Odometer: 54,300

Time: 08:30

After breakfast, we fill our Jeep up on gasoline and then follow the signs to West Yellowstone. HWY 20 leads mostly through farmland until about 50 miles before Yellowstone, from there a lot of Recreation areas and Stateparks at lakes and in forests are to found to the left and to the right of the road.

Arriving in West Yellowstone, a small very touristic village with about 350 people (permanent residents) and lots of hotels and motels, we look for a room for the night.

Once we have a room we continue into the Park. The weather has been predicted to be lousy. Sofar it’s been cloudy with some sunshine so we feel lucky.

Only a few miles into the park a lot of cars stop and park along the road. We look around and soon also see the Bald Eagle (Weisskopfseeadler) up in its nest high up in a burned tree. She has a baby, which is looking out of the nest as well. Later we see some Elks (Hirsche) and Buffalos (one of them actually is walking on the road, once on the left lane then on the right lane, there is nothing the visitors can do than be patient and let it go its way. The Elks we see are quite close to the road as well and do not leave the impression of beeing disturbed by all the cars and the noise. They are very alert but not too shy.

In Madison we turn north towards Norris. We stop at several geyser sights and take walks around them. The smell of sulfur is everywhere and the steamclouds of the hotsprings are blown around by the upcoming winds. It is breathtaking what mother nature has to offer in this specific part of the world. It makes you feel very close to the inside of this planet and raises the awareness of the energies that can be/are set free through volcanoes, geysers and earthquakes (there are about 2000 earthquakes in Yellowstone every year). Mother earth is alive!

At the Norris Geyser Basin we get hit by a thunderstrom and decide to return to the Motel as it is already after 4:00 pm anyway and the sky doesn’t seem to clear up again. We will be back tomorrow!

Overnight Stay: Moose Creek Motel, West Yellowstone, MT

Dinner: Wild West Pizzeria