Leaving Old Faithful to drive to Mammoth Hot Springs July 13th

We checked out of the Inn and ate a good breakfast at the General Store. Everyone was tired as we figured we all hiked about 9 miles yesterday! We drove along Firefall Canyon Loop – which was beyond beautiful! I had to make myself look because of the steep drop offs! The boys did some steep hiking to satisfy their wild hearts! We continued driving to the swimming area. We loved the swimming hole; the water here was pretty warm because of the hot springs that empty into this river. The kids swam among the river and did some inverted rock climbing maneuvers. We packed another small picnic lunch to enjoy here.

We continued on to Mammoth Area and checked in to our “cabins.” (Not much of cabins, but at least we had 2 of them & we could spread out a bit!) We met Mary & Steve & family and ate dinner together. It was so neat to see them; especially to be meeting their family for the first time – such sweet kids! After dinner, we drove to the amphitheater (at the campground) for a Ranger talk. The ranger did a great job talking about the history of Yellowstone and bears. Everyone wants to see a bear now! We’ll keep looking!