Yellowstone National Park

Day 3: The Tetons to Yellowstone

Weather: Sunny; 70 degrees

Physical Condition: we are both increasingly beautiful

Downers: no mountain view from campsite

Blessings: we managed to secure a campsite; best hat find ever; new MSR pump; real toilets today

Food: bananas, cereal, lunch at the Cadillac in Jackson, pasta, red pepper, indian curry, spinach

Activities: 

water pumping and purifying

hiking 3 or so miles

food shopping and hat hunting in Jackson

getting work done under a shady tree in Jackson

driving to Yellowstone

napping in car (M.)

campsite hunting (this took great resilience)

watching ants carry pine needles up a tree

running from a bear

cooking dinner

reading

Observations: C. looks mighty fine in his new black hat; spiders are scared of ants

Wildlife: 

chipmunks, squirrels

mother and baby deer wading across a lake

grizzly bear!

Anecdotes:

Today we camped in a regular campsite surrounded by other campers.  We were sitting on the shore of the lake by our site for about an hour, when we decided to head back to our tent.  On the way, we spotted a mother deer and her baby, who waded across the lake (it must be very shallow) to the other side.  We photographed them awhile and just as we were turning to walk again, I saw a big grizzly bear out of the corner of my eye --- exactly where we had been sitting --- perhaps fifty feet away.  I pointed him out to Cameron and we started walking briskly in the other direction, trying to catch glimpses and photographs as we went.  The bear was moving in our direction.  Soon we saw a ranger who asked us if we had seen a bear, and we pointed him in the right direction.  He headed straight there yelling, "Go bear go!  Go bear go!"  The bear was startled and took off across the lake where the mother and baby dear had crossed.  Cam managed to snap a few pics as the bear swam away.

Finding a campsite was no easy task.  At the entrance to the park, the ranger said, "The backcountry permit office closed three minutes ago.  All the regular campsites in the park are full, as well as the rooms.  Here's a map of campsites outside the park."  Not believing this to be possible, we drove to a visitor's center nearby.  They confirmed that everything was full but advised us to check with "registration" anyway.  So we drove to another building, and there were told that there was one room available in the park for $175, but that there may be a campsite reservation cancelation.  Upon checking, they pulled up four or five available places.  Faith, patience, and diligence.

Our neighbors in our campsite included a few very energetic young children who were having a snowball fight.  (Our campsite was surrounded by piles of snow, and it was hard to find a spot for the tent).  The littlest boy threw a snowball that almost knocked over our backpacking stove while we were making dinner.  A few minutes later, flanked by his encouraging sisters, he came over and apologized.  "That's okay!"  I said, "Did you win the snowball fight?"  They said they were practicing to be able to beat their Dad, who is apparently the champion.  I laughed, "Well, you'd better work on your aim a bit!  I'm sure you'll beat him."  A half hour later, as I was walking to the bathroom, the little boy managed to throw another snowball out of bounds and hit me squarely in the bare shin.  Six dismayed little hands flew to their eyes as all three children gasped and eeked out new apologies.  We all laughed together.

Campsite: lots of RVs --- looking forward to returning to the wild

Conclusion: never believe them when they tell you there's no room for you in a two million square-acre park

Wouldn't be Yellowstone without 'im

The mother and baby deer crossing the lake.  We got some good close ups too!

Day 4: Yellowstone, the Sights

Weather: windy; sunny/cloudy; 70 degrees

Physical Condition: 

M. very sick mid-day, perked up after lunch

C. unbreakable

Downers: lots of people... but people ain't so bad

Blessings: stunning sights

Food: cereal, blueberries, beef jerky, cheese/tomato sandwiches, leftover pasta, dinner out at the Yellowstone cafeteria

Activities: 

backpack permit seeking

rope buying

Old Faithful

hundreds of bright blue hotpots surrounded by red-orange mud (oxidized iron)

Virginia cascades and other brilliant falls

Observations: nature is a spectacular designer --- we noticed complementary colors today: many clusters of purple and yellow flowers, not to mention the blue steaming pools surrounded by orange mud

Wildlife: 

bison

jackrabbit

hawk

chipmunk

8 point elk

Campsite: more isolated, but right next to a busy road that kept C. up most the night

Conclusion: tired, and still amazed

Meredith's view of Old Faithful

Cameron's view of Old Faithful

Orange and blue... yellow and purple... Mother Nature knows her stuff.

Brilliant oranges around all the pools

Another fire-breather

Astounding turquoise pools everywhere

Steam from Grand Prismatic Spring

We loved the yellow flowers flanking this one

Grand Prismatic Spring

The elk... antlers a little fuzzy, but he refused to pose

Steam from Grand Prismatic Spring

Very lovely sunset that evening --- the whole sky was pink for a time

Day 5: The Yellowstone Backcountry

Weather: Sunny; beautiful clouds

Physical Condition: both a bit tired in the morning after sleeping next to the road

Downers: M. left her light hiking pants in Utah and the only long pants she had for this journey were her levis --- bad decision!  very hot hike

Blessings: Switzerland-style scenery (Keep your geysers and your hot springs.  Give me the Yellowstone backcountry!); very little driving today

Food: oatmeal, tomato-cheese sandwiches, pb&j, improvised shepherd's pie

Activities: 

driving to trailhead through stunning scenery

hiking to campsite five miles or so

photographing every two minutes

cooling off

pitching camp

whittling

dinner

exploring surrounding area

hoisting food packs ten feet in air away from hungry bears

Observations: such a brilliant array of wildflowers as you've never seen; even at midday the lighting can be magical if you have rolling clouds in the sky

Wildlife: 

bison
a hawk with prey in its talons
crow
two dung beetles pushing along a little dung ball (sharing or fighting?)
antelope

Anecdotes:

M. was so hot after hiking in levis (see "Downers"), that as soon as we got to our isolated campsite she took everything off down to her undergarments and went down to sit by the river on a big cool rock.  C. stayed above in the sunlight to work on his tan.  (M. feels tans are old hat, and has stopped bothering).  After twenty minutes or so, M. resurfaced and greeted C., only to have him warn quickly, "There are people!"  She looked up just in time to see two young men coming down the adjacent hill (fifteen feet away).  She scurried for her clothes and sat down in the grass, pulling her button-up shirt around the front just in time to say a pleasant, "hey!"  They "hey"d back and we all pleasantly pretended that she wasn't half-dressed as they circled around the hill and out of sight.

Campsite: situated right where Yellowstone River and Hellroaring Creek converge (the latter is aptly named, though both are simply gushing this time of year).  So much water!  Rushing all around us in our solitary campsite.  Just water, water, water, and pines and cliffs and green rolling hills as far as the eye can see.  Such a change from last night.  We could be happy here.

Conclusion: enlivened, but somehow still very tired.  :)




The following photos are self-explanatory, but do not capture what we saw.