USA: Yellowstone

Even though most of my group trips are abroad, some of my favorite destinations have been much closer to home. As a child we didn’t do a lot of traveling. When I had my own family we did travel considerably, but never made it as far north to Yellowstone National Park. So Yellowstone was definitely on my itinerary as Erin and I continued our cross-country adventure.

Erin and I were excited as we drove through the South entrance of Yellowstone National Park. We picked up a map and other literature from the Park Ranger and headed for Grant Village. Throughout the park there are several “villages” which provide lodging, food service, camping sights, stores, service stations, visitor information, etc. When I called for reservations in early April (for the following August), they did not have availability at Old Faithful Inn, my first choice for accommodations because of its notoriety and reputation. If it’s important for you to stay at the Inn, I suggest you call a good year in advance if you are planning on visiting Yellowstone in July or August. Since the Inn was not available, I chose Grant Village because it was closest to the South entrance, and easily accessible to the East entrance, the entrance we planned to leave from as we headed east toward South Dakota.

Established in 1872 by the United States Congress, Yellowstone is the first, an oldest, national park in the world. The park was originally established to protect the unique geysers, hot springs and other hydrothermal features that comprise more than 2.2 million acres. Before going to the park, my knowledge of Yellowstone was limited to Old Faithful, the best known of the geysers. However, I soon learned, there is definitely more to see than Old Faithful.

We checked into Grant Village and immediately headed to the West Thumb Geyser Basin to begin our exploration. In the summer months there are Ranger-led programs throughout the part, with times listed in each village and in the National Park Information Guide. There are also wonderful maps for self-guided tours, and pamphlets available (for a small fee) at all the major thermal attractions.

The West Thumb Geyer Basin overlooks Yellowstone Lake, the largest lake at high elevation (7,723 ft.) in the Western Hemisphere. Without getting overly scientific, the bay of West Thumb is actually a volcanic crater or caldera, created thousands of years ago after a powerful volcanic explosion. The West Thumb caldera lies within an even greater caldera, which actually encompasses the central and southern portions of the park. Within the central basin are several geysers and hot springs. Due to a variety of geologic conditions, geysers may have short periods of dynamic eruption followed by long periods of dormancy. The highlight of the basin was the Thumb Paint Pots, several miniature mud volcanoes (3-4 ft. height) with steam curling from small chimney-like cones. Surrounding the cones are boiling “mudpots” --- I felt we were in the midst of a science fiction movie and I expected to see a monster explode out of the depths of the boiling mud. No such monster appeared --- only ribbons of steam. The walk around the basin took about two hours.

We drove back to Grant Village and had dinner at the lake-side dining room. Full service restaurants are at a premium in the park and reservations are a must. In fact, I suggest making dinner reservations the same time you make hotel reservations, particularly if you want to eat at Old Faithful Inn. Check on-line for the different type of in-park accommodations and dining facilities.Since we only had two days in the park, we were up bright and early and on the road by 6:00a.m. We planned to do a loop --- seeing the major gyser areas along the road, passing through Hayden Valley, through Canyon Village and the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone (with its spectacular waterfalls), through Norris Geyser Basin, the Lower Basin and unto Old Faithful. As we left Grant Village we had our first wildlife sighting, a beautiful elk crossing the highway. Erin and I were so excited. As we passed Yellowstone Lake and approached Hayden Valley, we saw our first bison --- Erin let out a scream, which you would surely understand if you saw a 2,000 pound bison sauntering down the road toward you. It really is an amazing sight. We soon found the rest of the heard and pulled to the side of the road to watch the dozens of bison that began to appear on the hills and grassy areas along the main road.

There are three signs you see everywhere in the park. One is to caution people about the danger of scalding water and the need to stay on designated paths and boardwalks. Yellowstone’s hydrothermal features are frequently near or above boiling, and the crust surrounding them is thin and breaks easily. The second sign cautions people to stay away from wildlife. Yellowstone is not a zoo, and the animals are not tame, they run freely in the park. Besides bison and elk, there are coyotes, moose, bears, deer, bighorn sheep and wolves. The third and most prevalent sign, is the 45-mile speed limit posted frequently along the road. In the summer months that usually is not a problem since the roads in Yellowstone are packed with cars. The real danger is when people suddenly stop because they see wildlife. Usually a traffic jam ensues, particularly if the wildlife moves onto the road and cars are afraid to get too close, as is the case when a herd of bison crosses the road.

After our initial bison sighting we almost became immune to seeing these magnificent creatures and continued on our way. After stopping in Canyon Village for a much-needed cup of coffee (no Starbucks, but Seattle’s Best was equally as good), we continued on to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone; the canyon plunges 1,000 feet down with dramatic waterfalls and colorful rock formations. Puffs of steam mark hydrothermal features in the canyon walls. You can experience the canyon from a variety of overlooks or, time permitting, you can follow a number of trails and walkways that wind along the rim and down into the canyon. It really is a spectacular view.

As we continued our loop, we stopped at Mud Volcano with its explosive mudpots, Sulpher Caldron, Norris Geyser Basin, the hottest and most dramatic geyser basin in the park, Fountain Paint Pot with wonderful examples of the four types of hydrothermal features (geysers, hot springs, fumaroles and mudpots), and onto the Upper Geyer Basin, with the world’s largest concentration of geysers and hot springs, including Old Faithful.

We first visited the Old Faithful Visitors Center and checked out the geyser’s eruption predictions. The eruption length and height, and the time between eruptions, vary from day to day and year to year. When we were there in August, the average interval between eruptions was 94 minutes. Old Faithful is a cone geyser, which erupts in a narrow jet of water, and just prior to eruption, the water temperature at the vent is 204 degrees Fahrenheit. Hot.

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After viewing the eruption we picked up an Old Faithful Area Trail Guide and continued around the Upper Geyser Basin. There are several trails ranging from .7 miles to 4 miles in length --- we chose the Geyser Hill Loop (1.3 miles) that took us past a number of geysers and hot springs.

As a travel agent I couldn’t visit Yellowstone without seeing the Old Faithful Inn, one of the largest log cabins in the world. As I walked in the front entrance, I was immediately taken aback by the immense size of the lobby with it’s 85 foot tall ceiling, huge stone fireplace, and overhanging balconies and railings, all made from twisted, gnarled logs. The lobby was packed with tourists --- it was fun just sitting in one of the many rocking chairs scattered throughout the lobby listening to all the hubbub, in a dozen different languages.


We tried again to get dinner reservations at the Inn, but nothing was available until after 9:30. We ended up walking across the parking lot to the Snow Lodge and had a lovely dinner in the main dining room. The Old Faithful Snow Lodge, an impressive building on its own, was built in 1999 and adds additional room capacity to the area around Old Faithful.

We arrived back at Grant Village, exhausted and ready for a good nights sleep. Erin had kept me on the move all day and my muscles were definitely feeling the miles of trails we hiked.

Join me next week as we visit Mr. Rushmore and the beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota.