Yellowstone

   From Aug. 18-25 we explored the Yellowstone region. For years now when people would ask where we spent the summer and we would say Wyoming they would next say, "have  you been to Yellowstone"? I'd always have to say no and explain that we like southeastern Wy. but plan to make it to Yellowstone some day. Well, now I can say "yep" done Yellowstone! It was worth every minute of our stay. We could have easily spent another week there and really thought about it but decided to make our way back toward Saratoga.
   The thing about Yellowstone is that it's just so big! You spend a lot of time driving to get to the various sites but you really don't mind the driving since the scenery is so beautiful. Yellowstone isn't so much of an in your face magnificent views park. Instead, it is a wild place with so much variety and wildlife. I'd heard stories about how crowded it is in the summer but it wasn't too bad when we were there. We only got caught in one roadblock due to people stopping in the middle of the road to view wildlife, not too bad. I guess most kids were back in school by the time we were there but we did see lots of foreign tourists, mostly from eastern Asia. If you came across a tour bus watch out, you'd better find the next set of restrooms.
   We got on a schedule of leaving our campground by 9:00am and arriving back by around 5:00pm. Most evenings I fished for an hour or two after which sat around the campfire until bed time. It was so relaxing, cooking potatoes and fish on the campfire followed by marshmallows. One thing I will note here is that we never went anywhere without our bear spray we picked up in Cody. The camp host stated that grizzlies are frequent in the area with several sightings over the past several weeks. It was exciting and a little strange to be in such a wild area where you're not at the top of the food chain.

 

Barbara and I at the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

 

 

Our first day in the park we came across this guy walking down the middle of the road like he didn't have a care in the world.

 

 

Of course, everyone coming to Yellowstone has to see Old Faithful. The lower geyser basin has around 30% of the world's geysers. Yellowstone has around 60% of the entire world's geysers!

 

 

There were many beautiful hot pools. This one is called Crested Pool.

 

 

Morning Glory Pool. The different colors are bacteria that grow at different water temps.

 

 

We walked down a trail and came across these two elk.

 

 

Lamar Valley. Bison are starting to gather together in larger groups for the fall rut.

 

 

The Old Faithful Inn...a beautiful large log structure...one of the world's largest.

 

The Lake Hotel...the first built in Yellowstone.

 

 

Barbara, in the chair at the General Store.

 

 



 

Relaxing by the fire after a long day. As soon as the sun goes down it cools down fast.

Yes...those are marshmallows near Barbara, yum!

 

   A few final thoughts on Yellowstone. It's definitely one of the best national parks I've been to so far. The size of the park is astounding to me but the biggest impression I take away is the variety of  park. There's a lot of driving and with a 45 mph speed limit, it takes a while to get to places so patience is needed. From the geyser fields, lakes and streams, mountain ranges, and wildlife, we could have spent another week exploring parts of the park we didn't get to...gives us reasons to go back someday.

The one problem I have with the park is all the development I wasn't prepared for. I think there are too many hotels, campgrounds, grocery stores, gas stations, and gift stores. It really takes away from the wildness of the place in my opinion. I know there are a lot of people that come here but they could stay in areas outside the park and drive in to visit for the day. We camped just outside the park and didn't have any problems getting to all areas of the park in a days time.

 

Our next blog will be about the day we drove to Grand Teton Nat. Pk.. I'll go ahead and say it's the most impressive mountain range I've ever seen...more later.