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Yellowstone National Park: Part 2

I decided to make a grand trip around Yellowstone today, so I got up really early and headed north.  At West Thumb I veered east around the north side of Yellowstone Lake and enjoyed the gorgeous views.  I continued north after Fishing Bridge/Lake Village and stopped at LeHardy’s Rapids.  Between the rapids and the Mud Volcano/Sulphur Caldron I noticed some bison in the distance and hooked up my telephoto lens for a few shots.  Little did I know that not a quarter mile ahead was an entire herd of bison, all over the place just hanging out in and around the road.  I drove through at first, then decided I needed more pictures and turned around and pulled over.  As I was taking lots of shots of bison in the road, I noticed another group in the distance east of the road with calves.  I angled my car so I could shoot out of the passenger window (because like heck I was getting out of my car in the middle of a 100+ herd of wild bison) and started to notice as the minutes passed having to pack the lens up more and more.  Then I realized it was because they were coming towards me, and I was parked right where the pavement dipped and an obvious trail was located.  So I knocked my car in reverse and back up out of the way.  Despite this, one of them came right at me, and walked maybe a foot away from my driver side window (which I rolled up as soon as I saw him coming!)  It was altogether an amazing, but also terrifying, experience and I’m glad I opted for the extra vehicle insurance even if I didn’t need it in that moment.  Also, something I learned, although I am allergic to buffalo in zoos (sneezing, watering eyes, running nose hits me almost instantly once I get near them) I don’t seem to be allergic to bison…or perhaps there something in their diet that changes their dander that makes me allergic.  I’m not sure!

After hanging out with the bison for half an hour or so, I continued over to Mud Volcano which also had a lot of bison hanging around it, and walked up to the Dragon Mouth which is a cave where sulfur smelling steam is constantly escaping and almost sounds like a dragon is inside sleeping with all the bubbling and rumbling from inside.  Best steam cave ever! 

I continued north, stopping to take pictures of the beautiful Yellowstone River and Hayden Valley until I got to Canyon Village.  There I visited what is known as the “Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone”, a gigantic gorge carved through by the Yellowstone River and I visited both the lower and the upper falls.  Uncle Tom’s Trail was closed, which was a bummer, but I drove up the South Rim Drive to Artists Point and you guys, it was AMAZING.  The view was gorgeous no matter which way you looked, the water was blue and aqua, the rocks were like rainbows of colors, I could have sat there all day just looking at all the things.  However, I still had a long way to go and daylight was burning fast.  I would have loved to have gone on the North Rim Drive too but it was shut down for construction, I’ll save that for next time.

I continued north up into the Washburn Range mountains, stopping at the various overloocks like Hot Springs Overlook, Dunraven Pass and all along the way of the curvey, swirly, “don’t drive on this if you’re tired” road up and around the mountains to Tower Falls.  Word of advice, don’t drive all the way out to Roosevelt to see Tower Falls, it was the least impressive of all the falls to me.  I would have loved to see the Petrified Tree but daylight was burning and I still needed to finish getting up and back down the route!  I continued west through the Blacktail Deer Plateau, and again, I really wanted to stop at Wraith Falls and Undine Falls but it was already almost 4pm!  I instead went straight to Mammoth Hot Springs.

For Mammoth Hot Springs, you can park on the lower end and walk around the lower spring terraces by foot.  But if you don’t have time, or your feet are killing you (both conditions which I was experiencing at that time) you can jump back in your car and drive about a mile west to where the road loops back north and enter a one way drive through the upper terrace area.  On the drive there are lots of pull-offs and I didn’t have trouble parking and walking to see the main upper terrace attractions.  Given the driving options I was able to see all the highlights of the springs in about an hour, and I didn’t feel like death afterwards!

It was about 6pm when I left Mammoth and I had about a 2.5 hour drive back to the campground.  So I jumped back on the southbound road and powered through, stopping at the Obsidian Cliff and Artists Paintpots.  The Paintpots were pretty cool, very muted and pastel colors in the water and soil that made for almost a dreamy appearance.  At near dark I did pull off to see Gibbon Falls, a fairly large waterfall with nice scenery in the background given that it was nearly sunset.  By the time sunset was about ending I reached Gibbon River, where there were some gorgeous springs and geysers that the sunset light was reflecting off of beautifully!  I had to stop one more time and get some pictures of it, it was so cool!  Honestly, the whole trip today I was stopping every 15 minutes and either saying “Oh, pretty!” or “Holy shit!” or “Wow” it was almost comical. Driving in the dark at Yellowstone is pretty stressful, I don’t recommend it unless you absolutely have to.  I didn’t have much choice, I was still almost 2 hours from camp.  So I just cranked up the radio, rolled down the windows so any animals would hear me coming and powered my way home.  I made a pit stop just outside of the Yellowstone south entrance to take some photos of the awesome super clear night sky.  Seriously, after living in Chicago for 10+ years and suburbs of Michigan before that it had been a long, long time since I saw that many stars.  I got some okay enough shots, then headed back.  I left around 9am and didn’t get back until 11pm.  What a day!

