(soft keyboard music) ♪ I'm riding ♪ Riding, riding ♪ Riding in my RV ♪ My RV ♪ Wherever I want to be ♪ Because I'm free
in my RV, yeah ♪ Today, we are crossing
from Idaho into Wyoming through Teton Pass. Such a beautiful area. (soft electronic music) Here we are, Wyoming.
(camera shutter snapping) We've reached the top of
the pass at 8,431 feet or 2,570 meters above sea level, but there's no oversize parking so we have nowhere
to go but down. I believe this might
be our first glimpse. Here we are, Jackson;
famous town, very touristy. A ski resort in the winter, the site of the annual Jackson
Hole Economic Symposium, and gateway to Grand Teton and
Yellowstone National Parks. Here's the town square with its famous elk antler
arches at each corner. We'll be back later, perhaps
to imbibe some craft ales or sample the local cuisine. But for now, the Tetons await. I'm gonna try to stay at
the Gros Ventre Campground, which is located near the
southern entrance to the park. I've got no reservations
and it is afternoon, but it is Sunday, so I have
a good feeling about this. Oh, look at that,
brand new pedestal. Well, this is my campsite here
at Gros Ventre Campground. It is actually
pronounced 'grow-vaunt'. Very nice. And we have
electrical, as you saw. Now, let's go explore the park. Well, I was kind of worried
that I wasn't gonna be able to find a campsite, but... As you can see, I did. Perhaps a little on the pricey
side at $55 for electric, but they also have
primitive sites for $30 and we are right here
inside the national park. And part of the appeal
of staying at Gros Ventre is that we are very
close to this dirt road called Mormon Row, from which
we are going to be able to see one of the most iconic
views of Grand Teton. It says, "Four-wheel drive or
high clearance recommended," 'or' being the key word. Yeah, because we've certainly
been on worse roads than this. Remember Death Valley? Now, in wet conditions, it
could be a different story. There it is, Le Grand Teton. A YouTuber once said that it would sound
very funny in French. So, any French
speakers out there? Well, here's where we take the iconic photograph
with the barn. We may not have
the best light here in the early afternoon, but it
is still an impressive sight. And we've all seen so many
pictures of the Tetons with the Moulton Barn
in the foreground that being here in person
is quite special actually. Let's continue going towards
the main road, US 191. - [GPS] Continue on
Antelope Flats Road for one-and-a-half miles. - Jackson Hole is
the busiest airport in the whole state of Wyoming, and I have a feeling
these pretty mountains may have something
to do with that. What have we got here? Let's stop real quick. (soft ambient music) What are you looking at? (moving into electronic music) Well, when it comes
to first impressions, Grand Teton does not disappoint. We just got here, literally,
less than an hour ago, and here's the welcoming
committee, this herd of bison. Well, timing is
everything, huh? (laughing) Let's pass by the visitor center and see what it's like in there. Maybe they have information
about the trails. I would like to do
a couple of trails. And here we are. There's a life-size
moose sculpture here and a fairly detailed
raised relief map. It wouldn't be a national
park without one, right? I want to get some
information and a trail map because tomorrow I
want to go for a hike, so I inquired about something
not too long or too strenuous. We're just gonna drive
around, drive around the park do the loop road, get the
lay of the land, as I said. Tomorrow, we're gonna do a hike. One curious fact is that as
long as you stick to this area on US 191 east of the
Snake River, it is free. But if you want to go west,
that's when you have to pay or show your annual
pass, with good reason. It is the best part of the park. This here, by the
way, is Jackson Lake, and someone recommended we
visit Jackson Lake Lodge, and that's exactly
what we're going to do. Wow. Wow, nice! Generally speaking, these
national park lodges are great if you want to take in
the sights in style. I've also been reliably informed that there is a pretty cool
bar here called the Blue Heron where you can have
an adult beverage overlooking Jackson
Lake and the Tetons. Everything seems
to be pretty full, but let's step inside
'cause you never know. But as I suspected,
the bar is full, so... We continue. (soft piano music) (reverent music) We are now on Teton Park Road, which is closed
November through May. And we are getting closer
to the mountain range, going towards Jenny Lake. There's the Grand Teton. Here we are, Jenny Lake. And on a calm day, you're
supposed to be able to see the reflection of the mountains and it is supposed
to be magical. (soft keyboard music) I think we've had enough fun
for one day, don't you think? Let's start heading back, and tomorrow we'll
continue exploring. I see some wildlife, so
let's stop real quick. The mountain looks so
great in this light. And here's our wildlife. It is said that dusk and dawn are the best times of
the day to see wildlife, and it is proving true. Spotting wildlife in
their natural habitat is definitely one
of the best things about visiting national
parks like this one, not to mention the
natural beauty. Amazing. Ooh, it looks like there
