Since our drive was supposed to take
all day, we got an early start so we would get to Yellowstone before
it got too late. Yellowstone is the first place on our trip that I've
actually been to before, and since I had such a great time on the
first trip I was extremely excited to be headed back.
Our drive to the park was pretty
uneventful, but the changes in landscape where very drastic. We
started in the fog-covered mountains of Washington, driving along
winding roads hanging off the ragged edges of evergreen-spotted
cliffs. However, less than an hour later we began our descent on the
eastern slope, and soon found ourselves in hilly desert not unlike in
southern California east of the Rockies. The landscape transformation
was accompanied by an equally marked change in temperature as it
became blisteringly hot in the car for the next few hours.
Eventually we made it through the hilly
desert plains and entered Idaho where the mountain roads began again
and continued through Montana. Montana had some particularly striking
countryside because along the road it was almost uninhabited. We
passed some lonely houses occasionally, but for the most part we were
surrounded by beautiful, unbroken hills and mountains with an
expansive blue sky sparsely interrupted by streaky white clouds. Even
though we were tired after about twelve hours of driving, it was
still an enjoyable trip.
We finally reached Yellowstone in the
dark, but unlike Yosemite we had a plan, and we soon found a place to
set up camp and spend the night. The camp was built and we were
asleep within an hour, which definitely beat driving around the park
for hours only to sleep in the car.
I woke up in the morning bitterly cold
and with a full bladder. It was all I could to to slide out of my
slightly warm sleeping bag into the nearly freezing temperatures to
relieve myself. I tried to get back to sleep after, but the damage
was done, so I put on my frozen shoes and walked around a bit to try
to shake the chill. I noticed a trail that I hadn't seen the night
before and followed it to a fog-blanketed stream where I watched the
sun rise through a thick shroud of mist until Geries woke up.
We got some breakfast in the town of
West Yellowstone and headed back to our tent to break camp and go
into the park. To make sure there was still a space when we were
ready to get some sleep, we made our way to Mammoth Springs where we
hoped to camp for our next two nights in the park. We drove through
the winding roads of the park with columns of steam issuing from
pools and vents at dozens of points along the road, giving the park
the look of a recently abandoned battlefield with smoking craters.
The illusion was completed in Mammoth hot springs which could have
passed for a post apocalyptic wasteland with barren, acid-eaten rock
supporting some stunted and dying tries. Travertine terraces bled
rancid sulphur water and crystal clear pools rimmed in orange-stained
rock sputtered and hissed steam as a constant reminder that this is a
land in turmoil. After we finished our hike around the springs and
had some lunch, we finished up our campsite and made our way up to
the North entrance.
Our slight detour north brought us to
the North entrance of the park where the Roosevelt Arch stands. I
have a great picture in front of the arch from my previous trip to
Yellowstone, so I wanted to grab another for comparison. Being there
reminded me of the great time I had in the park on my previous visit
and got me even more excited to revisit some of my favorite places
and explore some new ones. After having a bit of trouble getting a
picture at the busy arch, we finally made our way to Grand Prismatic
Spring.
When we got there we first walked
around the boardwalks rimming the spring and smaller pools that flank
it. A constant blanket of steam came from the surface in rolling
waves, partially obscuring the kaleidoscope of brilliant colors that
lend the spring its name. Unsatisfied with the ground level view we
moved a short way up the road to the Fairy Falls trail which crosses
in front of th ehills that overlook the spring. Before long we found
a well worn offshoot trail that led up the steep, dusty hillside
littered with deadfall from a fire years ago. Scrambling up the
hillside was difficult, but well worth the effort as we were rewarded
with a great view of the entire Grand Prismatic Spring. It had even
warmed up a bit, so the steam cloud relented and we could more
clearly see the magnificent pool. After a slightly more treacherous
climb down, we made our way back to the car to drive to Old Faithful
and the Upper Geyser Basin.
We waited with a crowd of a couple
hundred people as Old Faithful was scheduled to erupt. The geyser
teased the crowd with occasional belches of steam and water before
finally exploding with full force, launching a column of superheated
water almost a hundred feet high. The earth rumbled and groaned as
the water issued forth for about a minute before finally settling
down, causing the audience to disperse with equal abruptness. After
Old Faithful, Geries and I took a walk along the boardwalk through
the geyser basin. Tendrils of steam dyed orange by the setting sun
rolled off the edge of the plateau and into the air above the swiftly
flowing river below. We caught another eruption from the Lion Geyser
Group from a distance, but otherwise just enjoyed the walk through
the beautiful crystal-clear pools and steam-spouting geyser mouths.
After the short hike, we were starting
to get pretty hungry, so we headed back to the campsite to get some
dinner before the sun went down. Unfortunately the park's bison had
other plans. Not a mile out from Old Faithful the road was blocked by
a herd of bison trying to cross. We waited for about thirty minutes
before the lumbering beasts decided which side of the road they
wanted to be on and finally started moving again, thinking we were in
the clear. We made it a short way down the road before we were
stopped yet again by a line of cars that we couldn't see the end of.
Afraid to open the windows for the mosquitoes swarming outside, we
say int the car, slowly building up heat as we waited nearly an hour
and a half with only an occasional ranger car speeding by in the
opposite lane as an indication that we might ever move. Finally when
we were on the brink of giving up and turning around to take the
ninety mile alternate route we rolled up to the bison congested area.
Dozens of bison littered the road and shoulder, standing there with
nary a flinch as we wove through to the clearing on the other side of
the wall of unmoving buffalo flesh. Just as we thought we were free,
a bison turned into our lane, narrowly missing the car. By then the
sun had nearly set and was completely down when we reached the
campsite, so we ate a quick dinner and went to sleep almost
immediately after.
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