The Yellowstone Edition – WOW. Just WOW

Hello, My Peeps!

I am sitting here on Day 30 of The Epic Adventure (in Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado) and feeling so very grateful to be having this experience!  It’s been amazing and overwhelming at times… and the theme is definitely one of gratitude – for this time to re-energize and connect with the vast and wondrous country that is America!

When last I left off, we were just about to start our time in Yellowstone National Park.  Although I had done some research on the park – you know, stats and figures and main attractions – it didn’t prepare me at all for the real thing.  My first day in Yellowstone I really felt unsettled – overwhelmed, excited and totally daunted by this huge collection of sensory overload that is this park.  

Reflecting back, I think it was my type-A personality kicking in as I realized there was no way I could see and experience even a fraction of what was here.  I just had to give in, let my overachieving self go, and ease into the “let’s do more of less” approach that Mick and I landed on.

On Day 17, after setting up camp in Wapiti, we had time to do an afternoon “orientation” driving safari and entered through the east gate.  We crossed over the Sylvan Pass at 8,630 feet and had incredible views of Yellowstone Lake as we descended to Fishing Bridge. 

There we were treated to seeing a small herd of Bison, right off the road about 20 yards from our truck.  These creatures are MASSIVE and it was so cool to see them chilling out, almost as if they were posing for us voyeurs.

We drove north to the Mud Volcano area and had a quick look at the more accessible spots as we had Cassie – and Yellowstone is unfortunately not very dog friendly.  It’s understandable, though, you definitely don’t want to disturb the native wildlife (or draw bears as apparently they LOVE dogs too but as meals, not companions!) and it can be dangerous around the thermal areas.

Our first taste of the incredible geothermal activity in the park was Dragon’s Mouth Spring – a cave in the side of the hillside that belches steam and sounds as if it’s roaring. And right near by there are pools of boiling mud. It’s a very strange sight and it’s hard to accept it as reality – you really don’t expect the earth to do that!

When we later toured the Historical Museum on Day 19, we read that early Yellowstone visitors tried have their travelogues published and were rejected by East Coast publishers as they refused to print “fantasy”. 

Continuing north into the Hayden Valley, we again saw a herd of Bison in the grassland – this time alongside the clear running Yellowstone River and with Mount Washburn as the backdrop, towering 10,243 above.

And then, we went to The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.  I am not ashamed to say that I cried.  The rugged canyon’s sheer yellow rock walls contrasted with the water cascading over Upper (at 109 feet) and Lower Falls at (309 feet) was heart-changing.  I describe myself as more spiritual than religious and standing there at the edge, I could see the hand of the creator.

By then it was getting late and we had a 30+ mile drive back to Wapiti (through the gorgeous Shoshone National Forest so not really a hardship) once we got back to the East Gate.

On Day 18, we moved from Wapiti over to West Yellowstone in Montana and to the “Taj Ma Campground”, Grizzly RV Park.  We drove through the park from the East Gate to the West Gate and stopped in Fishing Bridge to grab a coffee (and see the auto repair shop as Mick had a professional interest) where I asked a young man working there for the summer what his favourite day hike was.  He recommended Fairy Falls out to Imperial Geyser so we put that on our list of things to do – nothing like a bit of local knowledge!

At Camp, our site backed on to the Custer-Gallatin National Park – where dogs are welcome – so we set up and took Cassie for a 2 hour hike through the trails.  She’s really come into her own as a hiker during this trip!

We explored West Yellowstone that afternoon as well – pretty commercial and touristy but nice with it, and we went to a fabulous ice cream place where I tried the Honey Lavender Huckleberry.  It was delish!

On Day 19, we got an early start to beat some of the crowds and arrived at the Midway Geyser Basin by 9 am, leaving Cassie tucked in at the trailer with the AC as she wasn’t allowed on the trails. As we approached the basin, there were lots of steam plumes coming from the ground as the cool morning air was much colder than the hot springs below.

We walked through the boardwalk area for a close up view of the Excelsior Geyser Crate and the Grand Prismatic Spring, which was difficult to see as it was covered in fog – but the cool thing was, the fog actually took on the colours of the pool below and we could see blue tones in the centre and red at the edges in the mist.

From there, we parked a short distance away at the Fairy Falls trail head and started our hike as recommended by our young friend, the barista in Fishing Bridge.  It was a great trail, flat and through a pine forest.  As we got close to the falls, we met a couple hiking with 2 young boys about 10 years old.  

Like you do when you’re travelling, we said hello and exchanged stories – I noticed that Max, one of the kids, was wearing a Watch Hill shirt so asked if it was from Rhode Island.  Turns out Sarah’s mom was from Westerly and went to Stonington High School.  Talk about a small world!  She and her husband Brian and son Leo live in Brooklyn and they’ve spent lots of time in Misquamicut and Westerly and Mystic.  We hiked to the falls with them, took pictures and exchanged emails.

Fairy Falls was such a treat – a well over a 100 feet tall, the water fell in 2 cascades from the cliff to form a cold pool that flowed across the lower meadow in a stream.  We couldn’t resist dipping our hands in and the kids took of the sneakers to walk in the fresh water.  And, the best part was there were hardly any other visitors there.