might be more wildlife here. Wow, is that a moose? A female moose. By the way, we are now very
close to the campground by the Gros Ventre River. And it's gone. Bye, moose. (water rushing) This is it, the
Gros Ventre River. And I believe we have
another wildlife sighting. Beautiful clouds
here as the sun sets. There it is. What a magnificent creature. A little too close, perhaps. Anything to get that
perfect picture, right? Actually, I'd rather
do it from here. So, thank you, Clile Allen,
for inventing the zoom lens. (soft ambient music) I almost overslept, but we're
here at the crack of dawn and it's 45 degrees. It's gonna be a
beautiful sunrise. Why am I up at this ungodly
time, you might ask. Well, not necessarily
the sunrise. You'll see. Ooh, wow, look at all
these people here. And I thought I was early. This is what I came for,
that Ansel Adams moment as the first rays of light
hit the top of the mountains. It is the best time to capture the Moulton Barn in
the foreground, the
iconic photograph. I'm actually 10
or 15 minutes late if I wanted to capture
the first light, and it looks like many other
people had the same idea. And they probably have the
best angle from that spot, but this is actually not bad. It is said that the
shape of the barn's roof evokes the mountains behind it. And it is arguably the
most photographed barn in North America. Okay, note to self: Bring
a better winter coat, even if it is August,
because this is insufficient. (shivering) It's cold out there. It's 45 degrees. But it's gonna be 80
in a couple of hours. I really wanted
to do a time-lapse as the sun started
to hit the mountains, but as I said, I overslept. I see wildlife! Good morning, my little friends. Now, what have we got here? We've got bison! Fascinating creatures,
even from far away. Here we've got it, the lone
bison grazing in the valley. A little too close perhaps. Okay, bye, bison! Well, we're gonna go
for a little hike; perhaps not so little, actually. When I went to the
visitor center yesterday, the ranger, I asked, "What's
a good four-to-six-mile hike?" And he recommended Taggart Lake. So, (pausing) that's
where I'm going. (light keyboard music) I have misplaced my bug spray. I have no idea where I put it. Hopefully there won't
be too many bugs. Definitely one of my best
investments as a traveler. Hmm, parking lot seems
to be pretty full. Must be a popular trail. Let's see the trail
information here. I think I'm going to do Taggart
Lake and then Bradley Lake. Apparently, there
is actually a trail that goes to the
waterfalls, but... Yeah, didn't come
prepared for that one. (soft keyboard music) We're about to cross
Taggart Creek here as we're slowly making
our way out to the lake. (water trickling) I approve. (water trickling) (water trickling) So far, this is one of
the most beautiful parts of this hike; here, with
the Tetons before our eyes. Well, almost a mile in so far. Great hike; I mean, look
at this magnificence. And luckily, it's
a cool morning. It's probably in the
high-60s right now. But with the sun and
with the exercise, I'm kind of starting
to break a sweat. But at least no bugs, because
I misplaced my bug spray, so that's a good thing. I'm gonna continue going. We've done a mile. This goes to Taggart
Lake, another half-mile. And Bradley Lake is
one mile that way, but there's another way around. We'll go to Taggart Lake and then we'll go clockwise
into Bradley Lake. Just can't get over
how beautiful this is. Now going into the woods. Yeah, we're now in
this wooded area and all of a sudden
I'm all by myself. Next chance I get, I'm gonna
get me a can of bear spray because you never know. I think we've made
it to Taggart Lake. Taggart Lake, elevation 6,902. There's a ranger
here giving a talk. And let's see if we can
get close to the water. - [Ranger] Don't
hold me to that. Lakes in general are
deeper than you suspect. - The water is so
clear and so calm that the reflections are
nearly perfect, like a mirror. It is so beautiful. (soft keyboard music) Let's walk around
the lake a little bit and see if from a
few different angles, from a few different
points of view. Look at that, you can
even see the bottom. It is just amazing. A few more ripples
on the water now, but still crystal clear. These views here, definitely,
definitely worth the hike. Now we're gonna go
to the other lake, Bradley Lake, I
think it's called. And then, I think we're gonna
go back the same way we came. And by the way, nice
view that way too. Let's continue walking
now towards Bradley Lake. And there are many secluded
lake access points, like this one. I just can't get enough of this. Every once in a while,
I just can't help myself and take a detour
from the main trail, a side trail to admire the view. (insect buzzing) Bradley Lake is at a
little higher elevation, so it is a little
more of a climb, a little more strenuous hike. Still, not too bad. (reverent music) And we've found Bradley Lake. (soft keyboard music) Let's start heading back. What a magnificent
place this is. Have I said that before? And we're back by Taggart Lake. Notice, the lake is not
nearly as reflective as it was before. 1.4 miles to the parking lot. Let's do this. Just another walk in the woods. Very grand. Eh, I think I'm lost. I don't remember
