Today, we departed Bozeman and took a roundabout route south into Yellowstone National Park.
Coffee
Starting early as promised, we left our hotel around 06:00, and drove over to Treeline Coffee Roasters for some caffeine and a raspberry scone. The coffee was fantastic, and we actually picked up two bags to either brew on this trip or take back home with us. We each ate about a quarter of the scone, saving room for better things to come.
Treeline Coffee Roasters
Bozeman, MT
Quality, well-crafted coffee and a fun place to hang out. The pastries are good, but Wild Crumb next door is the real star.
* – Would definitely visit again
** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area
*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there
Pastries
Conveniently, the bakery we’d planned to try was right next door, and opened 30 minutes later than the coffee shop. It’s amazing how well Dad and I can coordinate logistics when baked goods are involved. Wild Crumb Bakery has been on my list since our first trip out to Bozeman, and I’m glad we finally got to visit this round. As you might expect (unless you’re a new-timer to the blog), we got a variety box to go, and had to restrain ourselves from buying one of everything. I’ll go through the specifics later when we get around to actually eating some.
wild Crumb Bakery
Bozeman, MT
This might be the new reigning bakery champion from all the ones we’ve visited. At worst, it’s in our top 3. You absolutely must try their huckleberry and pimento cheese scones (along with almost everything else on the menu).
* – Would definitely visit again
** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area
*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there
Donuts
Next, we drove to Granny’s Gourmet Donuts near Montana State’s Campus. It’s a cash-only establishment that is a favorite with locals and students. It was decorated in a vintage style that reminded me of a Daylight Donuts crossed with an old Pizza Hut or Village Inn (with the glass chandeliers and checkered tablecloths). The staff asked us what we were doing today once we left Bozeman, and I tried to explain the roundabout path we were going to take into Yellowstone, telling them we expected to head to Big Sky and then Gardiner. “But those are the opposite direction!”, they cried. “Yes, that’s how we roll,” we responded.
We got our variety box of donuts (lemon creme, Bavarian cream, glazed cake, glazed yeast, raspberry filled, and a maple log), wrapped up our rather hilarious conversation with the operator, and headed on our way in the wrong direction.
At this point, you might be asking yourself, “Isaac/Jerry, why on earth are you buying enough pastries to feed an army?”. Or, you might not be asking that, and you may have just resigned yourself to the fact that we just do things like that sometimes. There is a good answer, though: we are stocking up on breakfast and snacks for several days, because we expect there to be almost no quick breakfast food available in the part of Wyoming we will be in.
Granny's Gourmet Donuts
Bozeman, MT
Good donuts, great atmosphere. We would definitely come back if we’re in the area.
* – Would definitely visit again
** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area
*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there
Big Sky
Cutting southwest from Bozeman, we began down US-191 towards Big Sky, MT. We had no great reason for coming this way, other than we’ve never been through here and have heard it’s very pretty. After a quick bathroom break and less than an hour on the road, we rolled into town and once again had a few errands to run before seeing any sights.
First, we stopped at a bear spray vending machine at the Chamber of Commerce and picked up our reserved bear spray canisters (we could return these later at a different location, thanks to the convenient rental network). Then, we popped in Caliber Coffee Roasters to refill our mugs before starting our first outdoor adventure of the trip.
Ousel Falls
Driving to the outskirts of town, we started a hike to Ousel Falls, a 1.7 mile round trip trail that descends into a canyon, follows the river, overlooks a beautiful waterfall and then returns.
While this hike had some moderate elevation change both directions, it was a brisk morning, and really perfect weather for a chilly morning hike. We didn’t see many people at all, and both agreed it was worth the effort.
Back at the car, we dug into our pastries and donuts…so I guess it’s time for me to give the rundown. We got a huckleberry scone, a pimento cheese bacon scone, a ham and Gruyère croissant, a pistachio plum danish, a coconut macaroon, and a morning bun. If memory serves me right, we ate the huckleberry scone, the pistachio plum danish, and the macaroon at this stop, plus a few donuts. We were famished from the hike, but regardless all the pastries and donuts were incredible…especially the huckleberry scone.
While in the parking lot, we overheard a rather humorous encounter with a lady whose dog refused to “guard the door” while she used the public restroom…and then she publicly shamed the dog for running off and trying to mooch pastries off of us instead.
Earthquake Lake
We continued south towards the west entrance of Yellowstone, but turned west on US-287 towards Hebgen Lake and “Quake Lake”, once again going the opposite direction of the day’s final destination. Several people have recommended to me that we visit Earthquake Lake, the site of a 1959 7.2 magnitude earthquake that killed 28 and formed a brand new lake. The disaster required the US Army Corps of Engineers to intervene to prevent further flooding catastrophe, as the ensuing landslides completely backed up the Madison River.
Unfortunately, the visitor center was closed for the season, even though we checked their website before venturing this far out of the way. We did get a great view of the landslide, the dead trees sticking up out of the lake, and the destroyed homes still visible some six decades later. I’ve included a USDA video below if you’d like to learn more about the disaster.