We found in all the National Parks we’ve visited so far, that once you’re more than a 1/4 mile away from the road on a trail, the crowds thin remarkably.

We left our new friends to continue the hike to Imperial Geyser about another 1/3 of a mile out.  We arrived to find it gushing continuously, sometimes as high as 20 feet!  It was surrounded by a clear, steaming turquoise pool and some bubbling mud pots thrown in for good measure.

Curious about how geysers work, I later read that the plumes of hot water jetting into the sky are a combination of heated water and underground “plumbing”.  When the pressure builds to a tipping point, it erupts to relieve itself.

That’s a pretty good metaphors for creatively handling life’s stressors – when your “plumbing” is overwhelmed, you have to find ways to periodically let off steam.  Personally, I recommend semi-retirement and travelling as the ultimate stress managers 🙂

There was a short, steep hike up a nearby hill so we decided that perch would make a great snack spot so huffed our way up – the 6,000 foot altitude makes the air a bit thin!  From there, we could see both the Fairy Falls across the valley and look down on the geyser. 

As we were the only people there for a bit, we nicknamed it our “Private Geyser” (yes, sung to the Tina Tune of “Private Dancer” lol).  While we were hiking down to Imperial again, Sarah, Brian and the boys arrived so we had another chance to chat before hiking out.  

On the way back, we followed the heated stream that Imperial creates as the water flows up and out.  It was an otherworldly landscape created by the steaming stream trickling through the red and white mineralized rocks.

Our last stop on the hike was a stop at the Grand Prismatic Spring Overlook, a side trail that gives a birds eye view out over the turquoise, green, red and yellow pool.  As it was afternoon by the time we had hiked out, the air temperature had equalized enough and the mist had lifted to give us a spectacular view over this natural wonder.  A bucket list check off for me, for sure!

It was an awesome 5 mile hike with 3 great pay offs!

That afternoon, we took Cassie back into West Yellowstone and the lovely History Museum staff member let her in so she could tour through with us.  We learned about the earthquake in 1966 that changes the park landscape and created a new lake and the forest fire in 1988 that destroyed hundreds of acres of forest and almost burned down The Old Faithful Inn.  

We also learned about the pioneers who settled the area in the 1890s and early 1920s and 30s visitors who arrived via the newly completed Union Pacific railroad.  There was a restaurant at the station called The Beanery and it was staffed by young women called The Beanery Queens – one of their job requirements was they had sing to the guests!  Talk about my dream job 🙂

As the capstone to a very full day 19, we visited the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery center where bears and wolves who can no longer survive in the wild find sanctuary.  Their focus is on educating people to leave wild animals alone as it’s very common for human interactions to result in the death of the bear or wolf.  It was so cool to see these beautiful animals up close and personal and learn about the ongoing conservation efforts as Canadian wolf packs have been reintroduced to Yellowstone.

On Day 20, we had our second full day in Yellowstone so decided to beat the crowds again and set off early.  On the way in, I checked the eruption prediction website for Old Faithful and realized that, if we hustled a bit, we could make the 8:31 +/- 10 minutes show.  It was great timing and we arrived with about 30 other people to watch the Geyser do his thing.

There was an early morning hush among us spectators as we sat on benches waiting for the big event.  And then an older, retired Marine arrived and provided some comic relief by having a full on conversation with his GoPro video camera, giving it voice commands that seem to have mixed results.  We had a good chuckle as he kept trying to start and stop filming as we were watching for the eruption.

The event itself did not disappoint – we were awestruck as after a brief build up, water shot 70 feet in the air and continued to jet into the sky for several minutes before subsiding into a trickle of hot steam again from the geyser’s mouth .  Old Faithful had, yet again, lived up to his name.

Before leaving the Old Faithful area, we took a quick self-guided tour of the stunning Old Faithful Inn.  After seeing this beautiful architectural treasure in person, we understood why those courageous firefighters had worked night and day to save this gem from the voracious fires.

To continue the geyser theme, we then drove to the trail head for the Lone Star Geyser, another geothermal wonder that’s accessed by a 2 mile trail that runs along the pretty Firehole River.  

We arrived to find that the “Geyser Log” read it had erupted an hour earlier and was pretty much on a 3 hour schedule with the possibility of a “mini-spurt” 90 minutes after the big one.  We hung out for an hour hoping for some action but saw just a tiny fart of an eruption before we called it and hiked out. 

As a consolation prize, we did get to see the gorgeous Kepler Cascades back at our trail head.

I wish I had the vocabulary to describe Yellowstone and the impact it had on me.  Although it was busy with busloads of tourists furiously snapping pictures with their fancy cameras, once we got off the beaten path, we were surrounded by an immense landscape like no other place on earth. 

From bubbling mud pots, steaming turquoise pools, jets of water shooting into the sky, towering snow dappled mountain peaks, grassland dotted with bison, tall pine forests, “`crystal clear flowing rivers, deep stone canyons, cascading waterfalls, and vast lakes, Yellowstone is a fantasy land – perhaps one of the Creator’s finest works.

Stay tuned for our Grand Teton episode next!