Return to Mammoth Springs

Yellowstone, August 2014
Day 3

Since we were so close to Mammoth Springs, we went to it again early in the morning.

 Artist Paint Pots

Steamboat Geyser:

She tripped and wasn't very happy about it

Searching for a Campsite

Yellowstone, August 2014, Day 2

Several campgrounds are first-come-first-served, and you can't reserve them in advance.  On our first night we had a reserved campground at Madison.  The plan the second night was to stay at Indian Creek campground, which is a FCFS campsite.  Early in the day, while Emily, Zuri and I were at Mammoth Springs, J went over to Indian Creek to reserve our campsite, however, when he got there he found that they weren't open until later in the day.

We went to a few other attractions, taking our time.  When we made our way back to Indian Creek, the campground was full.  We checked a few other nearby campgrounds and discovered they were also full.  Looking at the map, we decided to try a campground way off the normal route, but it would take some time to get there.  So we drove.  We enjoyed the scenery, since it wasn't part of the park we had seen previously, but the drive got long.  We didn't even make it all the way to the campground before realizing the distance was more than we cared for, so we turned around and headed back.

Reaching Mammoth Hot Springs, we were really getting worried about where we were going to sleep, and attempted one last try, and we got lucky--one spot was available!  It was on a rock pad, but we didn't care.  Emily and Zuri had the tent; J and I had been sleeping in the back of the SUV.  Emily reported that the rocks were not comfortable in the least, but we were grateful for the spot.

can you spot the chipmunk?

We discovered this little gem along the way

chipmunk

antelope

Zuri loved the campfire, and she kept dancing around the fire pit.  It was built from a large, round metal barrel.  I kept warning her to not play so closely to the fire, but she didn't pay too much attention to me.  When we were putting out the fire for the night, I had her help me by pouring some water on the coals.  She got too close to the barrel and brushed her leg against it.  She was wearing flannel pajamas and it burned a hole right through her clothes and onto her skin.  She received quite the serious burn, but she was a pretty brave trooper through the whole thing.  Thankfully, we had a first aid kit in the car, complete with burn cream and bandages. 

Mammoth Hot Springs

Yellowstone, August 2014, Day 2

Undine Falls

Tower Falls

Mammoth Hot Springs

The Orange Mound:

Such a serious look

Or maybe not!