| Rocky Mountain RV Campground - a Good Sam park
- 4 blocks from Yellowstone National Park's North entrance. The park provided
full hooks ups, 50/30 amp electrical service, WI-FI, cable TV with limited
channels, dog sitting service, complimentary miniature golf, laundromat,
gift store, restrooms. Tents, Screen rooms and similar structures NOT permitted
in RV Sites. $10 fee to wash your own vehicle. No clotheslines or hanging
of towels or other clothing outside. No satellites, mats, chairs on lawns.
It is requested that you retract you awing in evenings or when you are gone
due to winds that come up suddenly. A grizzly bear was seen in the campground
recently, but not while the two RV Gypsies were there. |
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Below: The
RV of the two RV Gypsies and the view from their bay windows (not so great) |
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| Below: The view from the front window of their
RV and from the back of their RV was much better than the above view from
their bay windows. |
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Yellowstone
National Park
September 5, 2009 |
| North Gate -
Yellowstone's ONLY year round entrance, - Gardiner, Montana. Gardiner
is situated in Southwest Montana, at the North Entrance to Yellowstone
National Park. The town is nestled in breath-taking Paradise Valley, with
the Yellowstone River running right through town. Gardiner has the atmosphere
of a quaint western town. |
| The Roosevelt Arch is the most famous structure
in Gardiner. The Yellowstone Entrance Gateway (Arch) was dedicated by
President Theodore Roosevelt on 24 April 1903. The arch is visible two
miles north of Gardiner on Highway 89. |
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Below: Lee Duquette liked
the tree shown below because of the hole; in it. |
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Below: Hymen Terrace |
Lee Duquette checked the temperature of the water
- "Cold"- what a surprise! |
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| For hundreds of years, people collected minerals
from Mammoth Hot Springs for white paint. These minerals contribute to the
beautiful terrace structures, along with heat provide by volcanism, a natural
plumbing system that allows hot water from underground to reach the surface,
water from rain and snow, and limestone deposited here millions of years
ago when a vast sea covered this area. |
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| Below: The 37 foot tall Liberty Cap
- a dormant hot springs cone estimated to be 2,500 years old, and
created by a hot spring that was active in one location for a long time.
Its internal pressure was enough to raise the water to a great height, allowing
mineral deposits to build slowly for hundreds of years. Liberty Cap was
named in 1871 because it resembled the pealed knit caps symbolizing freedom
and liberty during the French Revolution. |
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Below:
Opal Terrace - Maximum water temperature here is 165
degrees Fahrenheit. Glad the water Lee touched earlier wasn't hot like
this. |
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Below: Karen Duquette thought
this part of Opal Terrace looked like pumpkins. |
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Below: Killdeer (a type
of bird) nest on bare ground and will call in alarm if visitors are too
close by. |
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| Below: Karen Duquette
loved photographing the texture and color in this area. Thermophiles (heat-loving
microorganisms) create tapestries of color where hot water flows among the
terraces. Colorless and yellow thermophiles grow in the hottest water. Orange,
brown and green thermophiles thrive in cooler waters. Colors also change
with the season. |
Below: Devil's
Thumb at Mammoth Hot Springs |
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| Below: Great
colors and texture |
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Below: Minerva Terraces |
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Below:
A mountain, overlook, and lots of stairs for the two RV Gypsies to climb
up. |
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Below: view from the top
of the same overlook |
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Below: Looking down the
cliff at Golden Gate |
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