Yellowstone National Park

So, what day is it anyway? Here I sit, in the car, listening to Cowboy Junkies, typing my blog at a KOA in Montana. It’s been many days since we have had any cell phone coverage or internet access, so I have much to update tonight. Good thing I at least typed out the Grand Teton blog a few days ago. We’ve discovered that pretty much all KOA campgrounds have free wifi, so we made a point of finding one tonight so we could make contact with all you dear people.

Yellowstone
Gideon and I arrived at Yellowstone, the first National Park established in the U.S.A. around 10:30 in the morning on Tuesday. The park borders Grand Teton to the North, so it didn’t take long to get there from our campsite. But man, what a different landscape. At first I was a bit disappointed. It looked like a wasteland. Most of the trees are blown down, and there aren’t mountains to speak of, at least in the southern part of the park. But I figured, there had to be something I was missing... Yellowstone is, after all, one of the most popular national parks.

The first stop we made was at Grant Village, where we hoped to set up camp. Well, we learned that many of the campgrounds are closed for the season, so we had to rearrange our plan of attack. We decided to camp at a site north of Old Faithful called Madison, and explore all the features between Grant Village and there before settling in. So, we made our way to Old Faithful and were getting out of the car, eager to experience the most famous destination in the park. We quickly realized we were missing something rather important... our new camera. EEEGADS!!! We ran to the visitor center and asked a ranger to call the Grant Village Visitor Center, where we had stopped thirty minutes earlier. We did not breathe until the ranger nodded her head while on the phone indicating that our favorite new toy was waiting for us, safe and sound. The ranger who found it said he was hoping we wouldn’t claim it. Fat chance.

While Gideon made the trek back to Grant Village to get the camera, I explored the Old Faithful area, including the lodge, gift shop, and famous Old Faithful Inn. Then I took in my first viewing of the geyser in action. Old Faithful gets its name from its regularity in erupting—approximately every 90 minutes. It was pretty exciting to see the geyser blow, although I seemed to pick just the wrong spot and saw mostly a giant plume of steam, rather than water. Not worry though; Gideon showed up with the camera a while later and we watched it blow again. Again in the wrong spot. The wind had shifted, but it was still cool to see again.


We explored the many hydrothermal features in the area. Considering Yellowstone sits atop an active volcano, there are quite a few odd features in the area. I must have sounded like a broken record as I repeated “This is so weird” at each and every stop along the boardwalk. It really was strange. All the boiling cauldrons, geysers, and fuming hot spots seemed like a something you’d see at Disney World. It was otherworldly. After exploring the area, we went to the Old Faithful Inn so I could show Gideon around. The place is exactly what an old school park lodge should be: grand, naturalistic, and enduring. We lucked out with our timing and were able to take in a third viewing of Old Faithful spouting off from the second floor porch at the Inn. This eruption was amazing, just what I’d imagined and expected. It went so high, spewing nearly 8,000 gallons of water for about 4 minutes. Very impressive, to say the least.


From Old Faithful, we visited Black Sand Basin and Biscuit Basin and saw more weird stuff: giant steaming pools, more geysers, strange colored streams, etc. Then we had to make a quick trip back to the Old Faithful Inn for an emergency pit stop. Our timing was spot on; the geyser erupted just as we pulled up. My fourth time to see the spectacle of Old Faithful.


We started working towards our campground in Madison. It was late afternoon, and just the right time for the wildlife of Yellowstone to make its appearance. We spotted our first herd of bison and watched them cross the road. Check out the photo to see what a wildlife jam looks like. The bison are huge creatures. You’d be amazed at how close some tourists got to them. I was holding my breath waiting for some clueless tourist to be gored by a bison, but the bison didn’t waste their time on those folks.


Soon after leaving the bison herd, we came upon another wildlife jam, this time for a herd of elk situated in the small valley just below our campground. Wow! This time, people were even more ridiculous, getting within yards from the animals until the ranger showed up and shouted at them. Elk are not deer. They are really large animals, especially the males, of which there were three in the field. The dominate bull of the group, complete with a giant rack, had gathered himself a fine harem of a dozen females. It is mating season, after all. The other two males were lurking nearby whispering sweet nothings to the girls trying to lure just one or two away. The bull was having none of it and ran the upstarts off with barely a yelp from the little guys. Then, the real show began... yes, you know what I mean. Elk hanky-panky. Gideon got some good shots, so I included them, just to be naughty. I knew you’d want proof.



Today we woke early and set off to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. The canyon is situated in the eastern section of the park, an area with a completely different feel to it. We drove through a beautifully misty morning which quickly burned off into a wonderfully warm day. We hiked the south canyon rim, enjoying the view of the waterfall from “Uncle Tom’s” overlook, at the bottom of more than 350 stairs. Gideon got a good view on the way back up the stairs too. Then we hiked to Artist’s Point for a view of the waterfall and canyon, and then on to Sublime Point, where we enjoyed yet another PB&J picnic lunch.





On the way out of the park, we spotted a coyote. Boy, did it look friendly. I almost became one of those stupid tourists as I contemplated petting the sweet little guy. Just kidding... I just really miss my puppy, Josie!


Our last stop on the way out was at Mammoth Hot Springs, another bizarre sight. It’s a mountain-like mound of calcium carbonate carved into pools by the mineral-rich water running up and out of it.

Gideon and I have been trying to describe Yellowstone all day. We decided it’s a wonderfully weird, active park catering to a passive crowd. The geologic features and the wildlife are active all around you, and it can all be enjoyed from the comfort of one’s vehicle. But we are glad we got out and hiked around... it’s different when you get out there. We also decided that we wouldn’t even consider coming here in the summer, when the entire park is jammed with cars and impatient, hot people. No thank you. Give us Yellowstone in September any day.

P.S. I'm writing a blog for kids. Check it out at http://biscuitsbigadventure.blogspot.com/