West Yellowstone
By this time, we’d been on the road a while and were craving some real (non-sweet) food, so we headed back to a Mexican school bus restaurant, Las Palmitas, that we visited on our first trip to Yellowstone in 2021. We split a carnitas quesadilla with some sides, which was just enough to tide us over. After a quick pit stop for gas, we were on our way.
Las Palmitas/La Jungla
West Yellowstone, MT
Great, non-fussy Mexican food served from an old school bus…what more could you want?
* – Would definitely visit again
** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area
*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there
Artists' Paintpots
After waiting in the short line at the entrance station, and placing our bets of when we’d see our first bison (spoiler: it wasn’t long) we followed the Madison River until we hit the Grand Loop Road, turning north. We soon stopped at Artists’ Paintpots, mostly to stretch our legs, and because Dad didn’t think he had seen them before (we think Faith and I did the hike on our own).
The trail is a “lollipop” loop that climbs a 100’+ hill, providing a sweeping view of the geyser basin and the surrounding mountains. It was a nice hike, and satisfied any geothermal itch we might have had for Yellowstone.
Sheepeater Cliffs
Continuing north, we pulled into another roadside stop we’d previously missed. Sheepeater Cliffs is a rock formation that runs along the Gardiner River. We walked up the river and saw the columnar basalt, which went back farther than the eye could see. Then, it was back on the road again.
Mammoth Hot Springs
Soon we arrived at Mammoth Hot Springs, which we’ve visited several time before. We intended to skip it, but then saw that a herd of elk was positioned on the terraces of the springs, so we decided to stop and take a quick picture. Since we hadn’t been before, we also dropped in the Mammoth visitor center. As we descended out of the park to Gardiner, we also saw a pronghorn perched on a hilltop by the side of the road.
Wonderland Cafe
We decided to check into our motel and then eat an early dinner. After a delayed check-in at our lodging, we headed to Wonderland Cafe & Lodge for dinner, and were one of their first customers when they opened their doors for the evening.
We split a bowl of their wild game chili (locally sourced bison and elk, jalepeño cornbread, maple-infused mascarpone, roasted jalepeños, and a dash of powdered sugar), and an order of the bison ravioli (Pappardelle Pasta Company bison-filled ravioli, roasted red & yellow tomatoes, red onion, light cream sauce, and shaved parmesan). Both were outstanding, and they were kind enough to split the portions into multiple plates for us.
Wonderland Cafe & Lodge
Gardiner, MT
A great place to visit, proven by the fact that we’ve probably been 4-5 times in 3 trips to Gardiner. Their breakfast, lunch, and dinner are all delicious. It’s definitely the best restaurant in Gardiner.
* – Would definitely visit again
** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area
*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there
Paradise Valley
After dinner, we decided to drive north up the Paradise Valley to enjoy the stunning scenery, and kill time before out next planned activity, which was a bit time-sensitive. We drove north up the East River Road beside the Yellowstone River, crossed back over near Pray, MT, and headed back south down US-89 after stopping to top off the tank.
Bear Watching
Ok, before I start this section, let me provide a little disclaimer/explanation. Several years ago, thanks to the insight of some locals and frequent visitors, I learned about a “semi-secret” grizzly bear watching spot outside Yellowstone’s park boundaries that is still on public land. Due to the sensitive nature of the area, and because we wouldn’t want just anyone barging into this spot hoping for a selfie, I won’t be sharing the location…just that it’s outside the park boundaries and we did not break any laws/rules by going there.
That said…we headed to a very off-the-beaten-path spot with the hopes of seeing a grizzly bear or two. I mean, it was the type of road where you thought the wheels might fall off the car before you actually made it. We really didn’t know what to expect, other than that we knew there was a type of root in the ground out there that bears would come dig up around sunset almost every day.
Turns out, “grizzly bear or two” was a major understatement. We saw NINETEEN grizzly bears, most of them all at the same time. It was one of the most incredible sights I’d ever seen. At least 5-7 were cubs, and the rest were adults. The craziest part is that there were also elk and cows, some of them very close to the bears, and none of them seemed to mind (there’s a photo somewhere below with all three animals in frame).
Ok, I’ll stop yapping now and actually post some pictures…
While out surrounded by bears, we also saw a gorgeous sunset.
On our way back to Gardiner, we also saw another handful of bears I wasn’t able to photograph because it was far too dark. We got back to the hotel, showered, and headed to bed, ready for another very early start tomorrow.
Video
Here’s a video from today’s adventures.
The Best Things we Saw Today
Isaac
The best thing I saw today was… “all the grizzly bears outside Yellowstone”.
The best thing I ate today was… “the huckleberry scone”.
Jerry
The best thing I saw today was… “a cow, and elk, and a grizzly standing right next to each other”.
The best thing I ate today was… “bison ravioli and the huckleberry scone”.
Conclusion
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Tomorrow, we will explore the north side of Yellowstone, including the Lamar Valley and the Cooke City-Silver Gate area. If time allows, we might venture down to the Canyon area.
– Isaac & Jerry
3 Responses
Did the bears seem at all disturbed you were there?
They didn’t even acknowledge us, let alone the elk and cows standing right next to them.
So many bears!!! I enjoyed all the pictures!
The video on Hebgen Lake Earthquake was very interesting!