seeing all these horses when I was coming
up, but who knows? Can you believe I
took a wrong turn? All right, this looks familiar. Now we're on the right track. Next stop, Schwabacher Landing, which is arguably one of the
best views of the Tetons, if we can top what
we've already seen. I've heard great
things about this spot. The final stretch is through
this well-maintained dirt road. It is a short trail to what
is basically a beaver dam here on the Snake River. Yeah, hard to fathom it
is the same Snake River we saw a couple of
days ago in Idaho. And this is the thing:
Because of the Beaver Dam, this is one of those places
where, on a calm day, you can see the Tetons clearly
reflected on the water. I hear sunrise is
actually the best time. (soft keyboard music) (upbeat Western music) Let's go into town. I'm hungry, and I think
today I've earned that IPA. I'm just gonna park right
here and walk around. The main downtown area
is not very large, so it is very walkable. And they have all
kinds of touristy stuff and outdoor activities. Maybe one of these days
I'll go whitewater rafting. What do you guys think? Let me tell you, it
seems like a fun town with lots of dining
and drinking options, but I'm gonna go try
this brewery, the
Snake River Brewery. Seems to be good. So, yeah, I'm having a beer,
of course, and a bison burger. Hmm, I should have brought
one of my stickers. Well, that was a decent
burger, a little dry, but really good beer. Well, this is pretty
much the iconic spot here in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, the main square with
all these antlers here. They have live music. That's the Cowboy Bar. I mean, I did a little
bit of research. There's a lot to do here. Unfortunately, I am only
staying here for one night. I went to the
brewery, as you saw. Pretty cool, the brewery;
full of locals, by the way. I guess those must be
the ski slopes, huh? - Thank you.
- Thank you. ♪ Well, I'm hopin' the train ♪ From Caribou, Maine ♪ Runs over your
new love affair ♪ - By the way, free
plug to Loloho; I did a lot of my
research about this area watching their video. And I think they did
go to that Cowboy Bar and some other bar. I'm, I'm... I'm not gonna do any more bars,
let's just put it that way. Now I'm gonna go to that road. It's a dirt road where
they claim they saw bears. So, let's see,
maybe we get lucky. We've seen bison, we've
seen elk, seen moose, we've seen all
kinds of wildlife. It's been really cool, actually. Yeah, someday I'll come back
and go to that Cowboy Bar. But for now, let's go get
the car, go back to the park. Jackson Hole Playhouse. (upbeat Western music) Ooh, what do we have here? It's almost like a saloon. It's actually the playhouse. Well, this is where I parked. Good ol' Colorado needs
a car wash very soon. (energetic synthesizer music) For our final drive of the day, we are going to take
the Moose-Wilson Road. "Rough road," okay. There are a few
trailheads on this road, but what I really want
to see is some wildlife, and there's a couple of
spots coming up ahead. Let's see if we get lucky. I see something over there. Hmm, doesn't look like a moose. I don't know, maybe
it is a female moose. I don't know, not my
area of expertise anyway. I think we should end the
day at our old familiar place near the campground by
the Gros Ventre River. Well, no moose yet, but we've
got a couple of beavers here to add to our list of
wildlife sightings. It's pretty big. (soft keyboard music) Well, what do you
know, there he is! Mr. Moose in the house! I wonder how much wildlife
is really out there, invisible to the
untrained and naked eye. I can't think of a better
way to end our last day here in Grand Teton
National Park. (soft piano music) Good morning everybody. Beautiful day here. In Grant Teton National
Park, but today we're moving. We're going a few miles north to another great national
park, Yellowstone. As I mentioned, still in
Grand Teton National Park. Yellowstone, just a little over
an hour drive north of here. Before we continue,
let's go into Dornan's. Fill up the tank,
because you never know. And this is one of those
few places in the park where you have
restaurants and shops and grocery store, and gas. Yeah, I can turn on a dime. (bright upbeat music) Hmm, I guess to go
into Yellowstone you have to go into
Grand Teton first. I wonder if they would
charge you for both? I would imagine, right? I forgot to ask since
I have the annual pass, but it would be good to know. Saying goodbye to
the Tetons for now, as we take one final
look over Lake Jackson. Now, onto Yellowstone National
Park, we are almost there. There's gotta be a way that they can
streamline this process, like an express lane
or something like that. I've decided to stay at
Lewis Lake Campground, which is the closest
one to the entrance and the only one I know
for sure has vacancy. All right, this we'll do. And I'll probably
get plenty of solar. Well, greetings from
Yellowstone National Park. We're staying here
at the Lewis Lake, which is the first
campground you encounter when you come in from the south. And it is the only one
that I knew for sure was gonna have a vacancy. So I said, you
know, might as well. We're kind of an hour away
from all the good stuff. We're here at Lewis Lake. I'm thinking going to
