2017 Road Trip - Yellowstone National Park (Days 7-10)

From the beginning stages of planning our adventure, Yellowstone National Park was established as the heart of the trip. It was where we were spending the most time, it was right in the middle of the journey, and it was the place above all others I wanted to see in person. Despite a little bit of rain, and some fairly large crowds, Yellowstone did not disappoint.

Deciding to sleep in to recover from a busy night in Cody, we got on the road later than I wanted, but well rested because of the extra sleep. Approaching the park through the East Entrance gave us some spectacular views of sheer rock walls, and an expansive valley, heading ever upwards. As we moved to higher altitude we moved towards grey skies and into rain. Once we had passed through the gate we decided it best to head straight to Grant Valley Campground where we would be tent camping that night. My biggest complaint about the park was having to wait in line for our site even though we had pre-registered for a site. It was a full campground, meaning everyone in line needed a reservation, however it was taking a good 15-20 minutes for each person to make it past the registration window. Turns out everyone needed to hear the “bear speech” on how to secure the camp to avoid any unnecessary interactions with an Ursus arctos horribilis. Apparently, it was Elk calving season, and a grizzly had been found snacking on a baby elk in the area of the campground recently. (A fact I may have neglected to mention to the girls who were waiting for me in the car). After spending my time at the registration window, we made it to our spot during a break in the rain, and began quickly setting up camp trying to beat a downpour that was looming. The tent was up and the tent fly was on in the nick of time.

With the rain falling in heavy doses now, we headed towards Old Faithful, thinking the rain would reduce the crowds we heard all about. The parking lot was full and the crowds seemed large despite the rainy weather. We checked in with a ranger, picked up some JR. Ranger Books, and got the word on trails and sites to check out during our visit. As the time for the eruption drew nearer, we could avoid the rain no longer, and made our way to the viewing platform towards a decent sized crowd already waiting. The geyser eruption was neat. Sure it is the world’s most famous geyser, but I am not sure in retrospect it was our favorite thermal feature in the park. That said, it may have been different viewing on a sunny day, I did hear someone remark that it was not as spectacular to see with so much cloud cover. With the crowds moving back towards the visitor center, we decided to take the walk around the Old Faithful Geyser basin, where are there easily 2-3 dozen thermal features located in a relatively small area.  We saw hot springs bubbling and loads of hot steam billowing from the ground all around us. Despite our best efforts to walk the entire boardwalk, we were soaked to the bone and the kids were ready to get out of the rain. We jogged back to a small general store for hot chocolate, and passed a few elk who were bedding down off the path. Back to camp, we tried to eat a a quick dinner, but ultimately the rain won out, driving us into the tent for cover. Tomorrow was to be a sunny day, plus we were going to stay in a lodge for the remainder of our visit.

Day 2 in Yellowstone was a sunny day as promised and we drove clockwise around the park from Grant Village to Canyon Village. Along the way we saw the sights of Black Sand Geyser Basin, Fountain Paint Pots Geyser Basin, Firehole Falls Road, Gibbon Falls, and the Virginia Cascades. We remained awestruck by the beauty of the park, and the remarkable scenery on that sunny day. From rapids and waterfalls, to steaming pools and bubbling mud, each stop provided something new to take in. We arrived in Canyon Village late in the day, just in time for our 4 hour Wildlife Experience Antique Bus Tour.  

The buses were once a mainstay of Yellowstone, until the park decided to get rid of them. Apparently, after they went out of service, the number one complaint of visitors was that they missed the old buses, so the Park Service bought them all back and restored them. Our vintage bus “Hollywood” was aptly named for its role as the “Egg Foo Young-Tours” bus in the Kurt Russel / Kim Catrall movie “Big Trouble in Little China” while it was out of service in the park. I got to ride shotgun as the main wildlife spotter for our guide, but was soon out-gamed by my own “eagle eye” daughters sitting in their terrible positions – middle seats in the second row. They spotted Red Fox, Black Bear, Pronghorn, Bison, and Mountain Goats as we drove through the Lamar Valley. Julia Beall was so good, our guide joked that she could be his spotter on tours for the remainder of summer. In addition to those, the guide used a spotting scope to get in close to a pair of Great Grey Owl hatch-lings, and a baby wolf. The most interesting tidbit shared by our guide were that Yellowstone contained over 10,000 thermal features, more than any other location on the planet. A spot in Russia with around 200 thermal features was a distant 2nd. The guide also gave some of his favorite spots to check out during our remaining time in the park, as well as a few down in the Grand Teton National Park. The entire gang was exhausted by the time we made it back to the lodge, and ready to rest up for our last full day in Yellowstone.

