West Yellowstone, MT

     After getting our gray water tank repaired, we headed to Island Park, ID.  This is just a short distance from the west entrance of Yellowstone, and across from Henry’s Lake.  We will be here until after the 4th of July. 

     On Sunday, we headed to Yellowstone early, and were able to see Old Faithful in all its glory.  I must say it was pretty impressive on a beautiful day.  There are many other geysers in the park that we saw, but none as large as this. 

     After seeing this, we finished our ride through the park, and went to investigate West Yellowstone, MT.  The park itself is situated mostly in Wyoming, but once you leave the park at the west entrance, you come into Montana.

     The next day we left the RV park, and rode to the Madison River Canyon Quake Area.  In 1959, a 7.5 earthquake hit this area without warning on a beautiful moonlit night.  The epicenter was near Yellowstone, but the damage was mostly incurred here.  In a matter of seconds, the earth’s crust dropped 19 feet.  There was an 80 ton rock slide.  A total of 27 people died, and it could have been more….with all the campers around.  There are three fault lines in this area.  They tilted north, and sloshed water in the river and Hebgen Lake like you were in a bathtub.  Even to this day, you can see the remnants of the damage this quake did. 

      Today at the visitor center, an incredible view can be seen.  The water you see is Earthquake lake, where fallen rock blocked  the Madison river.  The forest rangers think  someday in the next hundred years, it may turn back into the river that was before.

     On Thursday we head to Deer Lodge for two nights, and then off to Glacier National Park.