America's First National Park

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When: 22 August - 1 September 2013

Where: Yellowstone National Park, USA

Highlights: Animal sightings, hot springs, first mud pot experience, colors, lots of water and our first Junior Ranger Badge!!!



This was mine & G's 2nd trip into this awesome Caldera. It is a world unto itself. We were excited beyond words to share this place with S. She would get initiated into the world of geysers, hot springs, mud pots & fumaroles.



22nd August

Unsure about the immigration delay, we started early enough that we were in Lethbridge for brunch. This was our first time to Lethbridge and the small town feel the place had made us feel at home. As we entered town, we saw the High Level bridge. Unfortunately, we did not have enough time to find the park that was close enough for a picture. We had long ways to go, so we did not take the trouble either.

After a bad choice for food in a mall, we ventured S towards the Alberta-Montana border.

Lethbridge would be the last major town until the border(100 km away). Milk River is the last town S in Alberta which is 18 km from the borderline. We passed by it and saw the 8 flags where were to camp on our return journey.

Fortunately, immigration was a breeze. Less than 5 minutes and we entered the USA. I had to point out to G the difference between and East & the West. Lesser crowd, nicer people and the likes. 😊 There was barely anything on either side of the border. Just the sawtooth mountains. And bare land. If not for the geographical border, there is no telling that it was two different countries.

Great Falls, MT was still a good 2 hours away. It sure was and seemed like a long day. We stopped at Fairfield Inn, Mariott. We stocked up at the Supercenter with groceries for the next few days. MT has no sales tax and I indulged in a pair of comfortable Keen shoes. Ironically, there wasn't any Old Navy around. 😉

What confused me about Great Falls is that

1. There is no falls

2. There is not a single mountain in sight...That is not the vision one has about Montana.



23rd August

Today is going to be as much driving as yesterday. So, we left soon after breakfast. It took a good 1+ hr to Helena and we took a nap.

It was a pleasant surprise to open our eyes to mountain views. G was driving the route and said it was spectacular. We didn't mind. We enjoyed our nap!😊 The route got interesting after Helena and we were evading thunderstorm clouds(or chasing??? since we had no clue which way they were moving😊) At one point, we got into the middle of it and it was the most difficult 10 miles we would see for the day. Pouring rain reduced visibility totally that I had to pull over. By the time we found an appropriate place to pull over, we had passed the clouds!

Things got delayed and it was almost evening by the time we reached the park. After picking up a few things from West Yellowstone, we headed 14 mi E to Madison Campground at Madison Jn.



Yellowstone National Park

When we checked in at the campground, the lady at the counter explicitly said how happy she was for us. We were staying for 7 nights. After clocking 1000 km in 2 days, I was ecstatic skipping driving altogether for the next few days.

At $21 a night(no showers on site) with a river nearby, it was the best we could ever ask for.

Take a few things(like shower and a home) away and it is unbelievable how kind and social you become. We love camping. It is simple. It is natural. It gets us to our roots. It is pure joy!

This is our longest camp in 1 place. So we were really looking forward to enjoy the place and not have the hiccup of tearing it down every 3 days.



Madison Campground

It is a beautiful campground. Duh!

I cannot deny. Camping was not our first choice. G was a little apprehensive about camping in open bear country.



There were no showers in most of the campgrounds. So, it didn't really matter where we stayed. But when we randomly looked at room costs, we began to seriously consider camping. We wanted a large campground to avoid bear activity. Madison was an obvious choice due to its central location and views(by Madison river) and the place offers more than we had imagined! A steal deal.



I lost my daily journal. So, will list a bunch of places and let you visit and enjoy it your own way!

Yellowstone is very special. For me. For G. For us. It is the first long trip we made. If I do not consider my 1 day trip to Grand Canyon in the middle of Winter, I would gladly crown Yellowstone as THE first National Park I visited 10 years ago.



Old Faithful

Earth is alive in Yellowstone. You can't miss it. It explicitly shouts itself from deep down the Earth's mantle.

If I forgot to mention, Yellowstone is the only place with highest concentration of geysers and hot springs in North America.

If you can only dream of such a place, Old Faithful area puts your imagination to shame.

That is because the whole park is a caldera. We are in a dormant(well! not completely) volcano. It is only a matter of when it will blow its top. Not if. And it is constantly changing.



Of course, there is the Old Faithful Geyser erupting every 90 minutes. It is the most frequent predictable geyser. But there are far more grand and exotic geysers in the area. Each one of unique in their own way.

It shocked me to see the Morning glory pool. I remember it being blue 10 years ago. G did not take me serious. And then there was a sign saying that people started throwing coins and that blocked the water piping underground and hence the water temperature is not as hot as it used to be. It is now green.

Things to do in the Old Faithful area

Note to campers: Showers @ Old Faithful Inn. In style!



