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Published: October 29th 2015
We left the last part of the series at the beginning of Day 5, with the family leaving Grand Teton wondering how on earth Yellowstone could better our experience over the past 3 days. However, it didn’t take long for Yellowstone to assert her credentials. Only a short drive inside the south gate we stopped at some picturesque waterfalls, above which sat an iconic bald eagle high in the bare limbs of a dead pine tree. We were unaware of it, but this would be an example of the experiences to come over our next 5 days in the park.
We drove along the southern ring road towards Yellowstone’s most iconic attraction – the Old Faithful geyser. It was at this point we started to get a feel for the immense size of the park. Covering 2.22 million acres, distances in the park are measured in tens or hundreds of miles and hours of driving rather than the shorter distances in the Tetons. Unfortunately the weather had closed in on us so we had the kids in raincoats and were under umbrellas for our visit to Old Faithful. We enjoyed lunch under the porch of the visitors centre
Old Faithful
Here's Yellowstone's most famous landmark letting of a bit of steam (dad joke!).to escape the rain before ducking inside to learn about the origins of the hydrothermal activity in the park, including ‘Old Faithful’ which they can predict eruptions to within 10 minutes. We stepped outside to enjoy one of natures amazing (yet modestly underwhelming) sights, the near boiling water erupting in giant plumes from a small vent in the ground. Despite the spectacle, Nicky and Patrick decided to rumble during the middle of the eruption which led to Dad having an eruption of his own. This in turn led to a pretty classic tantrum and an eternally amusing family photo!
After some family reconciliation we explored the Geyser Hill trail, which was a boardwalk built atop a field of bubbling sulfur pits, crystal clear thermal baths and steaming vents, and geysers. The landscape had a martian feel to it with steam billowing from the ground, creating great white clouds framed against the backdrop of dark clouds which threatened to rain at any time. It provided a very strong reminder of just how powerful and unpredictable the forces of nature could be.
After this short stroll, Patrick and Dad ventured out on a more demanding hike
to a lookout to see the next eruption from a high vantage point – unsurprisingly, the short climb put off most tourists and the only others who’d bothered to make the climb were two fellow Australians and some Poms. This led to some excellent banter about the Rugby World Cup in which I had to pretend to actually know something about the game!
On the trek down the hill, we spotted our first wild Bison who were grazing on a riverbank on the edge of the geyser basin. We rejoined Nicky and Mum who were working on their Yellowstone Junior Ranger badges. Dad assumed ‘King of the Scavenger Hunt’ responsibilities while Fiona ducked off to see the Historic ‘Old Faithful Inn’ which was built in 1904 and is still the largest log structure in the world. Once again, the Junior Ranger Badgers proved too challenging for the adults, so we had to seek some assistance from the rangers to successfully complete all the requirements for the scavenger hunt. Nick’s ‘Geyser Dance’ at the end of the requirements had us all in stitches and drew some applause from the crowd. We then left the ‘Old Faithful’ Geyser Basin
A bit longer post Tantrum, and happy again
Paddy watching Old Faithful go about 90 mins later from the lookout. Was a lovely hike to get up there. and headed towards the ‘Grand Prismatic’, one of the most spectacular hot springs in the region.
The Mid Geyser Basin, which was home to the Grand Prismatic, was a meadow of billowing steam, which was rising from the expansive water of the Grand Prismatic. The spring itself is was a variety of deep to turquoise blues surrounded by the harsh oranges created by bacteria that flourish in the hot mineral filled water of the springs, making it quite spectacular. Fiona captured some fairly spectacular photos of the cloudy sky reflected in the dark waters of the springs. However, the sheer volume of steam made it difficult to see the pool in all its glory.
With a long drive ahead of us to make it to our accommodation, which was just outside the East Gate (about two hours drive), we decided to head off. However, we had no idea what amazing encounters waited for us on the way home. The first such encounter came as we drove across the Hayden Valley which was a broad meadow carved by glaciers thousands of years before. This valley is a popular spot for Bison, and it just so
Crystal Clear Hotsprings
Whilst some were bubbling Sulphur pits, other springs were beautifully tempting happened that they were grazing on the side of the road as we came through. In fact they were walking across the road and we were forced to stop and wait as they gently trundled their way across the road in absolutely no rush at all. Their calm demeanor gave no indication of just how ferocious and dangerous these beasts can be, with several (stupid) people having been killed by Bison in the park before. It was an amazing encounter and the kids were enthralled to see such massive wild beasts only a few feet away.
