Day 21 - A Snowy June Day at Yellowstone

Sunday, June 8th, 2008

I had camped out for the night just west of the Park in West Yellowstone (and by ‘camped’ I mean ‘hide from the sub-zero temperatures in the comfort of room 221 at the Brandin’ Iron Inn). Before racing off to discover the secrets behind Yellowstone’s West Gate, I got caught up with the free Hot Breakfast that the motel offered. Brilliant start to the day! From the waffles, to the eggs, to the bagels, cereal, and danishes, I was all smiles (it wasn’t the MGM’s AM buffet, but it was enough to keep me interested for close to half an hour).











I flashed my American National Parks and Recreation Lands Annual Pass and just like that the 175 mile Grand Loop and all its surrounding wilderness was mine to explore. I could feel Old Faithful’s presence, but I wasn’t ready for the Big Show yet. My first few stops were at some of the smaller Basins just off the highway. Fields of steaming geysers poured hot gases into the sky creating an ominous atmosphere that mimicked images of Hell. It was way too cool of a scene to refer to as Geothermal Activity, but as I watched the Earth’s crust open up and launch tall towers of steaming water into the air, I couldn’t help but feel that I was learning about the planets make up.





It was snowing, heavily, the wind was howling, and nothing about the day seemed to promote outdoor fun, but the park was still packed. Those tourists love their Yellowstone. However, as I drove down the Park’s roadway I couldn’t help but realize that even with the crowds, Yellowstone seemed like the perfect piece of North American nature. And the wildlife agreed. Within minutes of entering the Park I had driven by three gatherings of Elk, and saw two groups of deer off in the distance. The true keepers of the land though were the Buffalo/Bison/ huge-Cow-Thingies-with-the-Lion’s-Mane. They were everywhere and they had people abandoning their running vehicles, kids locked in car-seats, dogs trapped in the third row, just to get a few snap shots. The Buffalo knew they were a big deal too. People talk about Old Faithful, but when it comes down to it, it’s the camera-friendly wildlife that pose for the perfect pic that attract all the attention. And I’ll admit, I was nearly standing amongst the heard wanting to join in on the Buffalo fun (actually it did cross my mind to try and ride one of the bigger guys, but like I said it was snowing and I wasn’t wearing any gloves, so it would have been tough to hang on… that or they’re Buffalo and they secretly like to eat people…).












And queue Old Faithful. Every day the Park (whoever that might be, some Rangers, or the Geysers Scientists, or the old woman at the gift shop who sold me a post








card, I think she may have been around when the geyser was simple called Faithful, either way) predicts the eruptions for the different geysers, and today Old Faithful was set to blow at 12:44, give or take 10 minutes. 12:44 she exploded. Just perfect. I don’t care if it makes sense, it’s just plan weird to see water blast out of the ground and soar into the air like a volcano, every 90 minutes, without fail. Reliable little tourist attraction they have there.

























It was still snowing. As I drove east, then north, then west, and finally east again, I covered over 200 km of Yellowstone’s wilderness. I stopped at a number of other basins including Norris which was more of the same, sweet explosions from under the Earth’s crust. I also saw the Yellowstone lake, the picturesque Haden Valley, the colourful Mammoth Hot Springs, and a dozen other wildlife hang-outs. At one point I drove passed an open valley that had a large heard of Buffalo, two groups of Elk, and a scattered bunch of deer, all co-existing in the same habitat without a worry. It reminded me of the scene in Jurassic Park when Dr. Grant sees all the herbivores roaming the island's open plains for the first time. It was just like that, only instead of the massive T-Rex lurking somewhere in the park, it was the elusive Yellowstone bears (Yogi and Booboo) hiding behind the scenes. Late in the afternoon I drove by a stretch of road that had people totally losing their minds, racing from their cars, and pointing frantically like they had seen the Lock Ness Monster. I could see binoculars glued to people’s faces, and the Hubble Telescope on the end of several different tripod mounted cameras. Turns out it was a bear sighting; a gazillion miles away, on the far side of the valley, a small black bear had poked it’s head out from the dense forest, only to turn back around after the paparazzi had violated it’s privacy, and disappear again. As a true Alberta boy, I have seen bears before, so I was more impressed with the behaviour of the humans, and how they completely took leave of their senses when pretend-Yogi showed up.











I left Yellowstone at four o’clock realizing that I had just barely scratched the surface of the amazing park’s potential. As for how long one should take to explore the Yellowstone National Park, I would recommend between two days and… forever. It’s an outstanding piece of nature that deserves a thorough visit.

It was back to Montana for me. I headed north about four hours and stopped for the night in Great Falls. I’m closing in on home, but have one last stop before My Great American Adventure comes to an end; Glacier awaits my visit.
















Day Twenty-One: I want a pet Buffalo… and a geyser in my backyard.