Yellowstone Day 1

We were so excited for our trip to Yellowstone in 2025! At the last minute we decided to add most of a day by booking a hotel in West Yellowstone. This meant that we could drive on Friday and start Yellowstone early Saturday rather than late. We even hiked into the park via Riverside Trail on Friday night after we checked into the hotel. We didn’t see much, but we were happy to be in our favorite place in the world. 

We found a dead tree that made for a funny walking stick.

Seth and I were laughing at how far ahead Mark was from everyone else. 

Our hotel was right across the street from the Yellowstone boundary. We loved it!

By 7:45 we were through the gate and driving to our first hike. This was a new 4 mile hike called Grizzly Lake, and it’s located just south of Mammoth. There was a bit of a climb, but the area was so beautiful, and we were so ready to be back, that we hardly noticed. We didn’t see a lot of wildlife, but we did spot a snowshoe hare. Finally, we arrived at the overlook for the lake. 

Lots of pretty views along this trail. 

There were some bison across the meadow.

We saw a lovely mountain bluebird.

This marmot kept peeking at us with his stick!

The snowshoe hare

We saw elk way across the lake.

Lots of ground squirrels on this trail, too.

Our favorite downy woodpecker

Mom and Dad really liked this trail.

Mom loved the flowers.

We made it!

We were surprised out how large, and how far down it was. But we hiked to the bottom and stood on the shore. We even walked out on the logs that blocked the outlet, looking for fish, toads, or ducks. On the way back, we spotted a marmot colony. There were probably a dozen marmots, and as we were standing there laughing at the babies trying to scurry over a log, we spotted two beautiful weasels slinking along the rocks. We don’t often see weasels, so we were excited.

We made it to the lake shore.

We couldn't believe how big Grizzly Lake is.

Seth balancing on the logs.

Mark will be missing Yellowstone trips for a while.

Miraculously, we found a parking spot in Mammoth near Beaver Ponds trailhead. Mom made sandwiches, and we started up what has become our favorite hike in Yellowstone. As usual, there were a lot of animals. We saw white-tailed deer with a baby, several elk, and a lot of birds. There were lazuli-buntings, and Mark identified 4 types of woodpeckers (three-toed, Williamson’s sapsucker, northern flicker, and hairy). Of course, by the end of that 5.5 mile hike we were really dragging. We treated ourselves with ice cream in Mammoth.

We love the Beaver Ponds Hike.

Can you see the fawn laying in the grass?

Her mom moved her because we seemed suspicious.

Some kind of woodpecker.

The lazuli bunting was beautiful!

Mom took pictures with all the flowers this trip!

Seth and Mom always bringing up the rear.

Great picture of Mark and Dad.

We are all happy in Yellowstone, except Seth. Just kidding...he just wasn't ready for the picture.

I warned you about all the flower pictures.

We saw an elk right near the end of the trail.

Also, Big Foot!

After checking into the cabin in Roosevelt we grabbed dinner in the lodge there. The waitress brought out pictures she’d taken over the last few weeks, and as we flipped through, she told us where to find things. We were most excited about the coyote den with the pups. 

After dinner, we went out for a drive through Lamar Valley. It was pretty quiet, and we only saw a pair of coyotes. Back toward Tower Junction, we finally spotted a black bear on the side of the road. 

One of the coyotes we spotted.

And another!

Look at this beautiful buck!

The black bear was right by the road. 

We got some great pictures of him!

That night was a cold one in the cabin. We started a fire and snuggled up. The room had three double beds, and we’d brought extra blankets, but we were still surprised when we woke up on the summer solstice to snow!