The weather here has been much warmer the last couple of weeks, and is uncomfortable in the afternoons on several days. It’s not the overall temperature so much that direct sun is really hot so there were several days we really didn’t want to go out into the park. We certainly didn’t want to do the geologic features, because for me walking around in full sun looking at boiling water not so appealing 🙂
Thankfully there were still several things in and near West Yellowstone we hadn’t seen yet, so here are a few of the things we did..in no particular order. First was the West Yellowstone Museum which is located in the beautiful old train station here in town. Although I thought the $10 entrance fee was a bit steep for what the museum had I looked at it as a donation to preserve the gorgeous buildings. Original windows and floors in many places and because it is closed in the winter (too expensive to heat) it is in remarkably good condition for its age. Plus if you are into fly fishing they have a small fly fishing museum inside which was pretty interesting.
The absolute best part of the museum though was the stuffed bear Old Snaggletooth. He was a renowned Grizzly who ruled the local dump in the 1960’s until he was unfortunately killed by poachers. Some bears here gain iconic status and Old Snaggletooth was one of them.
Like I said the Museum was ok, but we learned about another historic site not that far from town where we might see some moose! So one morning we went to Big Springs an Historic Natural Landmark. The springs are really beautiful and the spot was so majestic that Johnny Sack built a cabin here in the 1930’s with his own waterwheel. He leased this gorgeous spot (seriously my pictures don’t come close to doing it justice) from the Forest Service and built everything from scratch. Again this building is in remarkable shape and although we weren’t able to go inside the pictures I have seen are beautiful as well.
Unfortunately we didn’t see any moose but we are definitely going back when the crowds die down a little. This is prime ATV country and since we went on a weekend it was pretty crowded for such a remote spot. So no moose but I did learn about an Osprey nest a couple of miles outside of town and another day Lee and I stopped and I got some great pictures. There is so much to see and do here I don’t even think one summer is enough to do it all and I am officially claiming this as my favorite National Park we have seen so far.
Oh and one last thing.. Lee really enjoys returning to the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center and one day got some awesome video of two bear sisters arguing over a big bone. Enjoy!
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Camper Chronicles 
Love the video