Still amazed by how close we could get to the Bison, we came across a host of cars on the side of the road (we soon learned this was a sure sign of animal spotting). We pulled over and discovered that two Bull Elk had been fighting the previous evening and one of the bulls had been injured. Seizing the opportunity, a massive grizzly bear had emerged from the woods and killed the Elk and was now feasting on it about 250 metres from the side of the road. We also spotted a Coyote slinking around trying to steal some of
Grand Prismatic Spring
The reflective waters of this spring were stunning the kill before he realized it probably wasn’t worth pissing off a massive, angry grizzly bear, and he headed off into the bush. We watched this spectacle unfold through the digital zoom of the camera and the kids were just fascinated. We stayed for quite some time before realizing that this bear would be here for days feasting on the carcass to put on sufficient fat before the winter hibernation.
Still amazed by what we had seen, we drove towards our accommodation through a stunning pass that climbed to almost 10,000 feet before descending into a tight valley in which our accommodation was nestled. We rounded a bend in the road and only a short distance in front of us was a mother black bear and her cub trotting down the road. We pulled up along side them and watched as they climbed the steep terrain next to the road and disappeared into the scrub. All the while we were only a few feet from them. From the back seat Patrick says ‘Wow, that was amazing!’ to have Nicky reply, ’No, No No - that was EPIC!’ We were still in fits of laughter as we rounded
Mmmmm.....Tasty
These buggers were everywhere, holding up traffic, sniffing around the car. the next bend to come across a male mule deer with a cow and two young grazing on the side of the road. It was just amazing that in the space of a few kilometers we had seen so many wild and amazing creatures. Nicky was right, it was epic!
Very soon afterwards, we left the boundary of the park and arrived at our accommodation. We stayed in a cozy (read tiny) little A-Frame cabin, which had just enough room for two beds, a bathroom and not much else! We ate a cold dinner in the cabin that Fiona had prepared the night before. Unfortunately the cold dinner and long day resulted in Nicky having such an epic meltdown that he threw up on the bed and then fell asleep….awesome!
Day 6 – Yellowstone
We rose early the next morning and ate breakfast in the cabin before heading back into the park to visit the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. The first stop planned for our day was the ‘mud volcano’, a hot spring which bubbled and belched mud rather than water. On the way we decided to pull in and check on our
Mmmmmm......Tasty, but in a different way
This massive grizzly was chowing down on the Bull Elk for days in this spot about 200 yards off the road. Grizzly friend who had sat on the elk carcass throughout the cold and rainy night and was still feasting away. We captured a few more photos before heading off towards the Mud Volcano.
As we rounded a bend in the road we came across a car parked on the side of the road and spotted an adult Grizzly who had emerged from the woods and was ambling across the grasslands towards the valley river. We followed him as he swam across the river and emerged on our side of the bank. We jumped in the car and followed him along as he purposefully moved across the valley, seemingly unconcerned about us watching him from about 100 metres away. The number of cars and the crowd grew to watch as this bear, who was apparently called Scarface and 27 years old, continued to follow the road allowing everyone to get some amazing photos. We followed Scarface for close to an hour with Paddy jumping in and out of the car with the iPhone to capture some great photos and film footage – it was very exciting. After crossing the river a couple of times, Scarface finally returned to
More Bears!
Then we came across these two just around the corner. We pulled up next to them and watched while they sniffed around in the bush. the forested areas and we, and about one hundred of our roadside buddies, went on our way.
We then had our obligatory stop in the Hayden Valley for the Bison who were once again occupying the road with little to no concern for the stopped traffic waiting to pass. With all this drama, we finally arrived at the Mud Volcano and the Dragons mouth about two pretty spectacular hours later than we had expected. This stop proved a curious attraction with sulphur-laced mud gurgling and bubbling away in a large mud pit. It reminded us of a ‘witches cauldron’ built into the ground, seemingly permanently bubbling away to vent the heat and pressure contained in the ground below.
We continued the drive to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and were mesmerized by the simple experience of driving the ring road. There was thermal activity seemingly everywhere, with steam billowing out of the ground along the rivers and lakes and at random places throughout the park. With hindsight, it’s not surprising though, as there are over 10,000 hydrothermal features in the park, more than the rest of the world’s similar features combined.
