Final Graduation Season Trip to the American West Day 3 – Yellowstone National Park 1

Note: This series contains a lot of rambling descriptions of the itinerary, but also many pictures. You can choose to selectively ignore the rambling or view it only by pictures (it's truly beautiful).

I had planned to go to Signal Mountain to watch the sunrise today, but I overslept and had to give up. Grand Teton National Park seemed pretty relaxing, and there wasn't much to do. I drove south (on the same route) to Jenny Lake, which is very close to several snow-capped mountains. The scenery was beautiful, and many people camped there.

After the visit, we headed to Yellowstone National Park, about an hour's drive away. Upon arrival, we went to the visitor center to pick up a map and marked a few locations based on our previous research. Actually, I suggest that you don't need to prepare any itinerary in advance. Just get a map, draw some pictures, and plan your trip on the fly, because the roads in Yellowstone are all straight, and the attractions are just along the way; you can visit them as you pass by.

Entering from the South Gate, the first thing you see is Lewis Lake. From here, you can truly feel the natural beauty of Yellowstone. The recent heavy snowfall made this place even more unforgettable.

By the way, there's no cell phone signal once you enter Yellowstone, so you'll need GPS for navigation. The GPS doesn't need to be excellent, just functional. (Looking at the map, you'll see it's actually quite easy to navigate, as the roads don't have many forks; you just need to know which way to go at a few turns.)

Continue driving forward, there are several viewing platforms with nice scenery. Entering from the south gate, perhaps because of the high altitude, there is snow everywhere, and the scenery is very beautiful.

We arrived in Old Faithful around 1 PM, quickly grabbed something to eat, and then headed to the attractions. By the way, aside from a few small towns along the Yellowstone route, there are practically no places to eat, refuel, or shop. So, enjoy your food while you can!

After lunch, we started our spree of visiting the attractions one by one. In order, we visited: Lower Geyser Basin, Biscuit Basin, Midway Geyser Basin, Fountain Paint Pot, and Madison. We missed Grand Fountain Geyser, Black Geyser Basin, and Long Star Geyser. The first two were closed due to road construction, and we planned to visit the latter on the third day because we didn't want to backtrack. Madison was a camping spot, but it didn't seem to offer much in terms of activities. The other classic sites were all unique geological wonders. Here are the pictures:

On the way back from the west gate, we encountered herds of cattle and deer; the scenery was quite beautiful.

We arrived in the town of West Yellowstone in the evening. It's a bustling town (relatively speaking, a tourist area), with KFC, McDonald's, supermarkets, gas stations, various hotels, and even a Chinatown, but it's also quite desolate, giving it a distinctly Western feel. My sense of security dropped significantly while resting there. I checked online and didn't see any complaints about safety, so I figured I could sleep soundly tonight.

Ximen is really a great place to rest; it has everything, and the Chinese food is excellent.