. We felt there was little risk of not getting a site if we got there early. We left Bridge Bay about 8:00 AM and checked into Mammoth about 9:30. No problem.

Our camp at Mammoth

Elk taking their daily evening stroll through our camp

While at Mammoth we explored the northern areas of the park: Lamar Valley, Tower/Roosevelt area, Norris and Madison. We went into Gardiner a few times for fuel and groceries. We have a washer/dryer on board, but we have been without electric, water and sewer since July1, so we visited the Wash Tub to do some laundry.

You just don't see that back home

Way too close!

I wonder how these guys got here?

Gibbon Falls

Tower Falls

Yellowstone River at Tower Creek

We have been in Yellowstone for 17 nights, the last 10 at Mammoth CG. When we first got here we had planned a much shorter visit, and then we would move into Montana and spend time in Glacier National Park. However, getting a camp site on the east side of Glacier, which was where we wanted to be, was looking to be difficult. They didn't take reservations at any of those camp grounds and larger sites were limited. At some point we made the decision to skip Glacier and spend more time in Yellowstone. Once that decision was made a cloud and a burden seemed to be lifted from us, and we knew we had chosen wisely.

Mystic Falls

But now the time has come to move on. Tomorrow we must leave Yellowstone and begin working our way eastward.

Our camp at Mammoth CG