West Trip Day 14: Move to Canyon campground

Sunday, June 27

Today we stopped at a geyser area called Artist Paint Pots. This area is so named because the hot springs are filled with many colors like the pallet of a painter.

While there we watched a mud pot that gurgled as gases flowed up through it. Luke was hit with mud as some of the mud spewed a bit farther than normal.

Today we moved to our new campsite at Canyon campground. As we approached the campground we ran in to a line of cars caused by a "bison jam."

One of the perks of Canyon Campground was that they had pay showers. It had been since Wednesday (4 days) since we’d showered and everyone was really looking forward to getting clean. Believe it or not, I didn't feel that gross not showering. The air is so dry out there that your skin stays very dry and you don't sweat very much. In addition, most days were very cool. Still, I warned the person I paid for the shower that it was possible that we would clog up the drains from all of our grease and dirt. We all took a double shower and felt much better.

Hot showers! Hallelujah!

Freshly cleaned, we visited Canyon ‘s Visitor’s center. While there, the power went out so we decided to do some shopping for some food. By the time we had gathered everything we wanted to buy, the cash registers stopped working because of the power outage. One of the people there had to write down the upc code for each item and look up the price. At the register, a girl used a solar calculator to figure our total. It took forever, but we got it done.

That night we drove to Hayden Valley and saw elk, bison, even a grizzly bear. As we came to one area, there was a big slow down of cars and a park ranger with her lights on. The park ranger was controlling and monitoring a crowd of people trying to get a look at the grizzly bear. I climbed up on a hill to get a better look.

These weren't the bear we saw, but aren't they cute?

Right after we saw the grizzly, we stopped at a spot called Mud Volcano. It was a boardwalk trail through some hot springs and mud pots. At the end, we came upon a spot where 3 bison where grazing. We were nearly boxed in as they moved toward us. At one point a bison scratched itself on a lodge pole pine. We could see the tree swaying back and forth.

The were no vehicles or guard rails to protect us here.

That night we cooked pizza pies over the campfires. It was another great day.