Epic Scenery
This was the view driving down from the pass towards the east gate - stunning! We finally arrived at the Southern Rim of the Canyon at the overlook of the lower waterfalls, which were impressive despite being at their lowest ebb in the cycle of the seasons. We then grabbed our bear spray (as there were warning signs of bears in the area) and headed off on the 3.5 km hike along the canyon rim. We kept a firm grip on the kid’s hands the whole way as the vast majority of the hike clung to the lip of the canyon with sharp 300 foot drop offs to the valley floor below (and no rails). The kids did a tremendous job and we arrived at Point Sublime and enjoyed the stunning view over a picnic lunch. Again the people that we met along the hike were other international tourists! The return trip proved a little easier as it was predominantly downhill on the way back, and the kids completed their longest hike with much more ease than our Grand Teton experience.
We then drove around to the north rim of the canyon and travelled the scenic route to a number of overlooks which provided equally stunning views of the canyon and falls.
More Grizzly Bears
We tracked this bloke along the side of the road for quite some time. The kids enjoyed this a little more though as it was a bit easier on the legs. After the scenic drive it was time to deliver on the bribes we’d called upon during the hike, so we stopped in at the Canyon Visitors Centre for a well-deserved ice cream. We sat in the relative cold among the panhandlers masquerading as squirrels, chipmunks and ravens who were just begging for some food scraps. We then ducked into the visitors centre to enjoy some of the displays and a fantastic movie that described the unique nature of Yellowstone’s ecology and environment. Unfortunately Nicky didn’t make it through the movie and decided to have a sleep on Fiona’s lap.
We headed out of the park and checked in with our friend the Grizzly who was still chowing down on the elk carcass. We took a few more photos and headed back to Pahaska Teepee for dinner. We dined in a fantastic pine lodge complete with elk and bison taxidermy and a huge portrait of Buffalo Bill above the open fireplace. Unfortunately the food didn’t quite match the ambiance of the lodge. Having spent all day photographing Bison, Fiona decided to
Grand Canyon of Yellowstone
Family photo on the lookout back towards the falls of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. eat one in a buffalo salad. I went for guaranteed success and ordered ribs and was so disappointed I couldn’t put words to it. Maybe the smoking I’ve been doing has made me a rib-snob, but these things were piddly pieces of meat cut from a malnourished, runt of a pig and thoroughly undercooked. All this made for a rubbish meal that was served in a fantastic lodge in a great environment – such a let down!
Struggling to recover from the devastation of bad ribs, we returned to the cabin for the obligatory ‘Sorry’ game, and were once again soundly thrashed by the kids who had developed a sophisticated strategy that involved protecting each other and ganging up on Mum and Dad. Great to see, but a little humiliating getting flogged by a four year old.
Day 7 – Cody
We woke on day 7 to find the weather had completely closed in overnight, and the mountains surrounding the lodge were shrouded in clouds and drizzling rain. With all four of us also out of clean clothes, we decided to head to the nearby Cowboy town of Cody which was
Falls Selfie
If you look closely, we almost go the falls in! about a one hour drive east of the park.
The ‘Sorry’ board game had proven to be invaluable as we were able to dress and feed the kids and then set them up with a game which would keep them entertained without wrestling or fighting each other long enough for us to get ready. With the kids occupied playing ‘Sorry’, we packed lunch, tidied up and loaded the car.
The road to Cody proved to be just as stunning as Yellowstone itself. The road descended steadily through a winding valley alongside a beautiful shallow creek bordered by steep rugged cliffs. Fiona and I thoroughly enjoyed the short drove as we dropped a few thousand feet in altitude and emerged into the Bighorn Basin, home of the town named after William F. Cody or Buffalo Bill.
Our destination was the ‘Smithsonian of the West’, or the Buffalo Bill museum, which was actually 5 museums in one. The principal museum was dedicated to the man of the same name, but there were also impressive museums dedicated to Plains Indians, American Western Art, Natural History museum, and finally the very American Firearms museum. We were pleasantly
Picnic after the Hike - Sublime Point
The boys enjoying some well deserved rest after hiking the southern rim of the canyon. surprised when the military discount was 100%!f(MISSING)or the whole family – Free! Why the bloody hell don’t we do this at home?? Talk about supporting the troops!