the Grant Village, here, the information station
on this area of the lake, and then come to Old Faithful. See if there's not too many
people and we can see it. Because it might be better
to see it in the afternoon, according to lighting, you see. If north is that way, the
lighting is coming this way, it doesn't matter. And then we're gonna go here
to the Prismatic Spring, Madison, and then pretty much
go around the Canyon Village. That's the Grand Canyon of
Yellowstone, and then come back. And then tomorrow we'll
go all the way up here. And I might save
the Lamar Valley for the day after tomorrow
as we leave this way. All right let me show you
our campsite here real quick. We have one of these bear boxes to store food if
we were in a tent or in a pop up. And then down here we have
our picnic table, fire ring. And this whole
area here which is, it's kind of private, I like it. So that's our site. Let's go explore Yellowstone. I feel I must point out,
no AT&T cell phone coverage whatsoever in this
part of the park so we're going to spend a
couple of days mostly off grid. Also, the campground
doesn't allow generators so I really hope I
get some solar today. Hmm, wildlife sighting perhaps? Let's stop real quick. Where could it be? There it is! But what is it? Some kind of deer, perhaps? I don't know, it is
hard to tell from here but it is our first wildlife
sighting in Yellowstone, how exciting. Our first Yellowstone wildlife,
I don't know what that was. Looked like a large
deer but I don't know. Our first stop is going to be
the West Thumb Geyser Basin. Right on the shore
of Yellowstone lake. (relaxing music) Here we are, let's walk
around a little bit. (jazzy music) They have this boardwalk because apparently it
would be very dangerous to walk around all these
hydro thermal features. We wouldn't want to fall
into one of these pits of boiling water, now would we? (jazzy music) Before coming here, I didn't think much of
Yellowstone to be honest and all of this steaming
hot springs and all that but being here in person, it's actually quite
the unique experience. (jazzy music) There was a ranger up
there and she explained. everything about geysers and
hot springs which is this and fumaroles and mudpits I
think it was, or mud, something. Anyways, the most interesting,
the color of the water determines the temperature. Like blue is the
hottest and then green. Then brown is like
the least, coolest. And that color is
determined by the bacteria that live in the water
which is pretty cool. I can feel the steam
coming off this one. This one is called Black Pool, look how clear and deep it is. Amazing colors. Let's go see Old Faithful. (soft rock music) By the way, I don't know
if I'm ever gonna need it but I bought a can of
bear spray just in case because I'm hiking by myself and I don't know if I'm
gonna do a long hike tomorrow but it's good to have. 52 bucks, it's expensive stuff. If it can save your life
it's totally worth it, right? (soft rock music) Well, there's this pull out
on the way to Old Faithful where there is 4G LTE,
not LTE, just 4G signal so if you are like me, I forgot to download offline
maps and stuff like that, you wanna check in with
family or what have you, this spot has it. I'm trying to download a
podcast but that's taking longer so that might not work. All right, we don't need
it to work, Old Faithful! (calm music) It is really a theme
park sized parking lot. (soft rock music) Here we are at the Old Faithful
Visitor Education Center. Look at it out there. I didn't film it but
inside the Visitor's Center they have several screens
with predicted eruption times of some of these geysers. And we're in luck, Grand Geyser
is gonna go off any minute. It only erupts every
seven hours or so and it is the tallest
predictable geyser in the world, that we know of. This should be quite a show. The amount of thermal activity here at the Upper Geyser
Basin is mind boggling. This one is called
Castle Geyser. (relaxing music) There goes Old Faithful. We'll go back to see
Old Faithful later since it goes off
every hour or so. (relaxing music) There's the Old Faithful
Inn, iconic hotel, and we'll go there later too. (relaxing music) Here we are, pretty big
crowd to see Grand Geyser. And that's our one and a half
hour window, any moment now. Originally I wasn't too
excited to see geysers, I was like, well, it's just
like a fountain, right? But it is not, and you really have to
be here to appreciate it. The steam, the smell, and the fact that
this happens naturally in such a controlled fashion
if you think about it. Just by the interaction of water and magma inside the Earth's
crust, it is truly fascinating. Notice a new discharge to the
left now, almost pure steam. It's like it is evolving. Very cool to see. Not as high as it
was at the beginning but the pressure on the
left seems pretty legit. It's like a real
show, let me tell you, the Bellagio fountains have
nothing on Grand Geyser here. Just cue some Andrea
Bocelli and we'll be set. I'm joking of course. Let's not Disneyfy it
more than it already is. (splashing) That was a great show. Now, let's continue. Isn't that something. Ever wonder how
deep it really goes? (calm music) This one is called Spasmodic
Geyser, and I can see why. (calm music) - Whoa!
