I kept thinking Yogi Bear lived in Yellowstone and kept waiting for some sort of Yogi advertisement or merchandise to pop up. I fully intended to buy Yogi Yellowstone shirts for my family as souvenirs, however I later found out Yogi bear lived in a made up park based on Yellowstone called Jellystone.
After spending two nights camping in Glacier I was a little more over my bear fear and was geared up to see one from the road or a safe distance. Yellowstone boosts wildlife viewing so this time I had my camera ready. Not 5 minutes into the park we caught a glimpse of our first wildlife along with the other 20ish cars in front of us. Bear Jams are real and they are not just for bears. I think people feel some sort of invincibility when they can view wildlife from their car. Like the 1000 pound buffalo can't really ram the car...anyways all the cars slowed down to see some mule elk laying off the side of the road.
I was able to snap a quick shot before moving on. What we really came to see were the buffalo or bison as we were corrected and see them we did..
We were a bit over the buffalo by the end of the day. Once we drove by a field of them and they were dangerously close. One was snorting and growling at the cars but Jonathan still wanted to stop and take pictures. This is the invincible thing I mentioned above.
The first day we did the things everyone does in Yellowstone...Old Faithful. Now they don't post times of the eruptions but it usually goes off every hour or so. When we got there we had about 40 minutes before the eruption. There are other hot springs in the area so you can walk around and look at those before it goes off. On the parking lot side there are benches where you can view the blast but in the summer they are pretty packed. There is also a walk way all around the geyser where you can have more of a private viewing. In the winter the park is open to snowmobiles so you could potentially have an even more private view. I'd say our spot was pretty good.
Compared to all the waterfalls and Iceberg lake we have been hiking to I did feel somewhat unimpressed by Old Faithful. Maybe it was because there wasn't a long enduring hike to get to it. Most of Yellowstone can actually be seen by the car. Even at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone you can stop and view all the major overlooks. It became somewhat non-thrilling to drive stop, get out, take picture, wait for Asians to move to take more pictures...but there are trails and you can get out of your car and hike.
Some of the sites have mini hikes like at the mud volcanoes and the grand canyon.
The park is so big you almost have to drive it to be able to see the whole thing in a trip. The park was two major loops and most of the highlights can be seen right off the road or a short walkway.
At the canyon there is a north and south rim trail where you can get away from the crowds and really view the park. We did the North Rim trail and once we got to the overlook where all the cars were parked we felt that the puny viewing area did not do justice to what we got to see on the hike.
Granted the view points of the waterfalls in the canyon were spectacular. And those where accessed by short trails from the parking lot.
After a day of driving, wild life viewing, and hiking we were ready for camp. We stayed at the Canyon Village campground which did not have views of the canyon but did come with two free shower coupons. I almost stole Jonathan's. It also takes reservations online which is a must in the summer months. The campground was full the night we stayed. The fee for tent camping was $28. That seems steep to me especially since we once stayed in a Denver motel for $35 a night. It came with an all you can eat breakfast buffet AND we slept in a bed! Our camp dinner that night was chicken, pasta, and Caesar salad.
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| I forgot to take a picture of the salad before we ate it. |
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We got to talk to a few of our campground neighbors. One retired couple
said they were on the road for 3 months camping out of a 15 passenger
van turned RV. They had a queen mattress behind the front seat and
shelves in the back to hold all their stuff. Not sure how you pack for a
3 month camping trip across the country. They were from Tennessee which
means they told long drawn out stories full of details. We could have
talked to them all night if we didn't have to use our shower coupons.
The showers were only open 8-8 and we had been hitting the road around 8am
each morning. The elevation at Canyon Village is close to 8,000 and it
was a chilly night, much colder than Glacier NP. We got a nice fire going and invited some other camp neighbors to join. We learned that they were from Kentucky and were on a 3 week road trip touring various national parks. It was fun to talk to other people about their adventures and especially fun to hear a Southern accent so far West!
The next day we chose to do more hiking and less driving. We did a hike on the northeast side of the park. It was supposed to be a loop but the return part of the loop was closed due to recent bear activity so we had to hike back the same way. All in all it was about a 10 mile hike.
All along the way we saw scat of various origins: buffalo, deer, horse, and once we saw bear scat; however no actually sittings. We even saw elk bones and one with some flesh still attached. On the way back a thunderstorm came out of nowhere and lasted about 5 minutes. Long enough for me to pull out my raincoat and then the sun came back out. About a half mile from the car another storm came out and I decided to wait this one out instead of putting my coat on...except this one lasted more than 5 minutes. At that point on the trail we were hiking through flat trail of sage brush. The thunder and lighting was so loud and close it made me jump. The rain came down so hard it began to fill the trail with water mixing with animal scat. As I ran to the car I was acutely aware that the water I was splashing through my sandaled feet was full of poo!
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| The sagebrush field before it rained. |
After the hike we headed to our campsite at the Mammoth hot springs. The campsite is about a mile from the Boiling River hot springs which is the best kept secret of Yellowstone. There the cold river mixes with the hot springs creating a natural hot tub effect. Its tricky walking in and out of the springs though since the temperature dramatically changes with each step and the river current is pretty strong. It is key to find the right spot.
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| hot water from the springs |
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| stay to the right of the rock jetti |
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cold water from the river
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Our last sight of wild life was that night in camp. A herd of elk came right through the campsite.
They made the most peculiar sounds and I tried to capture it on video but couldn't get it to load onto the blog. Our last camp dinner was classic hot dogs and chips.
The next morning we snapped a quick picture of Mammoth hot springs.
We last hit up the gift shops. I had huckleberry ice cream for breakfast and it was awesome. I highly recommend it!