Canyon

IMO, this is the best area of the park. The Grand Canyon is exquisitely sculpted by the elements and each lighting brings out different colors in the rocks.

S had a great time hiking in the area.

Note to campers: Showers!



Norris Geyser basin

Wikipedia says it has more than 190 geothermal activity in the area. We were in the area in the middle of storm clouds and it was mind blowing to see how the elements shape the landscape. Steamboat, the once tallest Geyser(in the park) is here but is not active anymore. Weirdly, I remember it erupt from 10 years ago.

As you walk through the area, its hard not to imagine the ground piping going on below you. Anything can happen anytime in this place.

S got a North America wild animals flash card which we are using pretty well.

What are Thermophiles?




Midway Geyser basin

The grandest, poised member of the park, Grand Prismatic Spring, is here.

It is more colorful than anything colorful I have seen before. Unfortunately, you cannot get an aerial view of the spring which is the only way to see it in its full glory. A short hike can take you up a hill from where you can see a part of the colors I presume, but a park ranger did not recommend that as it is not a maintained trail. Nevertheless, we saw many people make that 1 more inch on the hill to see as much as they can see. S is very conservative when it comes to hikes. So, we did not venture out. But she was amazed at the orange color.



Mammoth Terrace & Hot Springs

Not much has changed in the last 10 years. But somehow it didn't look the same. I am not sure if I will find the right words to express it any better. 😊

For one, the water table had gone down. Or maybe it does go down in Autumn. The weather was hot and dry with a cool breeze. S was so excited to hear anything at all from our previous visit. She would go, "Did you see this before?", "Was it like this then?", "Where did you stay?"

When active, Mammoth terrace was a huge fav!

It just made me realize the need to protect these places.

Note to campers: showers!




Tower Falls

It is named after the tall devil's postpile-ish towers in the area.We lunched close to Undine Falls and stopped by Tower Falls. We took the short trail down to the Yellowstone river. The water smelled of minerals. It felt so alive that the whole place could blow up any moment, though that was my imagination working.

While waiting for traffic line up to clear, we saw a black bear by the roadside. Thankfully, not many people came out of the car. So the bear was around for a while.




Wildlife of Yellowstone

The golden rule for wildlife watching is dawn or dusk. Please stay your distance and don't get out of the car if they are too close. I saw some really stupid behavior that I have rarely seen in US national parks. It was sheer luck they remained to tell their tale.




Lamar Valley

From Tower falls, you take the road to Lamar valley. This is the place to go if you want to see wildlife. We saw mountain goats, osprey(we pulled over behind a tour bus and watched them 😊) bison & tried to spot the lone gray wolf via a long range telescope. You cannot believe the excitement when people spot one. There are wildlife watchers who come there every season to watch out for these wolves and other animals. They are more than willing to offer you to view through their telescopes. A man I spoke to could even distinguish the howl.

Hayden Valley

Most of the road was closed due to forest fire. But we pulled over when we saw some telescopes and trucks. A wildlife explorer followed a wolf. I could not see it through his telescope as the wolf was moving. After an hour of hanging around, we gave up and turned around to see a huge herd of elk grazing.

Then. Just then. I heard the first howl of my life. It gave me the chills. Some people ventured out in the direction of the howl and returned back soon with no luck. I was satisfied hearing one. 😊



Bear Tooth Pass

We did not make a trip this time around, but it is one of the most gorgeous drive and it is so worth the long journey. It also has more opportunities for wildlife.




Between the wildlife viewing, drives and geyer gazing, we did our activities and S became a Junior Ranger at America's first National Park.

She could often be found giving me tickets if I was pretending to fall into a hot spring or cross a boardwalk. 😊

All this and some much needed time at the campground relaxing completed the trip.



6 nights! For many this may seem like a long time. It probably is for many places but not for Yellowstone. We don't have to be Geyser Gazers. But one visit is a must. We might learn a bit more about the wild animals and in the process become a little gentle to the animals near & far. Yellowstone is a place like no other. We met a family who drove from Mississippi. What's stopping you? Take 10 days. book a campsite. Unwind.




On our way back home, we stopped by Writing-on-stone Provincial Park on the Canadian side.




This would be the last trip for this year.

Another summer is gone.

We stayed outdoors as much as we could.

We stayed out of home as long as possible.

We awed at the mountains.

Saw new places.

We saw wildlife.

We met some friends. We made some.

We saw each other.

Cooked together.

Made special memories.

We have traveled. We will never be the same.



To more travels!

~travelbuffs

To me a lush carpet of pine needles or spongy grass is more welcome than the most luxurious Persian rug. ~Helen Keller

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Photos

Upper Terrace
Mammoth hot Springs

Steam from Excelsior Spring
Midway Geyser Basin