- Whoa, whoa! - [Bystander] Whoa, go chef! (laughing) (calm music) - Quite the surreal place here, this geyser hill I think it
is called here in Yellowstone because everywhere,
all around you it's this steam coming
up the ground and... I didn't think it was gonna be as impressive as
it is in person. So definitely really,
really cool to be here. And back there, that was
a lucky serendipitous synchronous coincidence
that I got here at the moment that Grand
Geyser was about to erupt and it's the tallest
predictable geyser in the world. I didn't know that, I mean, luckily I went by the
Visitor Center to find out. 'Cause I was gonna go
straight for Old Faithful, which, you know, I
can wait another hour and it'll go off again. Which goes to show,
you can plan the trip as much as you want
but you never know what events are going to
transpire or are going to... In other words, be flexible
and if you follow your flow. Walking across the aptly
named Firehole River because I'm sure there's a lot
of fire in the form of magma, deep below the surface. Well, it is 4:20 and
Old Faithful here is supposed to erupt at 4:37 so I'm gonna get in position
here to get a good view. And then we might go to
the lodge just to see it. All right, let's do what we
came here to do originally. (laughing) Lots of people, lots of
people, I'm telling you. Ooh, the anticipation. (dramatic music) Hey, what happened,
changed your mind? (dramatic music) Hmm, another false start. (dramatic music) - [Crowd] Ooh! - Well, there you have it, perhaps the most famous
geyser in the world. And we just saw it erupt. The nice gentlemen
with a big camera took a picture of me taking
a picture of the geyser. That's it, shows over. Well, that was Old Faithful. Now let's see what
else we can see here. Oh, let's go to the
lodge real quick. (jazzy music) It is certainly a
very unique lobby with this tall atrium,
pendulum clock, the wooden construction. Which, fun fact, was
apparently the inspiration for the construction of
Disney's Wilderness Lodge, very, very cool. Let's see if they have a
bar somewhere around here. And they do, it is called
the Bear Pit Lounge. And they have a
Going to the Sun IPA. You know me, always like to
try the local craft beer. Let's continue. By the way, this lobby, it
is something else, isn't it? (jazzy music) Very cool hotel and
it certainly has that grand atrium in the middle.
All the wooden construction Very cool. And then there's Old
Faithful right there. And there's no one here now, I guess we are in
between eruptions but... Probably came at the
busiest time of the day. (jazzy music) Ooh, look at that! We gotta stop, right? (jazzy music) Whoa. This is called Grand
Prismatic Spring, part of the Midway Geyser Basin. (electronic music) (splashing) Look at all that
steam coming out. So that's where all the
water's coming from, right, the Excelsior Geyser creator. No, actually the actual
spring is a little further up and it flows onto the
Firehole River here. (electronic music) It almost looks like
a tropical beach. (electronic music) Look at this, look at
the texture on the rock. (electronic music) This happens to be the park's
largest hot spring by the way. And here we are, this is the actual Grand
Prismatic Spring, right here. Amazing. (electronic music) All right, let's go back. (electronic music) By the way, the spring pours
almost 500 gallons of water into the Firehole
River every minute. (electronic music) Well, decided to stop real
quick at this waterfall. Mainly because I had to
go to the bathroom but, you know, just to take a break. Sun's going down real quick. (splashing) There it is, it is
called Gibbon Falls. Very pretty, actually. Hello there. (calm music) This was actually a
very nice stop here to break up the drive. (splashing) Very nice, now let's see if
we can make it to the canyon. It's called the Grand Canyon
of Yellowstone I believe. We're running out of time, we gotta make it back to
the campground at night. (calm electronic music) Whenever you see people
parked on the side of the road it can only mean
one thing, wildlife. And we've got ourselves a bison, a lone bison grazing
in the valley. Well, now we can say we saw
our first Yellowstone Buffalo, or Bison, Bison. Let's continue towards the
Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. Of course, tomorrow we might
revisit some of these areas, the canyon village
for example right here but right now it's 7:30, the
sunset is in about an hour and I'm just gonna go to
this one last view point, the Artist Point and that's it. Ooh, more wildlife. What are those? Well, those are some tourists
photographing the locals and once in awhile
you still encounter someone using an iPad. And sometimes you have to be
more careful about the humans than the beasts. Definitely is the
right time of the day for wildlife sighting,
that's for sure. (calm electronic music) Let's check it out,
looks promising. That's quite amazing, actually. (calm electronic music) There they are, the lower
falls of the Yellowstone River. Pretty impressive, actually. Yeah, right now I can
tell that this is gonna be a much better picture in
