A week in Wyoming - Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks

We spent the 4th of July in Riverton, WY (Rendezvous City) on our way to Yellowstone. There were no fireworks...and the restaurants were closed so we stocked up at Wal-Mart and had a feast in our motel room. The next day we made our way to Grand Teton National Park and did part of the Jenny Lake hike. The girls enjoyed wading in String Lake. We then made our way to the south entrance of Yellowstone and camped 3 nights at Grant Campground and then 2 nights at Canyon Village campground. On our first full day in Yellowstone we tackled Old Faithful and the surrounding geyser basins. The highlights were grand prismatic spring and the colorful hot springs. We also hiked to Mystic Falls. Day 2 took us to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and the upper and lower falls with a steep hike to Red Rock Point. Day 3 we went to Norris and saw the largest active geyser (Steamboat geyser). Although we saw a "minor" eruption, it was very impressive. We learned all about geysers, hot springs, mud pools, fumeroles and other geothermal features. We also saw heaps of Bison. Day 4 was wildlife day. We saw a grizzly bear, a black bear with 3 cubs, 2 mule deer, and another mama bear with 2 cubs swimming (and all before 9am!) We made our way to Mammoth Hot Springs were there were elk throughout the town and Joshua saw a bald eagle. We walked all around the hot springs and marvelled at the gold, orange and white coloring. On our way back, we saw another grizzly which you can see way behind us in the photo (good thing Juliet wasn't our official lookout!). We left the park and enjoyed the Beartooth Highway scenic drive (which took us into Montana). We stopped at the Battle of Little Bighorn National Monument before making our way to our motel in Wyoming. The girls hung in there with the 5 consecutive nights of camping and the gobs of people there for 4th of July week. The photos are not in order but they capture some of what we saw and did!