Vacation Trip to Montana and Yellowstone National Park

A week long trip exploring parts of Montana, including Lewis and Clark Caverns as well as parts of Yellowstone National Park.


The adventure begins as we head up from the prairie into the mountains of northern Montana on Highway 49.


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Looking back across the foothills to the east as we enter the mountains.

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Beautiful rolling landscape!

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Right at the edge of where the big mountains begin.

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Another nice eastern view.

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Interesting patterns in the vegetation.

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A view of Lower Two Medicine Lake.

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It looks a bit stormy back there!

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Good thing we're heading towards the sunshine!

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Looking down MacDonald Pass towards Helena.

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It was a very nice day for travelling.

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We enjoyed a beautiful sunset while we were relaxing at the Lewis and Clark Caverns campground at the end of the day.


Next up: Exploring Lewis and Clark Caverns!

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Another beautiful day as we prepare to enter the caves.

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There were two large groups of bats spending the day a short distance inside the cave.

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A few interesting formations.

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Hundreds and hundreds of small stalactites on the ceiling here.

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A wall slowly being formed over thousands of years.

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This almost looks like there is a potter made of stone, molding things out of clay!

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Two large stone columns guard the passageway to the stairs.

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A beautiful mini-cathedral of stalactites.

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Another amazing scene!

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And beside the stairs, a stunning sculpted wall.

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Over the stairs and back down to the next room of wonders.

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A garden of large stalagmites.

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The galleries stretched on and on.

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This is the base of a massive column two feet across that had fallen thousands of years ago.

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The two figures near the back of the flat rock are known as Romeo and Juliet.


Continue down for more cavern pictures.

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A huge wall of beauty.

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The base of a broken off stalactite shows the rings of centuries of growth.

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Many stalactites were damaged and removed as souvenirs when the caves were first being explored.

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This view deep into a section of the cave looks like a doorway for mice!

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Side passages full of amazing formations were everywhere.

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The water in this underground pool is stained green because people used to throw pennies into it for good luck.

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It seemed like the incredible views never ended.

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This poor bat died in the cavern many years ago and is slowly becoming part of the cave rock itself.

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This room was amazing everywhere you looked!!

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All of these stalactites were broken when a tunnel was blasted through the rock to allow better access to the caverns. You can see there are new tips that have grown on to the broken ends in the decades since they were damaged.

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These formations almost look like castles on an island.

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This one could be a city skyline.

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These steps have been worn smooth by many explorers before us.

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And now we emerge back into the bright sunlight, in awe at such a beautiful and amazing experience!


Now on to the next day touring part of northern Yellowstone National Park and the Beartooth Highway.

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Shortly after we entered the park through the north gate, we passed this girl grazing peacefully beside the road.

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As we traveled further east, we began to see a few bison.

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They were pretty close to the road.

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Soon we were passing bigger and bigger herds.

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Eventually there were many hundreds and hundreds of animals, dwindling to tiny dots in the distance of the river valley.

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After leaving Yellowstone through the northeast gate, we begin our journey along the Beartooth Highway. Here is a view of Pilot Peak and Index Peak looking back towards the park.

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The road is climbing steeply here on it's way to Beartooth Pass.

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Looking back towards the mountains to the south.

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The elevation at Beartooth Pass is almost 11,000 feet!

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A beautiful mountain meadow.

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It was a nice sunny day for this trip.

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Pretty little mountain lake.

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The wildflowers were all in bloom.

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A little friend beside the road!

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The road meandered up the mountain in a series of switchbacks.

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The view from the top of the pass was amazing.

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It really felt like we were on top of the world.


On the next day we checked out some more of the amazing sights in Yellowstone National Park.

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Our first stop was at the the Artists Paintpots area.

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There was lots of thermal activity here.

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Pretty colors.

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A bubbling mud cauldron. The big bubble on the right is just starting to burst.

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Amazing that plants can survive in this harsh environment.

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Zoie was sure enjoying the sights.

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Next we traveled to see the famous Old Faithful geyser. We waited in anticipation.

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And there it was, right on time!

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We took a short walk in the Biscuit Basin area.

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The Sapphire Pool.

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The Firehole River.

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This is water draining from the Grand Prismatic Spring.

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Heading up the walkway to the spring.

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The colors are amazing.

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Beautiful!

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A lake of steaming, boiling water.

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The Grand Prismatic Spring in all it's colorful glory.

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A rainbow of colors.

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The Great Fountain Geyser.

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The Pink Cone Geyser.

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On our way out of the park we came upon a big grizzly bear eating grubs from rotten wood.


Now for a few pictures of the area around Emigrant, Montana and then back to Yellowstone.

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Here is a tiny Mountain Cottontail rabbit. These guys were very small and cute, plentiful in the area.

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Looking east at the town of Emigrant and beyond.

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This area had a forest fire go through it some years ago.

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A nice winding gravel road through the hills.

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Back in Yellowstone near Tower Falls.

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Pretty purple flowers.

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Looking east from the slopes of Mt. Washburn.

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The upper falls at the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

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Looking down the canyon.

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Another view of the falls.

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This almost looks like a den in the side of the cliff.

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There were some Osprey flying down the canyon.

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Soon we spotted a nest, with one bird minding the eggs and the other on guard duty.

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It was difficult to get a clear shot of these fast moving birds in flight.

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There many different colors in the layers of rock that the river had carved out of the Yellowstone caldera over the eons.

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Here is a Mountain Bluebird perched on a delicately balanced rock below us in the canyon.

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Some interesting formations seen from above.

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A range of interesting textures and contrasts here.

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Another view of the different colors.

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The Yellowstone River as it flows through to the edge of the caldera of the Yellowstone Volcano.

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Looking west back towards the upper falls.

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This guy was relaxing a short distance away in the trees.

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This tree looks like it is getting ready to just walk away!


Finally, travelling through Western Montana on our way home.

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Zoie with her cousin Margaret who graciously hosted us for this trip.

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On our way home we passed through the Earthquake Lake area.

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The lake was formed in 1959 when an earthquake caused part of a mountain to collapse, damming the Madison River.

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After all these years the flooded trees still stand in the water.

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This is a picture of Skalkaho Falls on the Skalkaho Highway.

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We had a lot of fun driving this narrow road.

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Our next stop was at the Garden of One Thousand Buddhas.

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It was very peaceful here.

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Om mani padme hum.

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The Buddha garden.

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Further on beside the Flathead River.

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Looking upstream.

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We stopped for the night near Thompson Falls.

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It was a beautiful evening.

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On our last day we stopped in at the Ross Creek Cedars Scenic Area.

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There was a beautiful walking path through the enormous trees.

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It was wonderfully peaceful and relaxing.

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The trees were amazing.

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The huge tree in the distance burned in a forest fire many years ago.

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It was as big as a telephone booth inside.

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This tree was once such a massive giant!

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I could almost live in here!!

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What a crash this would have made when it fell!

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There were so many huge trees.

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Amazing!

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So much majestic beauty.

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I wonder who might be living under these roots?

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Strolling through paradise!

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Lots of vegetation living on the dead trees.

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A beautiful ending for our trip. We hope that you enjoyed our photos!


Thank you for sharing in our trip, see you on our next adventure!