Yellowstone August 2003

Actually day 1 was driving from the coast of Washington State to the Park via I-90. Not a lot of photo's since we were on the road most of the time with minimal stops. However we always seem to drive by the "Old Cataldo Mission" in Idaho at night time and it's unanimous, everyone thinks that the place is really scary looking at night. It's lit up and from the road it looks really creepy.

A nighttime view of the old Cataldo Mission. The oldest standing building in Idaho was built in 1848-1853 by the Jesuits.

Day 2 Morning 7:00am coffee at a rest stop near Gold Creek MT. After driving as long as we could we drove up a dirt road to catch a few hours sleep. It was funny because when we awoke we were parked on a small pullout in the middle of a prairie.

A fun room at Nevada city MT full of antique music making machines. Blairnts and honks abound.

A few miles up the road and you are in Virginia city another little ghost town. This was the fire dept.

Further up the road and you will come to the famous Quake Lake. This pano-graphic shows part of the old hiway leading right into the lake that was created by a land slide that dammed the Madison river during the 1959 earthquake that rocked the area. We didn't have time or the license to fish but we saw others.

Another view of the lake & cabin. After a quick stop we are off to West Yellowstone.

Of course we had to quickly visit all of the usual places in West Yellowstone. Blue Ribbon Flies, Bud Lilly's trout shop, Arrick's Fly Shop, etc. After getting our YNP fishing license we headed for the Park. Because of hot weather the Firehole, Madison, Gibbon (below the falls), & Yellowstone rivers were closed to fishing. So instead of trying the Gibbon & Madison like I usually do a lot of the time we headed north to the Lamar Valley.

A view of Norris Geyser basin. With such a surreal scene this place always amazes me.

We also drove by Yellowstone Canyon on the way to the Lamar valley. I couldn't resist pulling over and taking a few photos.

We got to slough creek campground just in time to get the last camp place available. Home sweet camp. After setting up our tent I headed up buffalo creek for a few minutes of fishing before it got dark. The creek enters slough creek just across from the campground and offer good fishing for cutthroat. The fishing isn't trophy size but it is fast and furious.

Although I did catch larger fish this was the only one that would stay still enough for a photo in the dim lighting. Cute little fish.

*If you like the photos check back later and I will have them link to larger photos. Sometimes these small pictures just don't do the photograph justice.