the morning, but still. (calm jazzy music) I think tomorrow first
thing in the morning we're doing this, let's
head back to the car. (calm jazzy music) This is Hayden Valley
and it supposed to be one of the best wildlife
viewing areas in the whole park so keep your eyes peeled. (calm jazzy music) I can't see anything so
we're gonna continue. The only wildlife I saw there was a mosquito trying
to bite my finger. I think he succeeded. (calm jazzy music) Okay, let me guess, wildlife. Well, yeah, we've got
ourselves a bison. (calm jazzy music) Well, that was a
cool bison sighting and there's more traffic
ahead so maybe there's more. Let me see. Let me see if I can remember how to do the night vision here. Boom, yes, we have night
vision on the Sony. So if we see any other,
if it gets any darker. Yeah, there's
another one, several. (calm electronic music) And it's gone. (calm piano music) Well, good morning. I did manage to kill
my battery last night. At the one campground where
they don't allow generators. Although I see my
neighbor idling there so I might idle a little bit
just to get a little help, until the solar takes over. It looks like we're gonna
get good solar today. Let's get ready to
explore the park. Well yeah, while we wait for the battery to
recover a little bit let's explore a little bit
of this lake that we have right here next to the
campgrounds, Lewis Lake. Lots of new people in
the campground today. That truck camper
barely fits there. Minitini's twin Let's go check out the lake. (relaxing music) (moves into jazzy music) Let's stop by Grant Village. (jazzy music) Hmm, there's a restaurant. I can eat so lets
have breakfast. Breakfast with a view. (jazzy music) Decent breakfast, buffet
style, nothing extraordinary but it filled me up. Well, after breakfast I decided
to come back to Minitini and my problem is
obviously not solar, now that I have, you
know, the sun is shining, even at an angle, and
power was back on Minitini I was able to shower,
you know, everything, I changed in to my brand
new Yellowstone t-shirt. (calm jazzy music) We've got some
wildlife again here. These seem to be
elk, female elk. (calm jazzy music) First thing we're gonna do now is drive around
Yellowstone Lake, all the way to the
Lake Butte's Overlook. And then continue north
towards the Grand Canyon. There are many of
these vista points all along the lake shore. I believe that over there would be the West
Thumb Geyser Basin, where we were
yesterday, actually. ♪ My RV (calm jazzy music) We're pretty much driving
around Yellowstone Lake to see the different
vistas before, oh, this was nice a
view and I missed it. Before heading north towards the Grand
Canyon of Yellowstone. (calm jazzy music) Hmm, that must be the
Lake Yellowstone Hotel across the lake. (calm jazzy music) Coming this way, perhaps
not the brightest idea because there's a lot
of road construction. But I wanted to see
this part of the park. And we even have a lone bison
here on the side of the road. There's Steamboat Point, with
all the steam coming out, and we're gonna stop
there for a few minutes. (calm jazzy music) Steamboat Point. Very, very nice views. And tall the thermal activity makes it even more interesting. What a surreal place this is. (soft rock music) Now going up to Lake Butte's
Overlook, and here we are. (soft rock music) Well, this is the view here
from the Lake Butte's Overlook. Overlooking Lake Yellowstone,
or Yellowstone Lake. Very nice beautiful
views from up here. Or as Rick Steves would
say, commanding views. (relaxing music) Looking south, way out
there in the distance we can even see Grand Teton. Definitely. Way out there in the
distance, Grand Teton. (upbeat music) Next up, Lee Hardy Rapids,
here on the Yellowstone River. They have this boardwalk here so we can walk by the rapids. This is technically the
end of Yellowstone Lake, the first dramatic
change in elevation. Beyond this point begins
the stretch of river that eventually leads to
the upper and lower falls and carves the Grand
Canyon of the Yellowstone. Apparently a great spot
to see fish migration but that happens in May
and we're here in August. (splashing) (calm music) Let's continue, next
stop, the mud volcano. (dramatic music) This area is characterized by muddy hot springs
and fumaroles. And we're very close to one of
Yellowstone Volcanoes vents. Let's hope it doesn't
go off while we're here. Let's go see the
Dragon Mouth Spring and then we'll do
the whole thing. (dramatic music) Continue going up,
there's a lake up there. (dramatic music) This is called Sour Lake. I wonder where the
name comes from. You think someone tasted it? It's a fumarole. You can hear it now that
there's nobody around. (splashing) It's almost like pink noise. If anything it was
worth the stop, if anything just
for the view, right? of the Yellowstone River. - [Navigation] Continue on
Grand Luke Road for eight miles. - Is that a bison over there? Sure is, bison alert! We're in Hayden
Valley after all. (bright music) Let's stop, let's see
what they are seeing. (bright music) I think it is the same
