inulro | Belated road trip write-up: Yellowstone National Park

We drove up through the I-15 through Idaho. That part of Idaho reminded me a lot of southern Alberta, with the irrigated crops and the mountains in the distance. The towns even looked similar. As you get closer to the park you drive across a couple of volcanic calderas. The first wasn't that obvious as it was wooded, but the second is pastureland so it is obvious, and kind of unsettling. Which gets you ready for spending time in a place that is a constant reminder that it could blow at any time.

We spent 4 days in the park and didn't even begin to get to grips with it - we'd meant to do some hiking but ended up just doing the "greatest hits" version instead. Which isn't to say what we saw wasn't all kinds of awesome. Also, the guidebook wasn't kidding when it said you don't have to go at all far from Old Faithful or Mammoth to get away from the crowds - even going so far as the boardwalks around those sites gets rid of 2/3 of the people!

I didn't take many pictures but I may one day get them off the MacBook and onto Flickr.

We stayed in Roosevelt Cabins, because by the time I booked (many months ago) there wasn't much available. Roosevelt Cabins, being a bit basic for many people, are cheaper and don't fill up as fast. Roosevelt is near the north east end of the park and is comparatively quiet; it's where the wildlife-watchers stay so it's only busy or noisy in the early morning. It has the added bonus of the food at Roosevelt Lodge. Now the guidebook says that the only good meal you'll get in the park is in the restaurant at the Old Faithful Inn and otherwise, it won't kill you and it's not as over-priced as it could be in the circumstances. Maybe it's a new thing but the food at Roosevelt Lodge is excellent, and ethical & sustainable etc. So we did the supposedly impossible and ate really well in the park! (It's not as high as Park City but still at altitude so we still weren't eating much).

As there is a stables right next to our cabins, we decided to go on a trail ride. No, I don't know one end of the horse from another - these rides are designed for people like us. Even though the horses were only walking, it was pretty scary. And also tremendous amounts of fun! Definitely something we would do again.

The day we went to Old Faithful I forgot to charge my camera. And left my in-car charger in the cabin. But that's OK because Jason took enough pictures for the both of us. Old Faithful itself isn't all that exciting but the geyser field as a whole is amazing! We feel the need to visit Iceland now.

Having said that, the park is full of random geothermal sites of varying kinds so you see steam coming up and discoloured rocks all over the place. You get used to the smell of sulphur after a while.

The other thing to see at Old Faithful is the lobby of the Old Faithful Inn - it's like a four-storey tree house and was way more exciting in real life than it looked like in photos. I did want to stay there for at least one night but it was completely full by the time I booked.

We drove along the road that skirts the Grand Canyon a few times. Terrifying but astoundingly beautiful.

Mammoth Hot Springs is the other place that there's loads of people but it's completely worth fighting the crowds for. On the way there's a walk to a place called "Wraith Falls". I couldn't resist - even took a picture of the sign. (For Stargate:Atlantis fans - no, there weren't any.)

The Wildlife

We weren't that successful in seeing wildlife. Having said that, I'm not convinced I wanted to see any bears, and we couldn't be bothered to get up early enough to see the wolves. Some elk wandered through the cabin site one day, and we saw some moose swimming in the very far distance while driving back from Old Faithful.

The one form of wildlife that's everywhere in the park are bison. There are also warnings absolutely everywhere that you should not piss off the bison. They are huge, fast and dangerous. Far more people are injured or killed every year by bison than by predators. So what do the stupid people in the car in front of us do when confronted by bison beside the road? (While we are doing about 10 because there are also bison in the road). Yes - roll down their window and shove a camera right in the bison's face! I really wished the battery on my camera wasn't dead or I'd have taken a video to prove to the rental company that the crushed car wasn't my fault. Thankfully nothing happened, but that was really heart-stopping.

In Conclusion

We are totally going back. We'd even stay at Roosevelt again despite its relative isolation & primitiveness (but the general store sells a gazillion local micro-brews and wines so it's pretty civilised). However, it's a two-hour trip to the geyser fields (possibly less if you go the other route but that is the road they're ripping up this year) and we really didn't see any of the south end of the park aside from the geyser fields. Next time we'd spend some of the time staying in the south half of the park, and maybe getting to see Grand Teton as well. Next time there will be hiking.

The landscape is nothing short of breathtaking throughout, and the sheer variety of geographic features in a relatively small space never fails to amaze.

Next up: Wyoming proper