Fishing Bridge--Yellowstone 8/5/2016

We left West Yellowstone today  and headed for our campsite at Fishing Bridge in the center of Yellowstone. The park is so big, that it's easier to explore (with less driving) by moving to different areas of the park. The places in Yellowstone we've visited so far on this trip have been on the west side. Now we move to the center-east.

Even though the distance is relatively short (56 miles), it took 2+ hours  to travel. Like Colter Bay in Teton, our campground is for hard-sided Rvs only, no tents, pop-ups or canvas sided campers allowed. It's bear country, and the campground makes a point of telling you to practice safe food storage, and not to leave anything with an odor outside your RV.

Our site is fine, although the road to access it was probably the worst we have encountered--ever. This dirt road wasn't just bumpy, it was undulating, covered with potholes that were at least 6 to 12" deep. The road was so bad that the clasp holding our bedroom door open broke from the jostling. We traveled the road going as slow as we could but still moving forward. We had unhooked the car before we went up the road and I drove the car in 1st gear.

Once we were settled in and had lunch, we ventured out to see a bit of the area. We are close to the Yellowstone River and canyon, so we drove north to the falls, stopping at a few scenic sites along the way. But the highlight of the day came at Artist Point on South Rim Drive, that revealed one of the most beautiful views I have ever seen--Yellowstone River canyon up to the falls. This was one of those emotionally affecting moments, when you are confronted by the spiritual beauty of nature, the grandeur of what God has made. If you have never come to this particular place, please put it on your to-do list. As Americans, this belongs to all of us.

Artist Point view

As we were leaving Artist Point, we were intrigued by the name of a trail--Sublime Point. How could we resist? So we started up the trail that took us along a ridge running along the edge of the

Yellowstone Canyon. Fantastic colors in the rocks, spectacular views up and down the canyon to the

View from the Sublime Trail

river.

After dinner, near sunset, we decided to take a drive back up along the meadows along the river. We stopped at LeHardys Rapids, a lovely area on the river where the river bed drops a little bit, throwing water against the rocks and creating

white water. This is considered to be the geological boundary of Yellowstone Lake. In June and early July, you can see native Cutthroat trout leaping in the air, working their way up the river to spawn. Sometime we'll have to come back to see that.

More photos here: https://goo.gl/photos/wqgwAoKS2WKcprs58