Yellowstone

The Crown Jewel

May 25-29, 2003

In it's variety, size, geology, wildlife, and sheer beauty, there is nothing to rival Yellowstone National Park. We were overwhelmed. It is magnificent in every sense of the word.

    And the best part is that there is so much to see and do in so many different locations that it doesn't have the crowded feeling of Yosemite and the Grand Canyon. In a sense, there are at least five different parks--the hot springs at the northern end, Old Faithful in the middle, Yellowstone Lake (above--nice shot from the car by Mary) and the Canyon to the east, and the wildlife all over the place. 




    This is Mammoth Hot Springs Village, looking northeast from the top of the springs. We left the RV up on I-90 (I wasn't sure about the roads in the park--they turned out to be no problem, but who knew?) and stayed in one of the 1930's vintage cabins you can see up against the hill in the left center.

    The kids complained about having to walk down the road to the bath house (horrors), but managed to survive the hardship. Mary and I felt like Clark Gable and Paulette Goddard in It Happened One Night.




    Here's a fun shot of the interior of the cabin--Ben at work at the computer and Mary (in the Paulette Goddard robe) and me (taking the picture) behind him in the mirror. The cabins weren't exactly luxurious, but were clean and comfortable. We were surrounded by a gang of German students doing the US tour and families from all over. Great place, and the price (about $60 a night) was right.






    The thing to understand about Yellowstone is that it's one of the most volcanically active areas in the world; it was the site of the largest volcanic eruption in the history of the planet 35 million years ago and a pretty sizable one only 600,000 years ago. Ben and I kept looking at each other and saying, "And we're going to sleep in this place tonight? It could blow any minute."

   This is one of the hundreds (maybe thousands) of thermal pools scattered throughout the park. There were full-blown geysers, bubbling mud springs, multicolored seeping hot springs (they really were hot; I stuck my finger in), and everything in between. 




Molly at the edge of one of the hot springs. I was surprised at how dynamic this all is; not far from this spot, we saw deposits forming on fresh grass.

    Ten years from now, it could look entirely different. Or, it could all be gone in a big bang. Think Old Man of the Mountain.


Two girls by a hot pool; think Mary was nervous with Molly this high up on the fence?






And speaking of geysers, here's the grand-daddy of them all--Old Faithful, in full eruption. We learned to our disappointment that it doesn't really go off on the hour, or even hourly. It actually goes off every 90 minutes or so, but when it does, it's worth the wait.




   

   







    Almost as much fun as watching the eruption is watching the people watching the eruption. Here, everyone is focussed on the site (except the lady in foreground getting a movie of her four-year-old who couldn't have been less interested).

    I think parents generally bring their kids to such places (even pure-kid places like Disney World) too young. The little guys aren't going to get much out of it and are certainly a hassle. My advice is to wait until they're nine or ten, then drag them around the whole country. They'll thank you for it. Later.


    We actually saw O.F. go off three times--twice from the ground and this time from the balcony of the Old Faithful Inn. (Hint:  Buy lunch at the snack bar downstairs and bring it up to the porch, awaiting the next show.) Here, it's warming up; there are usually a couple of false starts before it finally blows.






    The interior of the Old Faithful Inn is one of the most spectacular interior spaces in the country--six stories open to the top around a massive stone fireplace. The tree knees were picked one-by-one by the architect to match; the lights, the floors, the window trim, even the writing desks on the mezzanine, all fit together in a great grand lodge style. (Mary wants a replica of the balcony desk lamps for her new desk, oy vey!)  One more place for a return trip.









    I never knew it, but Yellowstone has its own Grand Canyon--better than a thousand feet deep with several dramatic falls and breathtaking views into the gorge.

As we looked down, however, I realized that as far as canyons went, we had done the trip backwards. You should start with the Badlands in South Dakota, do Bryce, Arches, Canyonlands, and Yellowstone (in pretty much any order), but always end up at the The ("Original") Grand Canyon.

The Grand Canyon is so huge, beautiful and completely awe-inspiring, anything you see later just doesn't measure up. I kept feeling a little let down, sort of like visiting New Hampshire or Vermont after you've been to Maine.





A bend in the Yellowstone River as it approaches the gorge. Great place to kayak, until you hit the 150 foot drop about a quarter mile below this spot.




This is called Artist's Point; I wonder why?




    And finally, the animals. Even our somewhat jaded kids came to life when we came across sights like this. Some of our best moments came as we drove through the park at the end of the day; bison were everywhere (know the difference between a buffalo and a bison? There's isn't any, just two different names) and we treated them with respect. Molly's friend Katy Swan asked if we knew what a buffalo said to his little boy when he left for school; the answer, "Bye son," of course.

    One evening, we were on a trail at one of the hot springs and Mary said, "I wonder if there are any buffalo around here". At that very moment, Ben pointed wordlessly to this guy, about fifty yards away. We beat a hasty but quiet retreat.




My zoom isn't all that great; we had to be pretty close to get these shots (taken by Ben, by the way--he seems to have evolved into our wildlife photographer). One other night, we saw a grizzly (dimly, to be sure) hunting in the midst of a group of buffalo.
   
    At this time of year, the elk's antlers are still covered with what they call velvet--











--and Mr. Black Bear draws quite a crowd as he looks for supper. As you drive along, suddenly you'll see a bunch of cars stopped on the side of the road, a sure sign that an animal is showing himself somewhere in camera range.

    If you want to know the difference between a black bear and a grizzly, ask Molly--she had to learn it to get her Junior Ranger.






    Yellowstone was the first national park established anywhere in the world and what a wonderful precedent it set--accessible, yet largely unspoiled, it is one of our country's gems.

    I believe setting aside places like this is one of the most far-seeing and important things one generation can do for another; we are blessed to have it in our midst.





    Next week, we are truly on the way home; Mount Rushmore, the Badlands, and the B-1 Bomber all are in our sights. See you then.