What are we celebrating, you ask? Well, it was Nana’s turn to have a blunder. As we unloaded the car at the motel, I forgot to remove the keys from the ignition. Now, the car shouldn’t lock if the keys are in the ignition right? Wrong! Called OnStar to unlock and nope, the car’s too old. Seriously? I say age discrimination! Poor Betsy. Never fear. AAA to the rescue. Less than an hour later, the nice young tech retrieves the keys. Time to get some ice cream.
With the previous evening’s drama over, we opted to try to keep life simple and head into Yellowstone at sunrise to beat the crowds. We didn’t know for sure we would be able to go into Yellowstone until yesterday. We already had an evening tour scheduled for later today in Grand Teton, to the south. That means we only have about five hours to see as much as we can in The Park.
It was really foggy as we drove the dark roads of Yellowstone headed for our first stop, Gibbon Falls. We quickly hiked to the falls, saw and left, concerned the crowds would become overwhelming and limit our ability to see other stops.
As the sunrise brightened, we saw the spirals of steam over the hot pools (upper left photo). With the morning temps hovering around 40°, we thought fog was caused by the normal heat and cooling like in the Midwest. Now we see the numerous hot springs were contributing to the white cloud. Their spirals would continue to dot the landscape all day.
From Gibbon Falls we headed to Hayden Valley in hopes of seeing wildlife. Lamar Valley in the northern area of Yellowstone is the prime area for wildlife but it is completely closed after the flood. We encountered a couple “road closed” signs for roads that headed north. We weren’t disappointed with Hayden Valley, though. We drove around bison walking on and near the road, and ambling through the fields. One bison commandeered the highway and stopped an 18-wheeler, grumbling and snorting before finally surrendering the road to let traffic continue.
Next stop was West Thumb and the thermal pools. It was only 8 am, the air still brisk as we walked the one mile boardwalk over the thermal pools. We watched the sun climb in the sky, reflecting on Yellowstone Lake. What a unique experience and remarkably peaceful. Time for the next stop.
On the way to Old Faithful, a must see if you visit Yellowstone, we made several stops on the 28 mile route. We stopped by the Mud Geysers. We crossed the Continental Divide and admired the beautiful lily pads in the water at that point. The miles of roadway to Old Faithful, the main loop road, had several places damaged from the flood. In order to restore the road, gravel was packed into the broken pavement causing traffic to slow dramatically and dust to rise as vehicles navigated the primitive roadway. These breaks would be a 10-30 yards in length, and were easily spotted with bright orange signs and lane dividing reflective sticks. Construction crews were frequently seen working on additional repairs.
I cannot remark often enough how blessed we have been with weather, the timing of activities, and the relatively low-stress adventure. We experienced it again. Papa and I arrived at the Old Faithful huge parking lot. Without having a clue where to go and multiple buildings around the perimeter, we walked in the right direction. We easily found the snack shop inside the jaw-dropping, rustically beautiful Old Faithful Inn. We picked up a breakfast sandwich and wandered outside to find a bench for our picnic brunch. I checked the app and Old Faithful was predicted to blow in about 30 minutes. We finished our mini-picnic and wandered again, this time towards a geyser. Many geysers were within walking distance but we found THE one.
Benches surround a half circle circumference of the geyser, about four-to-five rows deep. We were able to get a front row seat. Within minutes the crowd filled in. How fortunate! We were rewarded with a great show.
By now it is late morning and there is one more thing on my list, the Grand Prismatic Pool. So far the traffic has been minimal so we are hoping to get this in. On the way, we are sidetracked by the Cascades. This is a group of multiple falls creating a thundering roaring masterpiece. Definitely a good spontaneous stop.
Benches surround a half circle circumference of the geyser, about four-to-five rows deep. We were able to get a front row seat. Within minutes the crowd filled in. How fortunate! We were rewarded with a great show.
By now it is late morning and there is one more thing on my list, the Grand Prismatic Pool. So far the traffic has been minimal so we are hoping to get this in. On the way, we are sidetracked by the Cascades. This is a group of multiple falls creating a thundering roaring masterpiece. Definitely a good spontaneous stop.
We didn’t get to see the Grand Prismatic Pool. Betsy’s navigation is worthless in the Park and cell phone service was limited. We went the wrong way. The good news is we saw the Cascades though. Now we have another reason to return someday to see the Pools and northern Yellowstone. By the time we got to the south entrance and learned our error, it was time to exit Yellowstone and focus on Grand Teton.
A few video clips from Yellowstone:
No comments:
Post a Comment