Yellowstone Lake
September 12-15, 2026 we stayed at the Lake Lodge Cabins at Yellowstone Lake. Yellowstone Lake is the largest high-elevation freshwater lake in North America, sitting at an elevation of 7,732 feet. Its deepest area is 139 feet, so relatively shallow.
We drove over from Mammoth Hot Springs via Norris and Canyon Village.
Along the way we stopped at these falls (I've forgotten their name, but they weren't so spectacular). There was a huge raven hanging out and, evidently, a wobbly sign....
and then went on to Obsidian Cliff. This information booth was the first in the country of its kind, made of local stone and was copied by other parks. There were huge blocks of obsidian nearby along with a sign that said collecting is against the law.....
The next stop was roaring mountain, which was basically a thermal field. Not a lot to see, but I guess it can be rather loud, audible from the Obsidian Cliff - 4 miles away. It was quiet the day we were there.
Next stop was Canyon Village where we found out about the Upper and Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River. This is the "other" signature spot of Yellowstone (besides Old Faithful). The Yellowstone River has carved the "grand canyon of the yellowstone", a much photographed area.
We walked the North Rim and took advantage of the required photo ops - the upper falls and
These are the Lower Falls
On the way to the Upper Falls we passed Crystal Falls, which was also quite nice.
The way to Lake Lodge took us through Hayden Valley - a hot place to view wildlife. We were able to see bison
and a coyote.
We arrived at the Lake Lodge
and we are in a cabin that is rather far away from main lodge building.
Our room is the "water suite" - get it?
The room is finally big enough for the two of us and all our stuff. No wifi, but it does have a "kettle".
Evidently, we will have the opportunity to view wildlife since we are far away from the main lodge, but it looked like something didn't quite make it (there are a bunch of white feathers at the bottom of the tree).
We lucked out on dinner and were able to get into the Yellowstone Lake Hotel. This hotel pre-dates the Old Faithful Lodge, so is considered the "fancier" of the local hotels. As with the Old Faithful Lodge, this hotel does not have wifi, but ours does in the main lodge building. We only got in for dinner because the reservation system wasn't working and it was "first come/first served". The server managed to spray 1/3 of our champagne when opening it (think of the F1 prize ceremonies after a race), but she did give us 2 extra glasses.
The restaurant was a step up with actual linen table cloths and "fancy" silverware. Here's the menu.
I had onion soup and a blue cheese salad. Chris had the seabass which was barely on this side of warm enough.
September 13 -
Our neighbors from China arrived at 12:30 am and proceeded to have a long loud discussion outside our window. Not too long after that the rain and thunder started. I didn't get a lot of sleep last night. While I was trying to sleep, Chris was up and able to get some nice sunrise over the Lake shots.
We started the day by seeing the "mud volcano" which had some pretty interesting muddy bubbling lakes.
Hike 1: South Rim of Yellowstone Grand Canyon. Weather was in the 70s and sunny. Coddiwomple score: 9/10 (wildlife, adventure, beautiful views, got lost).
On the way to the trail head we drove through Hayden Valley again. Several bison walked in front of our car as we drove.
We got to the trail head and parked without much of an issue, but...
I'm including the route recording here because we ended up going 4 miles out of our way. This turned out to be a good mistake because we were all alone in the vastness of Yellowstone.
and had to go overland when a river was running through our marked trail.
It was clear herds of bison used the area quite a lot - we saw tracks and the result of their using trees to scratch themselves.
We saw a single bison under a tree, but no herds (I guess that was a good thing)
We didn't see a soul.
I did see some interesting fungus. The walk took us through another thermal area and a lake
on the way to finally seeing the "grand" canyon.
The views of the Upper Falls at Artist Point were worth the extra mileage. This is a view that was often painted and is in many of the Yellowstone posters.
There were also nice views of the Lower Falls
and various very pretty stretches of the Yellowstone River as it made its way to the Falls. The photos just don't do it justice.
It was time for dinner and we decided to go out the East Entrance. A word about altitude which I keep forgetting to mention. The altitude has fluctuated between about 6000 feet and this pass, which was over 8000 feet.
We decided to go to the Pahaska Tepee Resort which served comfort food and was recommended to us because it was actually owned by Buffalo Bill (of Wild West Show fame). His cabin is still available to view.
Along the way we stopped to view a female grizzly who was foraging for food not far from the road. Some people thought it might be a bear named "Jam", but they weren't sure. A ranger was present with a rifle - I wasn't sure if that was for the bear or for the spectators.
I started dinner with their version of an Irish Coffee that had 3 shots of different liqueurs.
and then moved on to clam chowder, bison meatloaf and we shared fried green tomatoes. I had a root beer float for dessert. (I'd just like to say, in my defense, that I was freezing cold and hadn't eaten all day)
The dining room was rather impressive, with heads of bison and elk on the walls.
I include the menu. It was good food (not great), but better than other food we had along the way. and it was a bit less expensive.
Here are some sunset photos on the way back along Yellowstone Lake.
September 14 - our last full day in Yellowstone.
We started the day (at about 11:30) with "breakfast" at the general store in Fishing Bridge - the closest "town" (in Yellowstone) to our lodge. I asked for milk for my coffee and you can see what I got. Yes, that's a toasted cheese sandwich with fries - breakfast of champions and heart failure.
We went on a short hike today up to Elephant Lookout - 800 feet elevation gain over about a mile. Coddiwomple score: about 5/10 - pretty view, nice trail, but nothing like yesterday's hike. The weather was great again, but it's getting cold. It got down to below freezing and frost was on the ground in the morning.
Supposedly there was a whole herd of elk we walked by without seeing. This is my fear about bears - the bear spray probably works really well, but you have to see the bear before it attacks you in order to have the benefit of the spray....
The rest of the day we had a car safari to the Southern end of the Grand Loop road. I should say there is one "grand loop" that is split into 2 smaller loops. This is the main artery through Yellowstone. By the end of today, we will have traversed about 80% of it and seen 3 of the Park entrances.
Along the way we stopped at a disappointing thermal area - this is the nicest thermal pool of the bunch. It looked nice enough to have a swim.
and Lewis Falls - not spectacular.
As we got to the Southern entrance to the Park we had a view similar to that of Mount Rainier National Park. The road became straight and lined by very tall straight lodge pole pines with a view of the Grand Tetons. It was nice to be in old forest again.
and stopped at a restaurant about 2 miles outside the park called Sheffield's. This turned out to be a pretty good meal - I had onion soup and a bison taco salad, Chris had pasta with squash cream sauce and steak on top.
We were able to capture some nice sunset shots near Lake Lewis on the way back.
And some shots of a pretty crescent moon.
Tomorrow we start back to Billings to return the car and pick up another one (for some reason this is cheaper than keeping the same car, go figure). I'll post again in a few days time, once we get to Jenny Lake at the Grand Tetons.
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