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Yellowstone National Park: Part 1

Today was a day of bucket list items.  I’ve always seen gorgeous photos of the Prismatic Spring so that was definitely going to happen, and since Old Faithful was nearby I wanted to see that too.  It ended up being a full day of geysers, hot springs, lots of steam, and stinky sulfur smells.  Basically, I loved it!

I got up early and got breakfast at the Headwaters Lodge & Cabins at Flagg Ranch restaurant, it’s a little pricey but for the convenience and the area it’s well worth it.  The staff are super nice too, and went through my map with me picking out “must see” places from the perspective of people that live and work there.  My plan was pretty much the same as the day before, get out the door and see what happens.  I headed north into Yellowstone south entrance and made my first stop at Lewis Falls at the Lewis River, a cute little waterfall and wetland area.  I continued north then veered toward west Yellowstone, where some moose cows and spring calves were hanging out but there were so many people I didn’t stop to take pics.  They were eating so it’d just be pics of their butts anyway.  I made another pit stop at Craig Pass and made my first major stop at Old Faithful since it was only about 10 minutes away from going off anyway.  I have to admit, it’s a bit anti-climactic.  It takes a long time to build up and doesn’t go as high as I thought it would. It was also a cold morning so there was so much steam you couldn’t see the water, although the steam did make a pretty rainbow in the mist. 

I jumped back in my car and headed to Prismatic Spring, and even though it was only 10am there was already a line to the parking lot.  My suggestion is if you don’t mind walking just park along the road and walk.  I didn’t realize you could do that and drove around the lot twice amongst angry, frustrated people all looking for a spot before I found one.  Seeing the spring from the ground is pretty neat, you can walk around all the steam and see some really cool patterns on the ground.  They almost look like abstract or impressionist paintings.  Once you make your way around the wooden walkway (don’t fall in!) head back around to another parking lot about a mile south down the road and park.  It’s the same parking lot for the Fairy Falls hike.  There’s only one trail to start, so get walking and enjoy all the springs everywhere as you do.  About half a mile in the trail splits and you can go straight to the Fairy Falls trail, or turn left to go up to the Prismatic Spring overlook.  Word of advice: DO IT!!  The overlook is so incredibly worth it!  I admit, I was huffing and puffing a bit at the top, but that’s totally because the air is thinner up there and not because I’m out of shape…yeah.  I stayed up there for about an hour, just watching the steam and how the colors seemed to change every five minutes. 

After Prismatic Spring I was getting hungry, so I went back to Old Faithful where there is a nice cafeteria and got a salad and drink.  Since I was there anyway, I watched another eruption, then decided to walk the short wooden path around all the other geysers.  My favorite was Depression Geyser, I felt personally attacked by it.  By the time I walked around, it was time for another Old Faithful eruption so I sat and watched it again with some ice cream.  On the way back to base, I stopped at Kepler Cascades and then to West Thumb and wandered the lakeside geysers.  It was getting late, and I really needed a shower, so I headed back to the campground early.  Tomorrow is going to be an early day!

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Grand Teton National Park: Part 1

It was pouring rain when I left Chicago so I skipped the idea of public transportation and grabbed a taxi to O’Hare.  Despite the thunderstorms the flight was only delayed about half an hour, and the trip was uneventful otherwise.  Landing at Jackson Hole is awesome.  The view of the mountains is amazing, and they actually have signs up asking you to refrain from taking photos while you’re outside since you have to exit the plane onto the ground to go inside.  After picking up my rental car I didn’t even have to drive half a mile before getting a glorious view of the Grand Tetons.  I pulled over at the park entry sign and started a photo carousel that was still going by the time I left, then headed into the park.  Thank goodness for buying the National Park Pass in advance, I’ve already gotten my money’s worth out of it just on this trip.  The drive to Headwaters Lodge & Cabins at Flagg Ranch only showed as an hour and a half from Jackson, but it took me about 3 hours to get there because I stopped at nearly every turnout/observation point along the way.  It was a gorgeous, clear day, so the views were spectacular!

By the time I got to the campground it was about an hour to sunset, and I had a bit of a surprise when I checked in.  The “basic cabin” I booked was actually a camper cabin, which is a huge difference. A camper cabin means no electricity, no heat, no linens…just a plywood 10×10’ box with windows, a bunk-bed with mattresses, a small table, and three small drawers.  Now, that’s not a huge problem, I’ve camped many times before in the cold and I was looking to get away; however, I just flew with a carry-on/personal item so of course I didn’t have things like sheets, blankets, towels, or a pillow.  Fortunately the staff at the campground were fabulous, apparently this happens a lot, and they let me borrow some blankets, a sleeping bag, pillow and a towel for free. 

After getting settled I drove back over to the nearest Grand Teton observation point to watch the sunset and chat with folks, then headed back to the campground to join in a stargazing event with an aspiring astronomer who pointed out constellations in the absolutely clear night sky. Just FYI, Flagg Ranch does fun little events daily and keeps the info posted on their board in the Lodge. It was nearly midnight by the time I got back inside, so I went to bed. It got chilly that night, and I am ashamed to say that living in the City has made me soft! I survived though 🙂