Anyway, Nicholas and Patrick were mesmerized by a movie image of Buffalo Bill projected onto a screen of smoke who introduced his museum to all visitors. After watching it curiously for a few moments, the kids decided it needed a whooping, so they spent the next ten minutes karate chopping and Kung Fu kicking the smoke (and subsequently Buffalo Bill) while all the other tourists tried in vain to listen to what he was saying. Fortunately they thought it was hilarious so we let the kids wear themselves out with their best Ninja moves before venturing into the museum.
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The Buffalo Bill museum turned out to be an absolute cracker – firstly because we had little knowledge of the man and what he achieved, but also because it was so well laid out and well presented. Even the kids had a great time and learned a lot about the man. As it turned out, the place we were staying was home to Buffalo’s Bills
At the Mud Volcano
The boys enjoying the boardwalks which most of the thermal activity areas had. most favoured (and hand built) hunting lodge!
After spending a few hours learning about Buffalo Bill, Fiona left us to spend a few hours watching washing spin around in a washing machine and dryer. I flew solo with the boys who surprisingly decided the next stop would be the Western Art Museum. Whilst this only held the kids attention for a short while, it was a thoroughly interesting display which featured some fantastic art, particularly of Yellowstone Park and Old Faithful.
After some highly quality whining we rolled out of the Art museum (literally), and stumbled upon the Museum’s Raptor display which was being conducted in the museums atrium. The display included an Owl, Falcon and Hawk; all whom had been injured in the wild and could no longer adequately fend for themselves and were therefore cared for by the museum and part of a daily display. The kids were fascinated (well Nicky was a little concerned and clung pretty tightly to me), while I unsuccessfully tried to establish the association of Buffalo Bill and raptors.
We then did a quick run through the firearm museum which had hundreds upon hundreds
Buffalo Bill Museum
Patrick starting his photography career taking this photo of us at this great Museum in Cody. of weapons dating from contemporary times back to the 1500’s. The kids weren’t really interested and recommenced the highly effective whining barrage, so we literally ran through the museum, stopping only to let the kids have a go on a replica ‘Buffalo Bill’ shooting gallery. Even though we skipped through it, the sheer vastness of the collection was thoroughly impressive.
The piece de resistance came with the Natural History museum which was designed to explain the varying mountain environments to children and ignorant adults (me!). A gradually winding walkway descended two-stories into the depths of the museum and represented the various environments found within mountain ranges. It included the animals, plant life and ecosystems which existed within each of these environments, and how humans had impacted upon them. We started in the alpine environment and made our way through the alpine forest, alpine meadow, and plains environments, each represented with informative interactive displays, videos, and brilliant taxidermy which included wolves, bears, otters, moose, elk and foxes. The kids also had an ‘Adventure Passport’ which was stamped at each environment once they had worked their way through the displays. The kids and I learned an incredible amount in
Our Little Indians
Our little Indians hanging out in the teepee out the front of the Buffalo Bill Museum. this museum and we spent way more time than we were expecting there. Unfortunately this left us only limited time to push through the ‘Plains Indian Museum’ which also proved to be an exceptional centre of learning.
With Fiona rejoining us with a car full of clean washing we left the museum right on closing time with both the kids and I wishing we could stay for longer. We rolled into Cody for our evening meal at a microbrewery and pizzeria which, in classic American style, was jam-packed with TV’s showing college football, UFC, baseball, golf and any other possible televised sport, including a couple of screens in the bathrooms (heaven forbid you miss a play while urinating!).
The kids had a great time as the 2005 John Madden American Football arcade game near our table was on free play. However, when it was time to go home it ended in another impressive Nicky meltdown as he didn’t want to leave the game. We had a quick visit into Walmart on the way home to top up the groceries and headed back to Pahaska for the evening.
Day 8 – East
The Artists Paintpots
An enjoyable hike amongst some really colourful thermal pools. Gate Yellowstone to Mammoth Springs
That night had been our last at Pahaska, so we once again packed up the room and loaded the car. Despite doing this numerous times, the process of bathing, feeding, packing and loading still took us about two hours every morning, so we were never going anywhere in a hurry.
We left the hotel and drove the ascent into the park with a full car. Old mate Grizzly was still chowing down the Elk, so we once again snapped a few photos knowing that we wouldn’t be coming back past this spot again. We had none of the drama on of our previous drive into the Park which really highlighted how random animals sightings were, and just how lucky we’d been to see so much wildlife, including spotting both Black and Grizzly Bears.
