Just before Labor Day weekend, we traveled to Bozeman, MT by plane with our travel buddies Sue and Dean Hereford and stayed in a townhouse in West Yellowstone. This is a small town that is halfway between an Alaskan outpost and a tourist mecca. It is located at the west park entrance and gets you to the key attractions relatively quickly.
The park itself is enormous and it takes an hour or so to get to most attractions. We spent seven days in the park and put over 1000 miles on the mini-van we rented. This was enough time to see the highlights, but you could easily spend a few weeks there, particularly if you like to hike a lot.
The climate is just like you always hear about. Specifically, it get cold when the sun goes down. It was below freezing every night we there. We had beautiful sunny and calm days that were perfect for seeing the “geothermic features” and hiking. The park was busy, but not overly crowded after Labor Day and it was easy to get around.
In the last year and a half of visiting National Parks, we’ve had ample opportunities to “people watch”. In general, NP visitors are friendly, considerate, appreciative, and nature-loving. People take the “leave it untouched” NP philosophy seriously – you rarely see litter or defacement. However, the need to take pictures and videos is pervasive. At every sight worth seeing it seems there are armies of selfie-takers and portrait shooters that constantly block views and paths. Also, it’s not unusual to see someone trying to shoot the death-defying selfie that is on the edge of a cliff. Another scary thing is the disregard for wildlife – with the emphasis on wild. The quest for close up pics and videos will cause people to approach bison, elk, and even bears. We witnessed this several times, the most chilling of which was a woman who approached a group of elk in the Madison River. One of the men standing near the road had the good sense to yell out “Your threatening her young, she’s going to charge you !”. The woman beat a hasty retreat and nothing came of it, but this this kind of thing shows up on Youtube all the time. This concludes the “curmudgeon” section.
Bears are a thing in Yellowstone. The Black and Grizzly bear restoration process over the past few decades has resulted in a growing population and focus. They are something of an unofficial mascot of the park and adorn souvenirs, restaurants, road signs, glassware, and just about anything else. The reality is that there some in the “human part of the park” and occasionally come in contact with, and in some cases attack, humans. Consequently there are warnings everywhere about how to deal with bears. It is highly recommended that you have Bear Spray, and know how to use it, if you hike. Consequently, we rented bear spray for our hikes and took it with us when we went. Although we didn’t actually see a bear all week, we were constantly alert (meaning paranoid for one in our party) whenever we were in the woods.
The park includes a wide variety of wildlife of which we saw bison, elk, coyotes, deer, birds, and horses in a variety of terrains. It includes landscapes of great diversity and beauty including rivers, mountains, lakes, canyons, and forests. However, the most unusual of all the sights are the “Hydrothermal Features”. These include: Hot Springs (pools of hot colored water), Geysers (water shoots out of an opening periodically), Terraces (mineral deposits that build up from hot springs), Fumaroles (steam vents), and Mudpots (bubbling mud and clay). All these features are driven by volcanic activity below the park. A sampling of what we saw can be found in the pictures below and in the Yellowstone Bonus Pics. Over the week we drove both loop roads twice, hiked a number of trails, drove a few side “drives”, and picnicked around the park. Areas we visited include:
Mammoth Hot Springs. Where the Mammoth Terraces are. Coolest natural formations ever (IMHO).
Lamar Valley. Long beautiful valley full of bison, some in large herds. Deer grazing on the valley sides.
Tower Falls. Start of the Yellowstone Grand Canyon. Gorgeous view of the Yellowstone River Valley.
Yellowstone Grand Canyon. Awesome canyon views including Upper and Lower Falls.
Hayden Valley: Very scenic valley with small, but bold, herds of bison. Features include the Mud Volcano and Sulfur Caldron.
Yellowstone Lake: Large picturesque lake. Included stops at the Lake Village, West Thumb Geyser Basin, and Grant Village.
Geyser Basins. Highlight of the park including Upper, Midway, Lower, and Norris Basins. Witnessed about a dozen geyser eruptions including the Beehive and Old Faithful (simultaneously). Wide variety of Hydrothermal features, including the Grand Prismatic Hot Spring. Simply magnificent.
To sum it up, the visit was in many ways a pilgrimage realized. Yellowstone should be on everyone’s bucket list. The park has natural wonders and sights that you won’t see anywhere else on Earth. In our 8 days there, we took over 1000 pictures and not a single one does it justice. Nor can words describe how beautiful it really is.
And, as usual it was a great time with the Herefords with outstanding food and wine (brought good supply with us on the plane).
WLB
