Yellowstone National Park (Part I)

Yellowstone National Park, the first National Park designated in these United States (1872), has places that are unlike any other landscape.  It's upon a volcano.  The magma, which is close to the surface (as close as 2 miles in some places), is doing strange things to the terrain.  The results can be stinky, steamy, or colorful but it is continually awe inspiring.  Yellowstone is huge and though we visited for a week we saw only a small fraction.  I know I will return to this place again.  I was already swept away by Wyoming, but now I feel that any summer trip is incomplete without visiting Wyoming and the alien places in Yellowstone.

The kids and I did day one together while Husband was working in Cody.  The first odd thing we saw after entering the park via the East was this steaming, smelly vapor coming out of the hillside.  We stopped to take pictures because we had no idea just how weird it was going to get!  Our destination for day 1 was the mud volcano area.  I found out later this destination is not for everyone because the sulfur smelling gas affects people differently.  I found it unpleasant, but not overwhelming.  It was more like an annoyance.  After being around it for an hour or so on the hike I was ready to leave the area.  I guess some people get nauseous or otherwise feel poorly when around the smell.  The whole experience was a curiosity to me and I enjoyed it (even with the smell) because it was so unique.

One of the first features you see is the Dragon Mouth Spring.  This cave churns, and breathes as the noxious gas bellows out.  The spring's frequency ebbs and wanes and the sounds are enough to make you think there really is something living in there! I could have sat and watched this crazy site for a good long time, but alas my little people are always on to the next thing - they didn't fully understand how singular this is, though I think by the end of the week they had a much better idea.  I was able to record a bit of it, unfortunately the sound of the cave was not captured adequately.

Have you ever seen the ground boil?  Well if you said no, that is because you haven't visited Yellowstone.  Technically it is not boiling - it is churning as the heat and gasses escape from deep in the earth, but it is very hot.

There are so many churning pools, some less active than the Churning Cauldron above, but there is a lot of activity everywhere you look.  It is clear that there are things going on here that are of import and we are just seeing the surface rumblings of the greater beast.  The 2/3 mile path is mostly a boardwalk because the ground is unstable.  In some places only a thin crust exists.  Mama has to watch her littlest bird here!  Though I have to say that Sister was a very good listener.

But what about the wildlife you ask?  Oh yes, wildlife - we saw a few critters on our first day!

We saw two elk right by the side of the road.  They were between all of the cars of onlookers, but here is one decent picture:

We saw a LOT of buffalo on multiple occasions.  Between mom and I we have quite a few good pictures.  Here is a favorite taken by mom.

On the first day we saw FOUR black bears!  First we saw a mama and her two cubs.  They crossed the street in front of me when I was driving out of the park.  I had to pull over and grab my phone and by the time I took the picture out of the passenger side window they were well into the wood.  Here is the best picture.  Mama is behind the tree, the cubs are more visible.  I marked them each with red arrows...sorry my editing skills are not very good.

Then after we exited the park and were driving towards Cody through the Buffalo Bill State Park we saw a single black bear browsing along the road.  We were one of the first cars to pull over and we got to sit and watch it for a while before he crossed the road, jumped the barrier and disappeared from view.

Because the coloring of this bear was lighter we thought we saw a grizzly, but the next day when we attended a ranger talk about bears we learned how to tell the difference.  We then showed the pictures to the ranger and using the information we had just learned (ears, hump, rump) we confirmed it was a black bear. This was the most close and sustained encounter we had with a bear, though it was not the last!

My parents, however did see a grizzly on their first day into the park (the day after our first visit).  I had to work until the afternoon and couldn't go with them to Yellowstone; instead I took the kids to the museum in Cody.

My folks also saw the one animal the rest of of us never saw...a big horn sheep!

Everywhere you look seems like a postcard view.  I have SO many pictures!

The best view of day one was the last scenic view we checked out before we left the park.  These are the upper falls in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.  There is such a massive amount of water rushing loudly over the rocks.

Of course I have more to say, but I have to break up this massive park into sections.  We did a ton of driving at Yellowstone.  Each day we had an hour round trip from the RV to the park entrance and then hours of driving through the park to the various sites.  I cannot stress enough how huge Yellowstone is.  If you are planning a visit stay close to the park or in the park to minimize your drive time during the day.  Also, there was construction on the east entrance road and a good portion of the road was dirt while the work is being done.  At times there were one lane roads with flaggers, which slowed us down as well.  Regardless of the hassles we saw a lot and enjoyed the park very much!  More on other sites next time....