On Father’s Day in Yellowstone, I woke early, in hopes to get to a wifi spot in the park to upload a few posts and photos up. The problem was, I arrived to the Canyon Lounge before it opened. Instead of heading back to wake everyone up, I decided to scope out the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone as the sun was rising in the east. While I had heard that it was one of the prettiest spots in the park, I couldn’t believe the breathtaking view Artist Point provided. I decided to rush back to the lodge to see if I could coax Julia and the girls out of their warm beds to get going ahead of the crowds. I exploited Father’s Day to the largest extent possible and there was only minor agitation voiced by the prodding wake-up call. Rising early paid off in dividends as we had Artist Point mostly to ourselves. Watching the girls expression as they looked over the canyon and falls made my day. We then decided to drive down to Hayden Valley and check out Mud Volcano before heading for breakfast. We saw swimming and then sparring bison in Hayden Valley, and were then able to walk around the many bubbling thermal features around Mud Volcano ahead of the crowds.

After eating a quick breakfast and heading back to the room briefly, we headed down to Lake Village to catch Sunday mass all while we overlooked Yellowstone Lake and the Absaroka Range. From there, the girls got sworn in as Yellowstone Jr. Rangers and we began searching for a picnic spot. That afternoon we wanted to get in a hike, and then make our way around to Mammoth Hot Springs. The ranger at Old Faithful told me that Wapiti Lake Trail was a nice trail to check out near Canyon Village, so we made our way towards the picnic area for a quick lunch. While Wapiti is a Shawnee word for Elk, it was bison we saw on our hike. A pair of them were grazing right on the trail which stopped us in our tracks within the first quarter mile of our hike. Bison harm more people in Yellowstone annually than any other animal and we were not sure how to proceed with the hike. In the end we ventured way off the trail around them, only to come across another pair of them again standing on the trail. Julia and I started to have our doubts about the chosen trail, while it was freaking awesome to see bison on a hike, it built up some anxiety not knowing what we could do in the event of a charge. (As a family, we love to get out in the woods for a hike. I am not sure however that we were prepared for the hiking out West, and the wildlife we would come across in both Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks)  After making our way around the second group of bison it was fairly smooth sailing. The mule deer we encountered later on the trail was certainly much more pleasant to observe.

Getting up so early began to pay its toll on everyone as the day wore on. Despite being tired we pushed on and drove out to Mammoth Hot Springs. By the time we arrived everyone was asleep, so Julia and I decided to head towards the North entrance of the park across the 45th parallel and the border into Montana. After stopping for a quick photo op, we went back to the Mammoth Hot Springs and opted for the terrace drive as opposed to the long hike up. Mammoth Hot Springs provided a great vista towards Mount Everts, but it was the drive that brought us to a unique spring with powder blue water. With Mammoth Hot Springs behind us, we decided to complete our last leg of the Grand Loop Road. The full day left us totally exhausted.

For our final morning in Yellowstone, we wanted to see Norris Geyser Basin, and the Grand Prismatic Spring in Midway Geyser Basin. Unfortunately, Norris was closed, (we never inquired why) and ventured down to Midway. We got a late start to the day, and the crowds made us pay as we waited in line to park at Midway Basin. We were rewarded handsomely for our patience, by the springs around Midway, especially from the Grand Prismatic Spring. Radiant blue, pink and orange steam rose from this particular spring, that could be seen way down from the road. As you got close to the spring, you could look down into a rainbow of vibrant colors, orange & yellow mats of bacteria merged into the deep emerald green and deep sapphire blue of the hot water. Julia and I believed that we had saved the best for last as we stood awestruck among the crowds of people who had traveled the world over to stand there with us. While we all agreed we could have spent more time in Yellowstone, we were ready for new views. . . It was time to head down to the Tetons!

Happy Trails!!!