Our first stop was to visit the historic Yellowstone Lake Hotel which was a beautiful old lodging ironically painted yellow. We walked in through the impressive entrance to find a hive of activity – today was closing day. The staff had served their last meal for the season and were frantically cleaning and
Yes Sir!
Nicky being a cheeky monster! packing trying to get out of there as quickly as possible. We had a chat with one of the chefs who had spent some time working in Canberra and he told us that we were visiting at the best time of the year. Not only were the animals more active as they prepared for the winter snows, we had missed the intensity of the summer tourist season. As it turns out, 97% of the 3 million annual visitors come in the summer months. It was difficult to imagine just how much of a zoo the place must be then, as there were still quite a few people in the park during our visit. Anyway, as it turned out, we were the last tourists of the season to visit the Yellowstone Lake Lodge as they literally locked the doors after we left! (it's closed of 7 months of the year over winter)
We made our way up to the northern area of the park to our accommodation for the next two nights at Mammoth Hot Springs. On the way we stopped via a short 1-mile hike at the ‘Artists Paint Pots’, which were a series of coloured hot
Busted!
This is what they looked like for a lot of the trip - getting rid of pent up energy! His Kung-Fu is strong..... springs that, from a hill side overlook, looked like an artists palette. It was a beautiful little stroll that took us from bubbling mud pots, to beautiful turquoise blue still springs. It was a little bit lost on the kids, but they enjoyed racing around on the raised board walk and being out of the car.
We eventually arrived at Mammoth Springs and completed a tourist drive and short walk through the series of springs in this area which were unique to the park. These springs were rich in limestone which resulted in the bubbling waters slowly building up deposits which formed unique and beautifully shaped rock wherever these springs had been active. Some of the springs formed beautiful cascading ponds which resembled the layers of a wedding cake. Some were actively spilling water, while some had seemingly ‘dried up’ and were no longer growing and developing. Other springs were less intricate and had simply developed into huge multicoloured mounds of limestone which were covered in a steady stream of spring water which filled from the vents in the top. Another, which caught Fiona’s attention, had grown into a huge phallic shape, and stood a solid 20
Mammoth Springs
Massive mounds formed by the limestone in the springs.... proud feet tall.
After completing our walk, we drove into the nearby ‘town’ of Mammoth Springs which more closely resembled a small little alpine or ski settlement. It certainly had more buildings than any other location in the park, and this was attributed to two main reasons. Firstly, we had dropped to around 6000 feet in altitude from the 8000 feet which most of the park is at. Subsequently it was a little warmer here, and Mammoth is one of the very few lodges within the park that remain open year round. Secondly, Mammoth is the home to Fort Yellowstone, an old military post which had now become accommodation buildings for a variety of purposes. The buildings which constituted the Fort were not too dissimilar to those at home in Fort Leavenworth.
The other amazing thing about Mammoth Springs was that there were Elk everywhere. The manicured lawns of the lodge and Fort were very attractive to Elk; so one herd had decided to call it home for the time being (although apparently they are always there). It was amazing to see so many of these beasts just lazing around the centre of a
Another family photo
We don't get many, so I'm putting them all in! small town as they had been quite elusive up until this point in time.
That evening we decided to head to the town of Gardner, Montana which was a short drive away out the north gate of the park. We found a nice little saloon which just so happened to serve the best damn tacos we have ever eaten! For some reason the town had decided to rip up and repave its entire CBD, so there were traffic cones and machinery everywhere. As a result, we took a wrong turn after dinner and ended up heading down a sharp hill to where the local high school was. This turned out to be an absolute blessing as the football field was covered in Elk enjoying the well-maintained grass. We snapped a few photos and drove around a shed to turn around only to come face to face with the herd bull elk who was strutting across the road. We watched him climb the hill, keeping a keen eye over his herd and chasing away some of the younger males in the herd. He climbed up the nearest ridgeline and was silhouetted against the setting sun. From our vantage point, we
The big fella!
Struttin' his stuff - the Alpha male staking his claim! could see just how large he was, and how impressive his huge antlers were – there is no doubt they are truly a majestic animal.
After snapping a few photos we headed back towards home and came across another two herds of Elk grazing on the grassy plains right at the entrance to the park. Paddy snapped some more photos out the window as they were literally grazing on the edge of the road, and we pushed into the park. Night had now come, so we drove at a nice gentle pace through the winding valleys which would take us back to Mammoth. It was fortunate we weren’t in a rush as we rounded a bend to find yet another massive herd of Elk crossing the road. We came to a stop and allowed the elk to continue crossing the road when the Alpha male came trotting down the hill bellowing at the herd which was now spread down the face of the hill and across the road. They returned to the hill and headed off into the darkness leaving us to safely return home. All our encounters on the roads of Yellowstone had certainly reinforced that
driving at night was not a good idea!
Day 9 – Mammoth Springs & Lamar Valley
This day was to be our last in the park, so we enjoyed a quiet morning with breakfast in the cabin. I headed outside into the cold to fetch the esky from the car and found two elk grazing on the green grass at the back of the cabin. They raised their heads and quickly realized I was no threat so went about their business with no concern at all.
We grabbed a coffee and walked around the last of the hot springs that we hadn’t gotten to the day before. Somehow we’d managed to save the best for last, and the final springs were quite spectacular – layer upon layer of small intricate pools cascading down the side of the hillside. We then took a short stroll through Fort Yellowstone before popping into the visitor’s centre where the kids finished the last of their Yellowstone Junior Ranger requirements and got their badges and patches.
We then jumped in the car for a drive out to the Lamar Valley which is considered
The Best of the Mammoth
Family photo standing in probably the most spectacular of the terraced springs in Mammoth. the premier place to observe wildlife in the park. On the way we stopped at a Petrified tree that the boys thought was pretty cool, and then at Tower Falls. We walked down to the base of the falls to the Yellowstone River. It must be something else to see this river at the end of winter when the snow is melting as the force of the current and the speed of the water was impressive. The boys made Fiona more than a little anxious climbing on rocks close to the water.
The Lamar Valley is significantly larger than the Hayden Valley and as a result, the herds of Bison that were grazing in the area were much, much larger than those we had seen previously. There were literally hundreds, if not thousands, of the beasts grazing on the valley floor, and once again strolling across the road completely unperturbed by the traffic they were holding up. We completed our lap of the valley close to dinner time and decided to head back to Gardner. On the way we stopped at one of the only two spots that you can swim in Yellowstone. The boiling river was a hot
Little Explorers
The boys loved exploring this little creek next to a raging river....had to get a photo. spring that runs straight into the Gardiner River. There were a stack of internationals swimming in the hot springs and we regretted not having our swimmers with us. After racing the kids back to the car we headed back for some more of the awesome tacos. Not only did we enjoy some amazing tacos, but we had a very touching experience. When it was time to clear our bill and leave, the waiter informed us that the people who had sat behind us had paid for our meal and asked not to inform us until they had left. Fiona and I were speechless – absolutely dumbfounded by the thankless generosity we had just experienced. We tried to understand what could have cued them to do this and could only think that we were working with the boys on their Junior Ranger Books. So, since this will be posted on the internet – if the people who paid for our meal ever read this – thank you for your amazing gesture.
Still amazed by what we had experienced, we jumped in the car and headed for Mammoth. Once again we came across numerous herds of elk grazing on
Leaving the Park
Halfway between the equator and the North Pole AND at 8,000 feet - no wonder it was cold! the grasslands outside the entrance of the gate. We even saw a couple of bull elk locking antlers, although it didn’t seem overly aggressive and may have just been a couple of brothers playing around.
Day 10 – Little Big Horn and to Gillette
The morning of day 10 we rose at 5am so we could get an early start on the seven-hour drive we had ahead of us. As we headed north into Montana, we gradually descended about 2000 feet through winding valleys that were blanketed in a thick fog. The Absaroka Mountains to our East shielded the valley from the rising sun until mid-morning as we ploughed through the fog with the kids completely entertained by watching Madagascar over and over on the entertainment units.
As we drove through the fog you couldn’t help but reflect on our time in Yellowstone. Whilst nowhere near as dramatic as the craggy mountains of the Teton Range, Yellowstone had offered an equally poignant experience. Whilst it lacked the grandeur, the abundant wildlife we witnessed reinforced just how much impact humans have had on the balance of life for many creatures, and that Yellowstone is one of the last ecosystems left in the world that has not been significantly impacted by people. Furthermore, the hydrothermal springs served as a reminder that the only constant in the world is change. Whilst the land appears to be an everlasting anchor in our lives, there is ongoing turbulence and violence just miles beneath our feet which has, can, and will continue to shape our environment – it is at Yellowstone that this potential is in the open and clearly on display. Visiting the park was a truly rewarding experience and one which I hope the boys carry with them for a long time.
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