Yellowstone has been on my to-see list for a while. 2020 has been weird, and was hesitant to travel for a while. I broke.

I hadn’t seen family for a while, and thought a drive to Colorado with stops in Yellowstone and Glacier is exactly what I needed.

Day 1

The plan was to get to Colorado from Seattle ASAP, which means a long drive to stop at Nampa, ID. Planned to drive via the Columbia River Gorge. It’s gorge-ous! xD

Stopped at Mosier Twin Tunnels, took a detour via a random canyon and saw a ton of windmills next to the stone henges in Washington state. The stone henges makes me curious to see the real deal.

Day 2

The smoke from the california wildfires had made it’s way to Oregon but I pressed on. Another day of driving. First stop was by Shoshone Falls, also known as Niagara of the West and I can see why. Apparently, this place had a bunch of gold deposits, and was mined extensively during the gold rush. Perrier Bridge was a sight to see! Another interesting spot in Idaho was the city of rocks. It’s the place to be if you love to rock-climb! Strange rock formations all around.

Before my stay at Vernal, UT, I stopped by the state capitol at Salt Lake City. The AirBNB for the night was in the middle of nowhere - no communications. Yes, I learnt that I’m addicted to the internet. F*c$!

Day 3

Started my day to a beautiful walk by the Edge of the Rim at Flaming Gorges (while Cali was literally in flames, uh oh). Next stop was St. Mary’s glacier in Colorado. On the way, I noticed a sign that said “Wild Horses, Sand Wash Basin”, so headed off to an off road adventure and saw a couple of wild horses <3. Proceeded to St Mary’s Glacier (pretty crowded) after the adventure before reaching Boulder! :)

Day 4

The 1500 mile drive over three days pretty much knocked me out, so I didn’t do much except a small hike at Rim Rocks.

This was also a day I’ll remember for other reasons. Do you see fractals on the carpet?

Day 5

Hadn’t completely recovered yet, so I did another hike. This one was harder due to my semi-broken ankle and the heat. Also, ran out of water during the hike - Boulder summers can get extremely dry. Relaxed at a fancy tea house after the hike. :)

Day 6

Another relaxing day - read a bit of “A brief history of time” before strolling next to a lake and eating some vegan ice cream :D

Day 7

Time to head towards Billings, MT to start my Yellowstone adventure. Stopped at Little Bighorn memorial and pictograph rocks (ancient tribal graffiti) before crashing for the night.

Day 8

Easily the highlight of my trip. I started my day by driving via Beartooth pass - probably the best way to enter YellowStone - the pass by itself is very pretty with awe-inspiring views and glacial lakes everywhere.

The pass leads into Yellowstone via Lamar Valley which is the go-to place to view wild Bisons. I saw some up close - about 10 ft. away! They seem peaceful but wouldn’t want to mess with an animal with a young one nearby!

After the Bison adventures, stopped by my first ever sight of hot springs at Mammoth geyser basin! After soaking that in, I proceeded to see Norris Geyser Basin. I guess I got incredibly lucky because as soon as I got there, Steamboat Geyser a rare (once in ~6 days) geyser erupted! I could feel the thunderous rush of water around me. It was nothing like I had ever seen. Ever. I also met someone who waited two days to witness this! Apart from the geyser, Norris Geyser basin is home to a number of colorful pools and springs.

My next destination was the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. When you see the canyon, you’ll immediately identify how Yellowstone got its name! The canyon is made out of… yellow… stones.

Day 9

Another day of interesting sights in Yellowstone. I can’t even count the number of springs, pools and geysers I saw this day! Also, paint pots are weird - ever witnessed boiling mud? Me neither, until now. I got to witness Old Faithful Geyser go off, but I guess witnessing Steamboat the day before ruined this one - old faithful was much smaller in comparison. No complaints though! :)

Finally, grand prismatic springs in the middle of the day looks out of this world! <3

Day 10

My sister warned me not to go to Glacier National Park if my ankle was broken. I completely ignored that, haha. The drive, going-to-the-sun road was intentionally built to blend into nature, and is one of the most scenic drive I’ve had. I also stopped by a couple of waterfall hikes - Baring falls and St Mary’s falls. Finally, took a stroll through “trail of the cedars”. :)

Going to the sun and glacier national park 1

Going to the sun and glacier national park 2

Going to the sun and glacier national park 3

Going to the sun and glacier national park 4

Going to the sun and glacier national park 5

Going to the sun and glacier national park 6

Going to the sun and glacier national park 7

Day 11

I stayed at a boat the previous night at Spokane (it was on land though)! At this point my brain was pretty much done and wanted to get back. Along the way back, I stopped by “Wild Horse Monument” - a bunch of artistic metal horses on top of a hill.