Day 18: Bozman to Gardiner, MT

We woke up with no plan. The Yellowstone elephant was still banging around the room. Then I got the idea that if we could get a room near the entrance to the park, maybe we could sneak in early and beat the masses. Gardiner was near, and there was a room. Manhattan prices again, but we decided we were so close it was worth it and needed to give it a try. When we got to Montana we stopped at the welcome/info center and a little old lady helped us. Of course we asked her opinion on traffic in Yellowstone, etc. She said, yes it would be bad, but we needed to “just go for it!” So we remembered what she said and got that room and did Yellowstone. One blessing is the when we got to the motel, there was still a couple hours of daylight, so we drove in and visited Mammoth Hot Springs, one of the big attractions without any trouble or big crowds.

Butte, MT. We had heard from several different folks that Butte was a rough and tumble town. It felt that way on a quiet July 4th Sunday morning. Everyone was probably sleeping off the parties after the fireworks last night. It had an older feeling, but not really rundown. Maybe a good place to explore further.

Butte is built at the base of a big hill (the one with the fireworks on the TV yesterday). Up on top is a lot of mining operation equipment. All pretty quiet, so not sure if mines were still running or the equipment just sitting.

Livingston, MT felt like a good town, with an active downtown. There was a July 4th arts fair in the park.

Livingston, MT. This place must have been good.

Livingston, MT. It seemed that every town in Montana had one of these elevators. I felt there were more in Montana of this style than in the states to the east.

The 55 mile drive from Livingston to Gardiner was along the beautiful valley of the Yellowstone River.

Two elk enjoying the sulphur smelling water of Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone NP. Glad we came here this evening as we were able to have a good visit and check it off the list for tomorrow.