Yellowstone - Queen of National Parks

Waving goodbye to our good luck moose, we headed off to Yellowstone.  It's a short drive north through the Grand Teton Park, with lovely views all the way.  Our approach led through Grand Teton, then into Yellowstone Park and out the western gate to West Yellowstone, where we had a reservation in an RV park.  We attempted to stop at Old Faithful on the way, but by that time it was the middle of the day, and there was literally no place to park a rig like ours.  The crowds were enormous.  So we continued on, vowing to return the next day for a visit.

Our reservation was at an RV camp a few miles north of West Yellowstone, located on National Forest land on the shores of a large lake.  It was a great location, out in the forest with miles of National Forest road all around.  There had been a grizzly with cubs in the area only a week earlier, so there were lots of alerts and we carried our bear spray faithfully when we went on bike rides in the area.  The only drawbacks were the access road, five miles of corduroy gravel, and the unreliable internet service.

The next morning we headed right off to visit Old Faithful and the surrounding geyser country.   We arrived quite early, which gave us a good parking place and a less crowded visitor center.  It seems that all the national parks have been seeing big increases in visitors this year, and the Yellowstone park is no exception.  The park rangers look very busy and traffic is a big issue.  But Old Faithful did not  disappoint, and the surrounding geyser country provided an endless variety of steaming, bubbling and exploding thermal sites.  We took lots of photos, but it's impossible to capture the variety and complexity of these sites.  We hiked the boardwalks around Old Faithful and wore ourselves out.

Yellowstone is a huge park, and we were hard pressed to cover even a small part of it.  The next day we toured further north, up toward Mammoth Springs.  We had to wend our way through all the construction, but the delays this time were minor.  We learned quickly that if we wanted to spot some wildlife, we just looked along the road for something that looked like a twenty-car pileup, and sure enough there would be critters.

It was as much fun watching the tourists following the critters around as the critters themselves.  Despite all the signs to the contrary, folks persisted in trying to get close to wildlife, even pretty dangerous critters like bears and buffalo.  We didn't see any actual injurious encounters, but the animals certainly had plenty of opportunities to squash, gore and/or trample tourists if they had wanted to.  Fortunately, for the most part the tourists were treated gently. 

We couldn't resist a stop at the Artist Paintpots along the way.  It was a great little geyser hike, with a lot of those colorful bubbling springs that are so common in the caldera.  There were great views and a variety of these displays.  Then a picnic at a small rock formation near the road and moving on to Mammoth Springs.  That end of the park has a large visitor center and the old army fort which was used to protect the park in the early days from poachers and illegal loggers and such. That army unit is credited with saving the park, and the history of their struggle is fascinating.  On the way back, we got our one and only look at a grizzly bear, with two cubs you can barely see in our photo.  There were plenty of people there running up to it to try and get eaten, but the bear was steadfastly ignoring them all.

The next day we got a late start, with a leisurely breakfast in a popular West Yellowstone bakery, followed by some serious internet time in the local library.  Then we were off again to the north side of the park, through the construction and then up to the Yellowstone Canyon area.  That spot is truly spectacular and lives up to its reputation as the most photographed site in Yellowstone.  Like everyone else, we took lots of pictures.  Then we drove off into the Lamar Valley, reputed to have lots of wildlife, particularly right at dusk.  We saw some buffalo and some pronghorn antelope, and had a pleasant conversation with a serious wolf-watcher who was following the pack that lived in the area.  But we weren't able to see them.  It got dark and started to rain, and we headed home.

The next day was a wildlife tour.  After a brief stop at Old Faithful, we went on the road toward the Hayden Valley, which was reputed to have lots of wildlife.  Sure enough, a crowd by the road indicated some bull elk.  How those critters ever get through the forest with all those antlers, I do not understand.  But they must do it.   We stopped for a picnic in a very nice uncrowded spot by a river with buffalo grazing in the distance and the ubiquitous fishermen casting their lines.  It was an idyllic scene, and just what we had gone on the road for.  

There were herds of buffalo all around, and no lack of photo opportunities.   We also saw a pair of coyotes.  These two were quite tourist-savvy, ignoring the dozens of photographers as they combed the grasslands for little treats.  You rarely see coyotes that are that indifferent to humans, but coyotes are smart critters, and they quickly figure out that we're no threat.  But that makes them a lot easier to see. 

Toward the end of the day, we took a very pleasant and peaceful little hike along the edge of Lake Yellowstone.  It was a lovely day, and a fitting windup to our visit.  We met one or two other travelers and had some good conversations, but for t he most part it was just sunny and quiet.  Ivy spotted this little fella emptying out his tunnels, popping his head in and out.  It took about twenty photos to catch him outside.  And there was a small flock of mergansers along the lakefront.  And there were lots of marmots, occupying the choicest real estate, sunny with a view of the lake, and chirping in outrage at their visitors.  After that it was the long drive back to the RV park.  A thoroughly satisfying visit, but one that leaves a whole lot of the park unseen.  We hope to return and spend more time at a later date.