Yellowstone National Park - Wow

First animal we saw...

Second animal we saw....huge bison!

We got an early start this morning, the first day using an alarm clock in over a month but it proved to be well worth it.  We finished breakfast, had the van packed and were leaving Idaho Falls just before 7:00 am.  I expected the roads to be back country and winding to Yellowstone but to my surprise the traveling was fairly straight and smooth with only a few climbs.  We arrived in West Yellowstone and stopped by the visitor information center to pay for our park admission ($25 for 1 week) and get a copy of the newspaper that we had read about online.

Family picture

Our first destination was Old Faithful, figuring that it would work best for us to get there early to avoid the huge crowds.  It didn't take long after entering the park to get our first sight of some wildlife as we saw a few moose on the way.  Similar to Banff and Jasper, if there is any wildlife roaming, you can usually tell because there are piles of cars pulled to the side.  This certainly slows the traveling time as there often was a big RV stopped in the middle of the road taking pictures of the wildlife in the fields and nobody was able to move.

Old Faithful erupts!

It didn't bother us much because the next eruption of Old Faithful wasn't scheduled until around 11:00 am.  We were told this when we purchased our admission fee to the park at the information center in West Jellystone.  We arrived at the Old Faithful information center, (there are info centers at all the parks major regions) and the sign was posted that the next eruption was scheduled for 11:12 am (+/- 10 minutes).  Since it was 10:30 am, David, Andrea and I went for a walk to  see some of the other geysers and hot pools located at the site while Natalie and Tanya scoped out a great seat for us to watch the show.


We got back to our seats and 10:50 am and it was crazy how many people had assembled to watch the geyser.  They were four rows deep all around the 300 M round observation area.  You need to have patience because the scheduled time was simply an estimation and the actual eruption didn't happen until 11:24 am.  We tried to keep the kids entertained while we waited by playing some different games and speaking to people around us.


After the Old Faithful performed, we went into the information center where the kids signed up to be Jr. Rangers.  They each were given a 8 page booklet and based on their age had to complete a number of tasks throughout the day to receive their own ranger badge.  That's all it took for them to put their heads down and get to work.  It was kind of like school to them but they didn't mind.  Both the girls said that it didn't matter that they only had to finish a part of the booklet, they were going to do it all.  David was happy to fulfill his quota of work.  I must say, they learned a lot about geology, wild animals and Yellowstone.  It was a great program.

A different geyser - so amazing!

It was an amazing show....

After Old Faithful, we started to make our way to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone which was our second destination and decided to stop at the fountain paint pots on our way.  This is a place where the acids from the geyser, mix with the soil and make a mud soup concoction.  It was very neat to see this stuff bubbling.  It was almost like watching a witches brew that you would see in the movies.


At this site, there were a few other smaller geysers that steaming and the kids didn't care much for the smell.  It smelled like rotten eggs, but since one of their Jr. Ranger questions asked them what it smelled like I encouraged them to take deep breathes of it.  It didn't take Andrea long to plug her nose.  While at the paint pots we were looking at a large round hole in the earth, probably 10-12 feet wide that wasn't doing anything.  I lifted Andrea and David up so they could get a better look but they said there was nothing.  We walked down the trail about 20 feet and a guide was explaining about a small geyser that spouts 24 hours/7 days a week but slows down when the big geyser gets active.  He no sooner said that when the huge hole we were looking at filled with boiling hot water and began shooting it in the air.  You could see waves rocking back in forth in the crater and it was so neat.  The guide then said that this is your lucky time (to his group) because this geyser is active once every 12 hours.


Once we left the geyser part of yellowstone and headed to the canyon part we saw lots of wild animals again.  The bison were all over the place and you had to be very careful traveling the roads.  We arrived at Canyon Village just before 3:00 pm which was when a ranger lead program for children was being offered on Coyotes.  The kids enjoyed listening to the information on coyotes and learning a bit more about bisons.  While at the village we got a map and charted our next stops to see the upper and lower water falls as well as the canyon.

The Elk is having supper

While speaking to the ranger, I was told about a number of great viewing areas to see the sights.  The spots we went to didn't disappoint but certainly lead to some interesting memories.  Upon arrival at our first destination, we were lucky to see a huge elk in the field next to the parking lot which was impressive.  Equally impressive was the waterfalls that we could view from the lookout.  The next trail, called Old Tom's Trail, was something I wasn't sure we were going to do.

Yeah, we made it to the bottom, but can we make it back up?

The ranger told me it provided the best view but it required people who were fit enough to climb down 300+ steps to a lookout on the side of the canyon.  This is done in altitudes above 8000 feet.  I didn't think we would have any trouble with the physical side of things but some people in our party aren't big fans of heights.  I downplayed it and compared it to a falls hike we had done earlier.


After about 20 steps down, I could feel the stares into the back of my neck so I turned and confirmed whether we wanted to do this.  At this point a couple was resting, who were on their way back up, and told us it was hard work but the views were worth it - so we continued.  Half way down, I could feel the venom being sent my way and that I was going to be in big trouble.  We arrived at the bottom and the view was unbelievable.  

Notice Tanya is holding the rail with 2 hands,
for the 300 plus stairs, most of it straight up!

The problem was that the easy part of getting down was behind us and the climb was ahead of us.  Furthermore, we now knew how steep the climb was and how high we were going to have to climb which left some of us (1 of us) very nervous.  We managed to get to the top and we were all very proud of our accomplishment and the fact that we got to see this beautiful site.

The lower falls in Yellowstone Park

Natalie pledges to be a junior ranger

The kids were proud to show their badges

We went back to the ranger area, had some supper, the kids completed their jr. ranger workbooks and passed them in for their badges.  They were very excited with these.  We then started to make our way out of the park and to our final destination for the night, Cody, Wyoming.  As we were leaving the ranger station we saw an ambulance and ranger car racing to an accident, we aren't sure what happened but figured it probably either involved an animal or a driver watching an animal.  A little further down the road, there were piles of people lined up on the street and lookouts and we asked what they were watching.  A guy told us that usually each night, a pack of wolves come out and run in the meadow and they were hoping to catch a glimpse.  Since we were tired and still had a 2 hr drive ahead of us we decided not to watch.

Montana scenery

More rolling hills

The exiting of the park on the East entrance was a very mountainous descent.  A lot of times there was only a small guard rail between us and the valley below which I'm sure was hundreds or even thousands of feet down.  There were a few sweaty palms driving that stretch.  After we left the park gates, (in Wyoming) and settled in for the drive we were treated with some of the best scenery of the day, and maybe even of the trip.  The rock formations in the mountains and rolling valleys were something else.  There were raging rivers next to the highway and huge log homes and lodges nestled perfectly in the mountains to maximize the views.  It was simply amazing and something I'm so glad to have seen.  As I was driving I kept thinking of the original natives and explorers who had to navigate these areas without maps or roads.  It must have been something else.


We arrived in Cody just after 8:30 pm, checked into our hotel where we will stay for two nights, and unloaded the van.  We will explore this part of Wyoming tomorrow and then continue on down the road.    As Tanya said on the drive tonight, "today was an amazing day," and I couldn't agree more.


Francois