EliTheElk

Josie Morris, nearly 40 and divorced with grown children, established her own homestead on Cub Creek in the early 1900's. She built many structures such as this cabin. Legend has it that Butch Cassidy was a friend and visitor. She lived here almost until her death at age 90 (1964). What a cool lady!

Metro Dinosaurland really leans into the theme.

Fun close-ups!

Making a new friend at Turtle Rock!

More from Dinosaur NM!

Don't even get me started on the pictographs and petroglyphs. More on those tomorrow. By the way, I really want to spread the word about our awesome national parks. Please consider sharing @elitheelk.bsky.social, especially with friends that have elementary school-aged children.

You were even allowed to touch some real fossils. I took advantage of that!

DNM? OMG! So they basically half-excavated a massive fossil bed, exposed 1500 bones, and then built a building over it.

I don't even have opposable thumbs!

So many shades of green, and so many arid but stunning landscapes during our drive!

Yesterday was mostly a driving day. We woke up in Montpelier, Idaho. Not many elk can say they've been to Geneva (ID) and Manila (UT) in the same day! Now starting the day in Vernal, Utah-- "Dinosaurland"!!

Last one for yesterday-- have I found the classiest Target in America? Jackson, Wyoming.

We're taught to think of fire as bad, but it's a natural process. (Although far too often these days, it's caused by humans.) In several places across the parks, you can see evidence of previous fires and new growth coming in.

More pics from Yellowstone and Grand Teton

Yesterday we left Yellowstone and passed through Grand Teton National Park. The weather was awful and many roads and trails were still closed, so we kept going. But before that, we saw rain, snow, hail, and... A bear! I stayed far away-- they are coming out of hibernation and they're hungry!

Good morning. It's May 14th but we woke up to a dusting of fresh snow here in Yellowstone. Our campground is at about 7800 feet (2377 m) above sea level. Next stop, Grand Teton National Park. The highest peak there reaches 13,775 feet. Brrr!

Thought for the day: every waterfall is an indicator of a geological event or process. Has me scratching my antlers.

Wait, what month is it?

Ironic...

It's called Artist's Point in honor of famed painter Thomas Moran, but it also offers quite a color palette!

The weather today was a little dreary, but the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone still dazzled! It was super interesting to notice how the geological landscape differed looking east and west at the Falls.

Got to see Old Faithful erupt -- right on schedule! Some of the geothermal features are fairly predictable, others are not. Many of them are interconnected underground and that impacts their activity. We even saw one called "Tardy Geyser," which started spouting a couple minutes after its neighbor!

-- Whatcha up to, bruh?
-- Havin' a snack. You?
-- Waitin' for Old Faithful.
-- True. True.

A quick but gorgeous detour on our way to today's main destination.

Ready to make some new friends! Sorry humans, you'll have to stay back a safe distance.

Yellowstone National Park is in the northwest corner of Wyoming (State #5!) and bleeds into Montana on those edges. At over 2.2 MILLION acres, (3,472 sq miles), it is bigger than Delaware and Rhode Island COMBINED! (For my Japanese followers, those are America's two smallest states geographically.)

Eli is E-lated (E-lighted?) to be in Yellowstone National Park!

State #4!

Pickle's Place was packed yesterday when we stopped for lunch (and fried pickles). I think everyone is at church now.