I’m not going to pretend that I can write anything new or insightful about the first national park in the world. Since 1872 it has drawn people from all over the world to view its magnificence, wonder, mystery; to stand on some of the earths thinnest crust, and be awestruck of the wilderness changing before your eyes every day .
On our drive to Mammoth Hot Springs we stopped for a short while at Moose Falls on Crawfish Creek, a sort of primer for what’s to come.
Lunchtime came just as we were approaching Old Faithful, so why not stop?
Next door, the Old Faithful Inn, built over the winter of 1903-1904, came close to destruction during the great fire of 1988.
We made it to Mammoth and checked into the hotel. Thank God there wasn’t a toddler riding a tricycle toward twins at the end of our hall.
We wanted to walk the ground of Fort Yellowstone but were thwarted by a herd of possessive elk (notice the playground) and several park rangers enthralled with their authority.
We made it back to the hotel without being arrested at close of day.
The next morning, the hot springs just across the street showed themselves in the morning sun.
Today’s schedule was a day long bus tour, “Yellowstone in a Day” . It ended at ten hours but if you want to know as much as possible you have to put in the time. As Wayne described Kevin, our guide, “It was like having a friend in the seat next to you.” He was passionate about Yellowstone and eager to share his 40 years of park knowledge. No we didn’t ride in that dandy bus, we had a van.
Our first stop was the Norris Geyser Basin. A geothermal wonderland.
The “mic drop” of the day was Yellowstone Canyon and the Lower Falls.
For our second full day we headed to Lamar Valley for the vistas and wildlife. Both were impressive. We ate lunch on the rock in the river
Along our drive we came upon Lamar Buffalo Ranch created in 1907 to preserve one of the last free-roaming bison herds in the United States. It is now the Yellowstone Forever Institute, an educational camp for young kids and teens. While there we met the very pleasant Ranger John and his wife. John is a retiree trying to convince the powers that be to develop a program for retirees to donate a month of their time to volunteer at Yellowstone. We’ll take it! Especially if it comes with that ranger cabin.
On our drive back we stopped at Calcite Springs and hiked the north rim trail.
What would a Yellowstone post be without a bison picture. This guy decided to nest on the side of the road. We stayed in the car.
We benefited, we enjoyed.
