Sunshine and civilization!

We exited Yellowstone in sunshine yesterday morning ... everything looked SO different!

Along the way to Helena, we stopped to enjoy the few little wildflowers that have suddenly appeared. Mists were lifting off the little lakes, and mists of a different sort are always coming off the hot springs and travertine terraces at Mammoth Hot Springs. This is where park offices are located, many of them in the buildings of old Fort Yellowstone, to the right in the landscape photo.

After leaving the park at Gardiner, we drove up the Yellowstone River Valley to Livingston. Like the rest of the area west toward Bozeman, the scenery was broad green valleys ringed with snow-capped peaks.

We stopped for a couple of hours midday in Bozeman, really enjoying the downtown area, which has some neat galleries. Great lunch at Sharky's Deli, with huge tasty hot sandwiches at good prices. 

We reached Helent mid-afternoon, with plenty of time to stroll the pedestrian mall on Last Chance Gulch. There are shops in the two-block amble, and lots of professional offices, but darn few shoppers ... in fact, of the 6-8 shops we entered, there was another customer/visitor in only one of them! The folks outside in the walking mall were mostly walking their dogs or passing from one office to another. The old buildings are beautiful, of course, and I especially liked the dragons chasing each other on a spire at the top of one building's facade. tv