2003-07-19 Cascade Canyon 2003-07-20 Jackson 2003-07-21 South Yellowstone 2003-07-22 Bridger Teton NF 2003-07-23 North Yellowstone 2003-07-24 Rendezvous Mountain 2003-07-25 Jackson Lake 2003-07-26 AM Amphitheatre Lake 2003-07-26 PM Alpine Slide

Day 5 (Wednesday, 7/23/2003)

On the morning of Day 5, we got up way too [expletive deleted] early and drove 3 1/2 hours into Gardiner, Montana (the north and original entrance to Yellowstone) to do some whitewater rafting on the Yellowstone River. The Yellowstone wasn't flowing as briskly as the Snake, and this rafting trip turned out to be more pedantic and family-oriented than the previous one. Live and learn. It wasn't without its merits. For one thing, it was the first time I'd ever been to Montana.

Also, on the way back into Yellowstone, we were able to stop at Mammoth Hot Springs and several of the other attractions at the north end of the park, including the Norris Geyser Basin. We then decided to head back to Jackson via. West Yellowstone and cut through Idaho rather than go back along the Yellowstone park road. This turned out to be fortuitous, because neither of us had ever been to West Yellowstone, and we didn't realize how large it is. We ended up grabbing dinner there and staying around long enough to see an IMAX film before heading back to HQ.