A Circle Around Yellowstone

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June 25th 2007

Published: June 25th 2007

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yzarCritS

Artist Point

Brian, Dad, and I with Lower Falls view from Yellowstone Canyon.

June 20, 2007 - June 25, 2007

Work in progress, more write-up to come....

United 1, Anderson 0.

In the early innings of the Anderson male bonding summer vacation, United Airlines shutout team Anderson before things could even get started. Up early Wednesday morning, through security in a blink of an eye, and on the plane with plenty of time to spare, a voice of the intercom brought everything to a screeching halt.

“It seems that the entire United computer system has crashed. I’m afraid we won’t be flying until the system is back online and safety requirements can be electronically verified.”

Apparently, this “crash” made national news as all United operations suffered. In the meantime, we sat in the plane for two hours watching the movie “Breach”. After the two hour delay, the United systems came back online and eventually we pushed off on our way to our connection in Denver.

Once in Denver we were greeted with further delays. While passing the time we had the pleasure of talking to a very friendly couple on the same Jackson, WY flight. Aside from sharing their own United flight horror story, they

Old Faithful

Steaming in the morning as the sun rises.

also had a lot of great information to share about Yellowstone. I do recall Denny mentioning that in his fifteen trips to Yellowstone, he had yet to see a grizzly bear. Naturally, this was a tad disappointing to hear, as I was looking forward to perhaps viewing a bear or two in the wild. Turns out that both Denny and his wife (unfortunately her name escapes me) were artists. If interested, Denny’s work can be viewed at http://karchnerwesternart.com

The flight to Jackson went by very quickly. Upon arriving we scooped up our rental car and headed north towards Yellowstone. Our route took us through Grand Teton National Park on our way to Yellowstone.

With only a couple hours of sunlight left in the day, we slowly made our way through Grand Teton enjoying the scenery along the way. We stopped at a couple spots to enjoy the view and snap a few photos. It was at about this point where we started noticing a trend between wildlife sightings and traffic jams. It only takes one or two idiots to stop in the middle of the two lane road to look at some animal, thereby stopping all traffic behind

Old Faithful Inn

As seen from Geyser Hill

them. Very frustrating, yet also revealing. Seemed from here forward that anytime we saw a few cars stopped on the side of the road there was reason enough for us to slow down and see if we could spot any lingering wildlife.

And it was with this very process that we stumbled on our first grizzly bear sighting in Grand Teton. Perhaps 20 yards from the side of the road sat a large, brown grizzly bear casually grazing in the road side foliage. It was a very fascinating sight, especially given Denny’s comments about the rarity of bear sightings. We tried to get a few pictures, but due to the setting sun and the dangerously close bear, most of the pictures turned out unsatisfactory.

After a few minutes of bear watching, we pushed on towards Yellowstone Park and our room for the night at The Old Faithful Inn. At about 10:00pm, we finally reached the inn. We pulled together a small meal at the lounge within Old Faithful Inn and soon after crashed for the night.

The Old Faithful Inn truly lived up to all of the hype. Whether staying there or not, I definitely believe the

Observation Point Path

Path up to Observation Point for a different Old Faithful vantage point.

inn warrants a visit. The various storied lobby with intricately carved beams of stained wood is mesmerizing, causing most first time visitors to pause upon entry to take it all in. The various rockers and benches around the lobby invite customers to relax with a drink while they gaze over the immense structure. While they weren’t nearly as breath-taking as the lobby, the rooms were adequately comfortable and certainly clean. No doubt, if I ever I return to Yellowstone, The Old Faithful Inn will be my lodging of choice.

Thursday morning I woke up early with the intention of seeing Old Faithful as the sun rose. I headed out into the cold Yellowstone morning air, the steam of the various geysers greeting me on the horizon. Eventually my father showed up to join me. After patiently waiting for about an hour, Old Faithful erupted with its usual enthusiasm. Being one of maybe four people watching the eruption that early in the morning seemed to make the experience a little more tranquil and enjoyable. Satisfied, we returned to the inn for breakfast.

The group fully intact, we spent the remainder of the morning watching another Old Faithful eruption and

Love Them Colors!

Those springs/pools/geysers always make great pictures.

touring the various pools and geysers upon Geyser Hill. With so many steaming geysers spread throughout the park, it doesn’t take too long before the “Oh, it’s just another geyser” feeling sets in. I had to constantly remind myself that this experience could be a once in a lifetime experience, and my appreciation should be much greater for what I was viewing. With the day warming up and the lengthy hiking at unfamiliar higher altitudes, it didn’t take long before the walking got to each of us in different ways. We headed for the car and began our trip towards Thursday night’s hotel in Mammoth Hot Springs.

On our way to Mammoth Hot Springs we stopped to enjoy Firehole Lake Drive, the Fountain Paint Pots, Gibbon Falls, and Artist Paint Pot Trail. While the paint pots were very interesting to watch, the dry weather made the consistency of the mud pools slightly thicker, and therefore less active. It was on the Active Paint Pot Trail where we came face to face with the elk in the picture. Seeming to have disturbed his snacking, we didn’t pause for very long for fear of irritating him further. For lunch we headed

Synergy!

Often when I ride my bike, I think... "Gee, I wish I had a movie to watch while riding."

out of the park for a bit to West Yellowstone, Montana. The small entry town was a nice spot to grab a quick bite and make a phone call or two.

