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Yellowstone National Park was the very first National Park in the whole world. Nothing had really been done like it before - an area of land designated solely for wilderness preservation and public use, funded by the government. Yosemite National Park in California was America's first State Park, signed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1864, and central to the development of the government's future idea of national parks. It wasn't actually given National Park status until 1890, eighteen years after Yellowstone was signed by President Ulysses S. Grant in 1872, nearly 140 years ago. The 3,468 m² Yellowstone National Park sits mainly in Wyoming, but the western and northern borders extend into Idaho and Montana respectively, which is possibly where the final notion of a National Park came from, instead of the existing idea of the State Park.

Today we were driving north. So far north we would actually be leaving Yellowstone, and Wyoming, for the first time since we arrived. Leaving Grant Village campsite we got back on the familiar Grand Loop Road for our 120 mile round trip excursion to Gardiner, Montana, a small town of about 900 people on the border of Wyoming serving Yellowstone's only year-round entrance. Our purpose for this trip, I hear you ask? Why to go white water rafting of course :D!

On our way up we drove past a sign we repeatedly saw on various Yellowstone roadsides announcing we were crossing the 'Continental Divide'. We had no clue what it meant but since then the internet has kindly explained it to me. It marks the point at which water flows in different directions towards the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. A nice example of this is the two rivers, the Yellowstone and the Snake, whose origins are right next to each other but on opposite sides of the divide. As a result, the waters of the Snake River flow to the Pacific Ocean, while those of the Yellowstone find their way to the Atlantic. The continental divide of North America runs diagonally through the park, with about one third of it lying on the west (Pacific) side of the divide.

Gardiner's tiny grid of six roads by four appears as soon as you leave the park's iconic Roosevelt Arch. At the turn of the century President Roosevelt laid the cornerstone for the arch and underneath left a time capsule containing a bible, some newspapers and a picture of the man hisself. We pulled off the single road passing itself off as downtown Gardiner, parked round the back of the Yellowstone Raft Company then walked into the office to sign up and suit up. Obviously we didn't take our cameras with us so unfortunately there's no snaps of us on the river but, without wanting to sound like I work for them or anything, definitely check out their website for pics and info! Especially if you're looking into rafting in Yellowstone; they come highly recommended from me :D.

About twenty people, including we four whitewater virgins, lifted two big rafts onto the back of the trailer and climbed in the minivan for a half hour drive to the starting point, right where the erroneously spelled town's eponymous Gardner River converges with the mighty Yellowstone. After carrying the rafts down a precarious bank and a brief orientation we got straight into the action. Amid witty commentary from our guide along the first stretch of the 8 mile ride we enjoyed some class II (not exactly difficult, difficult, lemon difficult, but still great fun!) rapids known as the Rock Garden, Maneater Hole, Pumphouse

Mammoth Hot Springs, Fort Yellowstone

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M&S Photos Inc.

Rapids and other such things, before a relaxing half hour second stretch.

At this point the rapids were a little more spread out so we took in the gorgeous August Montana landscape and played some rafting games, including one I managed to lose within 3 seconds whereby the challenge is to last as long as possible standing on the front of the raft whilst your raftmates try their best to make sure you don't. Unfortunately we didn't get a chance to see any famed bald eagles but we did spot an almost as beautiful osprey. We also floated by Gardiner 'International' Airport, which hangs modestly but proudly over the edge of Airport Rapids. This tiny strip of tarmac hardly serves any flights but managed to bag itself international status when a private jet coming south from Canada had to make an emergency landing.

Mount Sepulcher and Electric Peak came in to view as we drifted towards the class III Sleeping Giant, a rapid known for its late summer awaking. After this we had a chance to swim through one of the rapids. Yes, actually get out of the raft and swim through one of the less dangerous ones. Ashamedly and rather embarrassingly, the only people to take up this challenge was a father and his 8 year old son, and after watching them do it I would say it was my biggest regret of our whole Yellowstone trip not to do it; it looked like hella fun! A few more rapids and La Duke Hot Springs concluded the two hour river rafting and we clambered back up the bank with the heavy rafts and drove back to Gardiner for dry clothes and eats.

We stocked up on a few more supplies (mainly beer) and had a tasty Mexican lunch at the Silvertip Restaurant north of the river before driving back into Yellowstone. Just past the entrance is a hidden, "off-map" treat called the Boiling River (actually still Gardner River). This free, open-air, five-star hot tub is one of only two safe (and legal) soaks in Yellowstone's geothermal waters. We ambled half a mile from the roadside to find this natural spa, the same river we'd just rafted in that morning, and while I dozed in the midday sun to the sounds of Wyoming's wildlife the other three had a swim in the mix of hot and cold waters.

Heading back south we visited the mightily impressive Mammoth Hot Springs, a large complex of hot springs and the usual suspects of geothermal features on a travertine hill. It's right next to and overlooking the Fort Yellowstone Historic District which is a former US Army Base charged with overseeing the protection of Yellowstone's natural features and wildlife, but with an already existing civilian staff I suspect their presence had something to do with keeping an eye on the troublesome native Americans. Then again, maybe that's just me being cynical as usual.

Anyhow, back to Mammoth Hot Springs. The Mammoth Terraces extend all the way from this hillside to the Boiling River and formed over thousands of years as hot water from the spring cools and deposits calcium carbonate, two tons of which flow into Mammoth every day! making Terrace Mountain the largest known carbonate depositing spring in the world. Maybe that sounds all rather boring and uninteresting, but when you see it close up the fibrous, alien landscape is so bizarre it's really quite chilling, especially when you see all the dead fossilised trees dotted around; there really is nothing like this terrain on Earth. As well as the white, tan and cream colour of the limestone, algae living in the warm pools have tinted the travertine all kinds of shades of brown, orange, red, and green. Stunning.

We spent a couple of hours wandering around the terra alienus and then drove back towards Grant Village for showers, scran and sleeps. We indulged in the Grant Village General Store restaurant for surprisingly good burgers and ice cream, and then went to pick up our last box of firewood from the registration building where there were, unusually for the time of year, Christmas decorations up. According to park lore, a freak blizzard struck the Old Faithful Inn on 25th August sometime in the early twentieth century. Rather than lament the fact that they were trapped and isolated, and owing to the unseasonal winter weather, the guests staying in the inn apparently took the opportunity to celebrate "Christmas in August", now an annual tradition.

The pictures that either Clare or I took are labelled R&C. The pictures that either Seth or Melinda took are labelled M&S.

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