Woke up ready to go! Breakfast at Obsidian again, and we started out fairly early to hopefully avoid some traffic as we drove north to the other end of the park. We were starting off at Mammoth Hot Springs, and the only bad traffic we encountered was in a minor construction traffic jam.
We went first to the Upper Terraces. Parking was a bit tricky, but we continued our streak of getting there just in time to avoid the really bad crowds and got a space. These travertine terraces are both beautiful and so unlike anything else I've ever seen! I kept saying they were almost otherworldly! According to the signs and books, it is different every time you come as they are constantly evolving.
After the Upper trail, we attempted to do the Lower trail but our parking luck ran out and that lot was packed. You can actually go from the upper to lower on a very long staircase but two of us have some knee issues, and they weren't up for that many stairs that day. Plus, it was lunchtime and we were hungry! We stopped at the Mammoth Hotel Dining Room for a terrific lunch. I had the elk sliders and they were fantastic. The views from their dining room were terrific. Plus we were there around 11am and it was not yet crowded at all, so it was very relaxing. We drove around Mammoth Hot Springs a bit, but then headed to Lamar Valley.
Lamar Valley is apparently more active with wildlife in the morning, but we saw tons in the early afternoon anyway in spite of the heat.
We left Lamar Valley and went over to Tower Falls to check it out before returning to Roosevelt Lodge closer to dinner time. There is a pretty big parking lot at Tower Falls, but it was still nearly full since it was still around lunchtime (it was maybe 130pm when we were there.
We went back west to Roosevelt Lodge as we only had 30-60 minutes before our meetup time at the stables. We got ice cream and hung out at the Lodge front porch until it was time to make our way to the stables at the bottom of the hill.
It was finally time for the Roosevelt Chuckwagon Diner. We checked in at the stables (the entrance is just west of the lodge entrance. Once you check in at the window, there's a large area behind the checkin office where everyone gathers and sits until time to go. They send off the people going on horseback first, and then the wranglers get the horses hitched to the covered wagons. We were in a covered wagon so we waited a bit. One note, there are bathrooms and a place to get a drink at the stables. Use the bathroom here! the single bathroom out at the dinner area is very rustic and there are limited facilities.
We finally set off in our wagon for a fun ride across the area right by where we saw the black bear earlier.
We arrived at an outpost type structure with food ready to go and many picnic tables. The dinner was terrific and fairly orderly considering the number of people. I especially liked the ranch beans! Afterwards, we sang some cowboy songs and headed back. While singing we spotted a bear up on the ridge and watched it go by. All in all this experience was well worth it. I would definitely do it again. Tip: this books up early! try to book it as soon as it opens to ensure you get a spot!
We returned to the stables via the wagon and headed south back to our cabin at the Snow Lodge. We saw a few bighorn sheep up on a hill on the way home, but were driving so didn't get a picture.
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