So when we got up this morning the weather was utterly miserable. It was pouring down with rain but we still went to the mineral deposits. We walked around the terraces and saw all the fumeroles letting off steam. From here we went to straight to breakfast before doing our final packing and checking out of Mammoth.

Once we had checked out we drove towards Tower and stopped off to look at Udine Falls. We then continued further and what should we see but a bear wondering across a hill. This black bear was incredibly wet and had a little white patch under its chin. So we stopped and watched it for a while before heading on further to look at a lake and to meet another bear. This time the black bear ran out across the road in front of the van and then along just off the roadside.

We then went to Calcite Springs where we had a little walk along and saw the columns. We also spotted some bighorn sheep on steep valley side and we were luckily enough to see some bighorn lambs. We also saw our first peregrine falcon which was soaring over the top of the valley.

From here we continued to head towards Tower where we had to turn around as the road was closed due to snow overnight.

So on the way back we went to look at the Petrified tree again and here we saw a mother black bear with her 2 cubs. They were play fighting, rolling around and climbing the trees. It was really brilliant to watch and all very exciting. Oh and as this was happening it was also snowing! (Just so you can really get a picture of what was happening). After watching the bear and her cubs we continued back towards Mammoth where just further along the road there was more queuing traffic, another bear jam. This time another black bear walking over the hill.

When we got to Mammoth we stopped for lunch and had a look around the visitors centre before jumping in the van again and continuing our journey to Old Faithful. On the way we stopped to see if we could see anything and admired the views of the new snow on the mountain tops.

We then made another stop to look for pika and marmots. We were greeted by five marmots sitting and playing on the rocks and we also saw a chipmunk and a golden mantled ground squirrel. From here we walked into the woods and to try and find the pika but instead we saw more marmot (you've got to love a marmot) and a couple of little chipmunks.

Our next stop was the Roaring Mountain, a large fumerole. From here we went to the Norris Geyser Basin where we saw more fumeroles and geysers. Here I saw the Steamboat Geyser, the world's tallest active geyser, which is so unpredictable it can erupt anything between 4 days and 50 years after a major eruption and the eruption can be over 90m tall. The last major eruption was in September 2014. I didn't see a major eruption but did see it spurting out some water.

After visiting Norris we headed towards Old Faithful but unfortunately got stuck in a bit of a traffic jam which delayed us by over half a hour. But it wasn't your average M25 traffic jam, it was a bear jam. So we obviously got out and had a look and it was so totally worth it. We saw 3 grizzly bears, a mum and her 2 cubs! The mother bear was really quite big and the bears obviously weren't that old. Initially the bears were hiding in the fallen trees but they came out and walked around. It was totally amazing.

Our next stop was Gibbons Falls where we stopped to admire the waterfall before continuing our journey to our new cabins, passing lots of geothermal features on our way.

When we got to our cabins we settled in and then went to dinner and then went to bed ready for a day of geysers tomorrow!