bison we saw earlier. Beautiful valley by the way. (bright music) I see something, I see
something, let's zoom in. It's a bison! (bright music) It seems to be another
bison traffic jam. That's what I'm calling them. There it is, big bison. (bright music) Here we are, the Grand
Canyon of the Yellowstone. And yesterday we
did the south rim, today we are doing
to do the north rim. Hmm, it's a busy parking lot. Luckily there's parking along the side of the north
rim drive here, let's walk. This is the trail here. There's a canyon down there
but I wanna keep going. There's gotta be a better view. We are really close
to the falls here so maybe I should do that first so let's look for
the trail head. Couple of people
recognized me now, I think they're the fourth or
the fifth in this whole area so that's really,
really super cool to meet viewers on the road. All right, let's go to
the bathroom and then, Cruise America, remember those? This is more or less the
size RV if I were going to, if I were going to
go the Class C route. This is like a 20, 21
footer, something like that, maybe even less. The problem with this particular
model is it has a wet bath. If they would make one
with a dry bath I'd be in. Here's a pretty good
view of the canyon, too bad it is cloudy
because sunshine would make it look
a lot more dramatic. Here we are, found
the trail head, and there's some information. Let's see what the sign says. Okay, so we are here, we
gotta go to the lower falls. And then we're going to try to go all the way to
Inspiration Point. Upper falls is closed
and Artist Point, that's where we were yesterday. Okay, let's do it. That's the upper falls,
that's the one that is closed. So we're gonna go to the lower
falls which is down there. (dramatic electronic music) We're almost there. The thing is we've been
going down and down and all these switch backs and eventually we're
gonna have to go back up. (dramatic electronic music) (splashing) Isn't it fortuitous
that the sun came out exactly at the
moment we arrive here and we get to see a rainbow? It's quite a view actually. I'm impressed, I didn't think
I was gonna be as awe inspired by the Grand Canyon
of Yellowstone. You know, there's only one
thing to do, go back up. (dramatic electronic music) Well, I was gonna hike it
but I'm gonna drive instead because time is
kind of the essence. What I'm going to do is stop at some of the overlooks
along the north rim. It is very crowded. (dramatic electronic music) I believe that's
probably Artist Point, where we were yesterday. (dramatic electronic music) Let's keep going because
there's still a lot to see here. I mean, we're not gonna
be able to see everything but let's see as
much as possible. (jazzy music) Let me tell you something,
infrastructure wise, this is probably one of
the best national parks that I've been to,
considering how remote it is. They have all these villages, I don't know how many there are but there are like
four or five of them and they all have gas
stations, convenience stores, actually a large super market
style convenience store and visitor center and, yeah, the only thing missing
is cell phone coverage, they should work on that but, we're here to commune
with nature after all. But I would love to be able
to post to Instagram. (laughs) (calm music) All of a sudden,
take a look at this. This northern side
of Yellowstone, much more mountainous
and I like it. (calm electronic music) This here is Tower Fall,
let's take a break. Here we are at Tower Fall. All right, let's walk
the short 150 yard trail to the Tower Fall Overlook. Here we are, in
any other context it would be a
beautiful waterfall. But we are in Yellowstone. Well, that was
somewhat underwhelming considering all the
beauty we've seen. Let me tell you,
other than Tower Fall, I think I like this part
of Yellowstone even more, from a scenic landscape
point of view. You know I'm a
mountain kind of guy. The caldera is of course unique
and surreal in it's own way but I think this is more my
type of thing, in a scenic sense A tour on horseback
would be cool actually. (relaxing music) Let's take a quick break
here at this vista point and admire the scenery. (relaxing music) (moves into electronic music) I think I see it,
our next destination. We're going to
Mammoth Hot Springs. Here we are. (electronic music) what a strange place this
is, it almost looks manmade. (calm music) Well, this is totally different from anything else we've seen
in the park, that's for sure. This area is called
Minerva Terrace. (calm music) Mammoth Hot Springs has been
described as an inside out cave and I kind of see why. We are here. It is again one of those things that perhaps doesn't
photograph all that well but it is quite incredible
to see it in person. (calm music) This section is called
the Mound Terrace. (calm jazzy music) This is incredibly
mind boggling. I guess without
really knowing it I saved the best for last. (calm jazzy music) Let's go up these stairs here. (calm jazzy music) Very nice views of the town
from this higher point. Let's go back down, (calm jazzy music) We're here, now we're gonna
