Liberty Cap is a [now inactive] 37-foot hot spring cone located at the bottom of Lower Terraces, in the northern portion of Mammoth Hot Springs. Liberty Cap was created by a hot spring which remained in one location for a long time, depositing minerals which built the cone. Liberty Cap was thought to resemble caps worn during the French Revolution and that is how it got its name in 1871 from the Hayden Survey party.

Upon our arrival at Mammoth Village we were greeted by the site of several elk. You could find the elk in the center of the village, around the visitor center, and the hotel, they were hard to miss.

The elk weren’t afraid of the vehicles or people, nor were the people afraid of the elk. The park rangers were stationed around the elk and had to keep people a safe distance away, and the village had several signs warning of the danger. For some reason people felt no danger from these massive wild animals. We saw people walk right beside the elk without a second thought. We even saw a family park their car right next to the elk and get out of the car, the parents showed no concern when the barely walking toddler got out of the car and headed toward the elk, just feet away. No concern that is until the elk made took a couple aggressive steps toward the child.

Our two day trip to Yellowstone Park took us through the park’s only year round north entrance, boasting the historic Roosevelt Arch - dedicated by President Roosevelt on April 24th of 1903. From there it was a short drive and then a nights stay at Mammoth Hot Springs.

The next day consists of a slow drive through the park with many stops and pictures along the way to our last nights stay at the Old Faithful Inn, followed by our exit out of Yellowstone’s west entrance.

View Larger Map