Due to the long day of travel on Wednesday and perhaps a bit of jetlag, each of us was struggling with tiredness on Thursday. The drive to Mammoth Hot Springs seemed extra long, but eventually we arrived by the early evening. We never did make it through the lower terraces of the hot springs, but we did drive around the upper terrace loop. We checked into our hotel, grabbed some dinner, and simply tried to relax for the remainder of the evening. Eating at the Mammoth Hot Springs grill, we did catch a glimpse of the only TV in Yellowstone Park. After dinner, we sat outside for a bit and watched a large herd of mule deer converge on the small community at Mammoth Hot Springs. Disrupting traffic, wandering to wherever the grass seemed tastier, it was quite humorous. Once we had our fill of the mule deer invasion, we turned in for the evening.

Friday morning we awoke early, grabbed some breakfast in Mammoth Hot Springs,

Peak-a-boo!

Prancer? Maybe Dancer? Nah, just a bashful Elk.

then headed east around the top loop in Yellowstone. The stretch of road between Mammoth Hot Springs and Tower-Roosevelt lacked the usual sights we had quickly grown accustomed to. While the drive seemed relaxing, the lack of wildlife and obvious attractions lowered the excitement level.

Arriving in Tower-Roosevelt around lunch time, we stopped in to grab a bite to eat. Of all the lodging locations we visited throughout the park, Tower-Roosevelt seemed the most secluded of the bunch. It certainly had a greater outdoorsy feel. It’s definitely a lodging location I think I would enjoy on any future visit to the park.

Before heading south towards the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, we opted to head east and drive through Lamar Valley. For me, this was the high point of our visit to Yellowstone. Incredible scenery, plentiful wildlife, and fewer crowds made for a memorable afternoon. Numerous bison herds, bighorn sheep, coyotes, pronghorn, and a distant wolf or two (bring the binoculars) were a few of the animals we saw in Lamar Valley. With the Lamar River running through the valley, it was also a popular spot for fly fishermen. There was certainly a little part of me that

Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel

wished I had spent some time knee deep in Lamar River fishing while taking in the incredible scenery.

From Lamar Valley we doubled back and started our drive south towards Canyon Village. This section of the Yellowstone loop took us up in elevation as we drove over portions of Mount Washburn. Scarce in wildlife, the higher elevation provided some nice, extensive views of the park. Many of these views were powerful illustrations of the impact of the 1988 park wildfires. From bare, burnt trees to neighboring healthy forested areas, the path and selection of the wildfires seemed unbiased. With a couple trails available to reach the summit of Mount Washburn, the temptation was there to make the journey. However, given the time commitment and lack of preparation, we opted to continue south towards Canyon Village. Being a clear day, I’m sure we missed out on some of the best views of Yellowstone from Mount Washburn’s summit.

Canyon Village seemed to be the most populated of the lodging areas we visited. With several eating and shopping establishments, the crowds seemed to pile in. Ideally, we would have preferred to stay in a more secluded lodge, but the Grand Canyon

Upper Terrace at Mammoth Hot Springs

Nope, that's not snow.

of Yellowstone’s close proximity made Canyon Village a good stopping point for the night. Being fairly new, our room in an offset lodge was very clean and comfortable. Oddly, it was the only room we stayed in that did not have a phone. Aside from the cleanliness, nothing really stood out about Canyon Village’s rooms. For me, it was the least interesting lodge we stayed in, simply lacking personality.

Shortly after checking in while relaxing in our room we received a knock on our door. A park employee had a message for me that a Mr. Bob Funk was waiting for me up at the lodge’s front desk building. Convinced the message had been delivered to the wrong person, I thought it’d be polite to locate Bob and let him know that if he was sitting around waiting he’d be wasting his time. Certainly it seemed a courteous thing to do, or so I assumed. Upon arriving at the front desk area, I called out for Bob Funk. An older gentleman approached me. Oddly, he visually reminded me of an asshole neighbor from back home. I informed him that the message had been delivered improperly and I wanted to

Jaywalking Bison

Where's Ranger Smith when you need him?

notify him so he didn’t waste his time sitting around waiting. I expected a nice thank you, perhaps a mild chuckle, and a hint of disappointment on his behalf. Instead I got a sigh, a rude look, and eventually a turned back. My neighbor back home would have been proud. So, Mr. Bob Funk, if you’re out there, suck it! And now, back to Yellowstone.

(Friday - Monday still being typed up.... check back for more later)

Looking back on the experience, there are a few things I would likely do a tad differently on a return trip. First, I think I would stay in only one or two of the park hotels. As a first trip, the idea of hotel jumping as we traveled clockwise around the park made sense. It gave us a great opportunity to see everything without having to spend time doubling back on our path to our hotel. However, it did get a little tiresome packing up the suitcase after every night in the park. Old Faithful Inn and Lake Yellowstone being my favorites, I would likely look to book a few nights in each. Secondly, I think it would have been a

Yellowstone Bighorn Sheep

Somewhere in Lamar Valley.

little more enjoyable if we built in extra day or two into the trip to simply relax. Maybe do some fly fishing or simply lounge around. The routine of being in the car every morning did seem to wear each of us down in our own separate ways.

Overall, the trip to Yellowstone was a great experience that I’m glad I had a chance to share with my brother and father. Like any family vacation there are some ups and downs, however the intrinsic value of the everlasting memories cannot be truly estimated till many years later. Yellowstone was certainly like no other place I’ve been on Earth.

FYI, being an outdoorsy trip, I opted for the lumberjack facial hair look for this trip. It somehow felt appropriate. Enjoy the rare big foot sightings in my pictures.

Additional photos below

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