Scenery of Glacier, Yellowstone & GT

Arrived in Glacier National Park and after setting up the RV, we took a hike to St. Mary falls.
and Virginia Falls.

The next day we drove the "Going to the Sun" road to Logan Pass. This is St. Mary lake with Wild Goose Island.
This is the Logan Pass Visitor Center.

From Logan Pass we hiked the Highline trail which passes through some fantastic scenery.
These are views from the trail.

Then after the Highline trail, we did a short hike to Triple Falls which was currently a single falls as the water levels were low. When we got back from this hike, we were busted by a Park Ranger as the area around Triple Falls was a closed area which we didn't realize. Seemed like he wanted to haul us off to jail but he finally let us go.

The next day we did a hike to Grinnell Glacier. Weather was gorgeous!!

This is the lake with the glacier above it.

The following day we woke up to cloudy weather at St. Mary. So we decided to drive the "Going to the Sun" road to Lake McDonald hoping the weather was better on the other side of Logan Pass. Turned out to be hot and sunny on the Lake McDonald side and we took a boat tour of the lake.

After the boat tour, we took a hike to Sacred Dancing Cascade. The first photo is from this trip. The second photo was taken the last time we were in Glacier NP in 2015.

After Glacier NP, we drove to the North entrance to Yellowstone National Park and stayed at Mammoth Hot Springs for several days. Mammoth Hot Springs is an example of travertine depositing hot springs. The water temperature maxes out at 163 degrees. At any given time, about 10% of the water in the Mammoth Hot Springs system is on the surface, 90% is underground.

Palette Spring
Notice the footsteps? They look human but that water is too hot, must be bison.

Canary Spring

New Highland Terrace

We hiked the Beaver Ponds trail and saw beaver dams, lots of elk, and 2 Great Grey Owls.

Undine Falls and Tower Falls.

After Mammoth, we drove to Madison Campground in the middle of the park and explored the Old Faithful Geyser area. Lots of bison everywhere!!

Hiked to Fairy Falls which plunges 220 feet.

The hike back from Fairy Falls goes alongside the Firehole River.

More bison!

This is the view right next to the Madison campground where we were staying.

Another view of the Firehole River closer to our campground.

No trip to Yellowstone is complete without seeing Yellowstone Falls and the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. The Grand Canyon is 20 miles in length, more than 1000 ft deep, and 1,500 to 4,000 ft wide. This is the lower falls which is 308 ft.

Notice the platform to the right at the top of the falls, you can hike to this platform on the Brink of the Lower Falls trail.

Brink of the Lower Falls platform.

Notice the staircase down to this viewpoint, called Red Rock Point.

The upper falls drop 109 ft.

Another view of the Firehole River seen on my hike to Lone Star Geyser.

Hiked the Mt. Washburn Trail to the fire lookout at the top of the mountain.

After Yellowstone, we drove over the Continental Divide to the Grand Teton National Park. We woke up to cloudy skies and soon ran into falling snow! Then rain. Drove to the Colter Bay campground.

This is the Colter Bay marina on the afternoon of our arrival. Cloudy and cold but no more rain.

Colter Bay marina the next day, weather was sunny and warm.

This is Oxbow bend turnout, one of the most photographed sites in the Grand Tetons. Beautiful view of the Grand Tetons and Mt. Moran with the Snake river in the foreground. This was taken the first afternoon we arrived.

Same shot the next day when the skies were a lot clearer.

Same shot the following day when I realized there was no wind and the water was smooth as glass.

A lot of trails and one road was closed due to bear activity.

Jackson lake and the Grand Tetons.

Ansel Adams took this photo of the Grand Tetons and the Snake river on this spot in 1942.

Here's my photo of the same spot, a little different because the trees are bigger.

We took a boat tour of Jackson Lake.

Hiked the trail to Taggart and Bradley lakes.

Taggart lake.

Bradley lake.

Had to add this photo. This is from our last trip to the Grand Tetons, it was August 31st!!

We left the Grand Tetons one day early because the forecast was for snow and cold temps. We visited the Valley of Fire State Park about 45 minutes north of Las Vegas on the way home. Hiked the Fire Wave trail to see this unusual rock formation that looks like a curling wave.

Lots of petroglyphs here.

We hiked the Mouses Tank trail named for an outlaw who used the area as a hideout in the 1890s.

Nice campground with hookups.

Very nice sunrise on our last day before heading home.