see Cleopatra's Terrace and then boom boom. There's Cleopatra's Terrace. Definitely an inside out cave. (calm jazzy music) Look at that, wildlife! Apparently these
wildlife sightings here are very common
in Mammoth Springs because these folks
are all over the place. I guess they come
later in the day. Tired? We're gonna take a
short trip to Gardiner, which happens to be the northern and first entrance to
Yellowstone National Park and it is the site of
the Roosevelt Arch, which, by the way,
is in Montana. I don't know if
that qualifies me to add the Montana
sticker to my map but I might cheat when
it comes to Montana and add it anyway. Oh, we're in Montana. Can I put the sticker now? (calm jazzy music) Here we are, Gardiner, it looks
like a fun and historic town but we're just here
to see the Arch. (calm jazzy music) This is it, the Roosevelt Arch. Constructed in 1903 marking the northern
entrance to Yellowstone. President Roosevelt himself
laid out the cornerstone. It also commemorated
the Organic Act of 1872, with a quote from
it which reads, "For the benefit and
enjoyment of the people." Let me tell you, very tempting to explore Gardiner
here a little bit but we are over two hours
away from the campground and it is getting late. That Colorado has
been places, huh? (calm electronic music) And we're back in
Mammoth Springs. Are you folks checking
into the hotel? - [Navigation] In 600 feet your destination
will be on the right. - Nice of them to have
a welcoming committee. Look what I got,
Wyoming Whiskey. Small batch bourbon whiskey
distilled barrel bottled in Kirby, Wyoming. But I thought in order for
it to be called bourbon it had to be made in Kentucky? Maybe they changed the rule. In any case, Wyoming Whiskey, we're gonna give
it a try tonight. But now we have a two hour drive back to our Lewis
Lake campground. Hopefully it'll pass quickly, hopefully we'll see some
wildlife along the way. (dramatic music) By the way, as you saw,
very touristy, very crowded. Tour buses in and out, tourists
from all over the world, I've heard many, many languages when I was in all
these attractions. But you know what, it's crowded but it's not Yosemite crowded. I guess since this
is more spread out there's a lot more
infrastructure, a lot
more parking areas. It didn't feel as
crazy as Yosemite did. Of course, Yosemite, everybody's concentrated
on that valley. (calm music) Good morning, everybody. Woke up before sunrise
because today we are starting part of the trip that
I'm calling the beeline. We're gonna try to make it back
east as quickly as possible, still doing something
significant in each state. Something significant might
be having lunch in some states and we're not
necessarily gonna sleep every single state, we'll see. We're making up
the rules as we go. But the idea is to make it today as close to eastern
Wyoming as possible. (bright music) There's one more thing,
something we've got to do on the way out of the park
and that is Lamar Valley. It's about two hours
to Lamar Valley which is perhaps the one
thing we haven't done, one of the like top 10 things that we haven't
done in the park. Supposedly you get to see a lot of wildlife
there in Lamar Valley. Especially at this
time of the day. (bright music) I don't think you're supposed to but on this west
side of the lake there's a lot of
boondocking spots and I've seen people,
you know, parked there that I suspect they
spent the night. I saw them yesterday. - [Navigation] You are
on the fastest route-- - I'm done. She says I'm back on
line but not true. (bright music) It is gonna be a beautiful day, or maybe not, it
is getting cloudy. (bright music) You see some of these pull
outs that are kind of secluded. I wouldn't be surprised if
people boondocked there. (bright music) People, don't get too
close to the bison. (bright music) Okay, let me park up here. (moves into dramatic music) It's a tiny, little bison. Not so little actually. Causing a huge bison
jam, let's continue. (bright music) I thinking maybe I shouldn't
call it the beeline because we're not gonna make
a beeline to Pennsylvania. I have a route that
it's gonna allow me to hit every single state
that I haven't seen yet. (bright music) Here we go, we've got
bison here to greet us as we arrive in Lamar Valley. Well, hello there. Greetings from Florida. (bright music) Oh man, that's a lot of bison. A little too close perhaps, but you know, photographers
will be photographers, right? (relaxing music) (bison grunts) (relaxing music) Now it's getting interesting. (relaxing music) Not his type I guess. Have you all had
enough bison yet? Well, I have a lot more footage but I'll save it
for some other time. Maybe I'll do a bison
special one of these days. (electronic music) And that's it from Yellowstone. Oh, wait, there's more. We wouldn't want for the bison to get all the attention, right? Just so you know, there are
other species in Lamar Valley. (electronic music) These guys are really cute. Pronghorn Antelope,
according to my research. (electronic music) (moves into relaxing music) More and more bison, everywhere. So many of them. (relaxing music) ♪ I'm riding, riding in my RV
