We got up early, packed, and got our breakfast out of the way by 8:00. We did a little computer work and checked out while we waited for the Visitor Center to open. As we left the Snow Lodge, we had to wait for a 9-head bison herd to walk down the road between the Snow Lodge and the Visitor Center. They came from the direction of the gas station, so we figured they had made a stop to fuel up. They turned to go into the Inn parking lot, which is where the snowmobile tours park, and chased several snowmobilers who had stopped to take pictures.

When we got to the Visitor Center, we saw that nothing major was predicted until Grand at noon. We decided to walk the Geyser Hill and then see if we could catch Grand before grabbing some lunch. We walked past the Lodge and crossed the Firehole, but had to wait while a small bison herd crossed the path ahead of us. Once we were able to proceed, we turned to walk past Plume and Beehive. While there was a lot of steam on Geyser Hill, nothing looked promising. We turned down toward Grand, checking out various viewpoints for Castle as we walked. Sawmill was totally empty.

As we approached Grand, another gazer, who was coming in the opposite direction, said, “Is that Lion?” We looked back and agreed that it probably was. She said Turban had just gone, so we knew it would be awhile before Grand had a chance of going. We decided we needed a break anyway and sat down to wait for the next Turban. As Turban began to erupt, a couple walked up and asked us if we had seen the Beehive erupt, that it erupted just as they were walking over. No, we were hoping it would erupt later. We figured that the steam cloud we had seen must have been Beehive not Lion. Our gazer friend returned and we told her what the couple had said. We were all disappointed that we missed it. We sat through another Turban where the water in Grand really dropped. The sun, which had been peeking out occasionally, went behind the clouds for good. At the next Turban, we saw some surging in Grand. At first we attributed it to the Turban overflow, but the surging continued and got stronger. Within a minute Grand was off. Once again Grand was earlier than the prediction, this time only 40 minutes instead of 4 hours We stayed for the whole eruption to see if we would get more than one burst, but no such luck. It was a great, loooong single burst.

By now, it was time for lunch. We stopped at the Visitor Center to get a time on the next Old Faithful so we could see it one last time before we left. It was predicted for 12:47, so we had plenty of time to grab a bite at the Geyser Grill. Just as we were finishing and trying to decide if we wanted to see Old Faithful, when we heard Beehive indicator called. We rushed over to the Visitor Center, where the ranger at the desk recognized us and motioned us in to make sure we heard the indicator call. We asked about the steam cloud we had seen and she confirmed that it was Lion. Wow! We really were going to get to see one last Beehive. As we walked up toward Old Faithful, it began erupting. We paused to watch it only for a moment because we wanted to get out to where we had a clear view of Beehive. Beehive did not disappoint us, erupting about 15 minutes later. We even got a Plume thrown in while we waited. What a way to end our time at Old Faithful – Grand, Old Faithful, Plume, and Beehive! Sure made it hard to leave.

We stopped back in at the Visitor Center to thank them for the heads up on Beehive. MicL was at the desk, so we finally got to talk to him in person. We had heard him numerous times on the radio, but just hadn’t been able to meet up with him in the basin. It was nice to get a chance to say hello. We went back to the Snow Lodge to wait for our snow coach and we were on the road right on time at 2 p.m. The road conditions had worsened considerably from the warm temperatures yesterday, so the ride was pretty bouncy even in the Mattrack van.

We saw bison all along the Firehole. Just before Midway, we saw several crossing the river. We stopped at Fountain Paint Pot for a brief tour. Fountain was erupting as we pulled up, but finished before we could get back to see it. By the time we walked down the steps, Twig was erupting. Clepsydra was also going, but soon stopped, and Spasm drained. When Clepsydra restarted, Jet also started erupting.

Out on Fountain Flats, the bison were gone. We saw a coyote crossing the flats at a distance, as well as someone walking on Fountain Flats Drive. The swans had also disappeared from the Firehole. By the time we stopped at Madison, we were ready for a bathroom break from all the bouncing.

The road did not improve much north of Madison. We saw a small herd of bison along the Gibbon River north of Gibbon Falls. We were all looking for bald eagles at Gibbon Meadows, when a young teenage boy shouted, “I see one!” It was in a tree close enough to the road for some photos. The bison herd that was there earlier in the week had crossed the road to the Artist Paint Pot side.

This was the first time we had a driver run off the road across from Willow Park. He was commenting on the moose that frequent the area and looking out toward the willows when the front track left the road and got caught in some soft snow. Fortunately, he was able to gun the engine and get us back on firm snow.

Swan Lake Flats had a couple of large bison herds – one at the south side of Swan Lake and other one on the north side. The one to the north was heading toward the road and the Golden Gate. We speculated that they might move on down the road to Mammoth. That sure would be a fun trip to meet a bison herd on the way up through Golden Gate.

We got to the snow coach drop off and had to wait a few minutes for the bus. Only it wasn’t the bus, but a 14-passenger van. The driver said her husband had driven the bus earlier in the day and broke it, so she had to bring the smaller van. We preceded the luggage coach by about 10 minutes, so we had a brief wait at Mammoth.

On the way down from Mammoth, we saw a coyote cross the road right in front of us just past Boiling River. The rest of the trip was unremarkable. The entrance gate was unattended, so we simply slowed down and then made the turn to go past the Xanterra buildings. When we got to the Best Western, we were told they were out of first floor rooms because they were full from the late season elk hunt. The clerk gave us a second floor room, but then her records showed that someone from a group tour was still there. She had to run up to the room to verify whether it was occupied or not. When she came back, she said she could give us a first floor Jacuzzi room for $10 a night more than our regular room. We agree to take it, since it was normally $35 more a night. We were just glad for the first floor room so we didn’t have to drag our bags up a flight of stairs. I got a load of laundry going while Lew ran across the street for an Outlaw pizza. We ate, got the laundry finished, and called it a day.