Yellowstone was the first ever National Park established in the United States, and in fact the whole world, in the year 1872. One can understand why it was decided to preserve this area for future generations. It is a geothermal playground of about half the world’s hydrothermal features, over 10,000, in one spot and is truly unique and beautiful.
The park is home to some wonderful wildlife including bison, bear, elk and wolf. It is a subalpine forest dotted with all sorts of eco systems created by the bubbling earth. Couple all this with over 300 geysers and many waterfalls it is a feast of wonder to explore. It is also home to many strange and wonderful microscopic organisms called thermophiles (heat lovers) that live in the acidic boiling waters, a scientific wonderland.
Apart from the obvious hydrothermal wonders this park is also very important to the restoration and conservation of wildlife. This is particularly true of the wolves, extinct in these parts until a restoration program began in 1995, seeing a previous population of about 40 double, not very many is it? There are many research efforts protecting the wonderful creatures living here and it is comforting to know that they and their environment will be here for future generations.
There are some roads closed due to road works so it is a little difficult to decide a plan of attack but our first day we spend working our way around the Yellowstone Lake toward the south of the park and take in our first look at the steaming geysers. We cross over into Grand Teton National Park. This is a smaller park but amazing with large snow capped mountains towering over the magnificent Jackson Lake. We arrive late in the day when the light is spectacular and perfect to view gorgeous reflections in the glass like water of the huge lake. As the sun sinks behind the mountains we are treated to the colour changes of the clouds reflected beneath the mountain. Hope these photos come out well.
This is as far as our journey today can go as we have run out of light so we head back into Yellowstone and set up in the southern camp ground for the night. There is snow on the ground and there are light falls wafting in the air as we set up Jetson. Needless to say it is quite a chilly night to camp but we are quite cosy under our newly purchased sleeping bags. In the morning we wake to explore our surroundings to find evidence of animal tracks of birds, elk and some other small creatures, unfortunately (luckily) no bear prints.
In the morning we have to back track around the lake but this is not a difficult task as it is just beautiful. The colour is a deep slate blue and around the edges in patches the ground shoots steam into the atmosphere and then there are spots where the snow reaches the water edges.
Our morning is off to a wonderful start when we are stopped in our tracks by a passing heard of bison plodding along the road. The early morning snow is sticking to their gorgeous woolly coats. It is a large group with quite a few young, so cute. We are speechless as they almost rub against the car and we whisper quietly to them and tell them how beautiful they are.
We are just coming to terms with our amazing luck and have gone for about an hour when Mikayla realizes she has probably left her retainers (orthodontic) sitting on the bonnet of the car from when we have brushed our teeth. We do a thorough search of the car and sure enough they are not there. The decision is made to return to the spot we had chosen on the lake to have our breakfast. We drive back wondering if we will even be able to see them and if we can could they possibly be in one piece? Not far back along the road we are treated to an elk wandering across the road right in front of us to join it’s companions on the other side, just so elegant and graceful. Our return journey is about complete when we spot the purple case about 50m before our spot. It is in the middle of the road. We park and walk back to it and sure enough the retainer is not inside. Mikayla is on a mission and within another 10m she spots it in the middle of the lane. She picks it up and dusts it off and to our complete amazement it is seemingly in perfect shape. How lucky are we. Not sure how many cars have passed over it without disaster striking!
Off we go again for another look at the lake, not a problem as the sun is higher in the sky and the colours are that little bit different. Oh, and did I mention we encounter the bison crew again so can get another chance to OOH and AAH. Our path then takes us into some of the most amazing sights of geysers and mud pots. Each pond is a different colour due to the minerals that are pumping up from within the earth, how they react with the atmosphere, and also those little thermophiles. Some are just bubbling mud that burps and splutters and others are bubbling clear ponds of varying colours on the spectrum.
It is such an assault on the senses; the colours are vibrant (though the cold weather is making it difficult to experience because of the steam created by the boiling hot water hitting the cool air), the smell of the sulphur is strong and the sounds of the gushing water can be a loud roar or a burp. Touch is one sense that can’t be filled as to get into these acidic pools can cause serious burns and in some cases death, it is said that the acid will burn through boots. We enter into a part of the park that is a gorge with a couple of gorgeous waterfalls. The snow is heavy on the ground everywhere we go but here we decide to have a snowball fight, such fun.
Eventually we get to Old Faithful after being assured that we will be able to fill up with petrol. This geyser is so named because without fail it erupts every 90 odd mins, give or take 5, sending a huge plume of water skyward. It is not the largest geyser in the park, that would be Steamboat that we had seen earlier in the day, but it is very regular. Our visit to Steamboat had only seen about a 10-15m eruption, it’s last large spurt being in September. We are glad to have experienced Old Faithful but it is the tourist side of town and not actually the most pretty part of the park. The trails left more on the wild side are more rewarding. We are heading out of the North of the park so start the journey up again.
More wonderful colours delight us and as the sun is sinking we spot a wolf fleeting cross our path. We are yet to see a bear, Yellowstone is home to both the Grizzly and the Black bears, and so we keep our eyes peeled. It is a conundrum; we would love to see them but not too close and not too far. There are many warnings and education on how to react to a bear encounter, getting too close is not a desired pastime and can end badly. Still it would be lovely to see another, we did manage to see a cub in The Great Smokey Mountains, but today is not our day.
We sadly run out of light to enjoy the most Northern reaches but have had a wonderful time here at Yellowstone. As we descend out to Gardiner we are treated to herds of Elk on the grassy roadside, what magnificent creatures they are with their enormous antlers. This ends our foray into the worlds first ever National Park and it has been truly amazing. We have timed our visit just right as the park will be closed completely in just 3 days. We have learned much but for all the scientists and researches in the world this is a treasure land with so much more to offer. Dare I say it, we have put a revisit on that bucket list. We finally settle for the night in a hotel overlooking the river to relax before our drive towards Glacier National Park.
Photos can be found on our Facebook page in the album WYOMING.
Here We Come World 