Days 52, 53 and 54 - Yellowstone Recap plus an Almost-Century

Charlie:

We spent the last 2 days in Yellowstone, the first national park in the US, which is why we haven’t been blogging. With only 2 days to explore millions of acres, our days were jam-packed. Here’s a rundown of what we did, where we went, and what we saw...

We entered the park around 11am on Monday through the west entrance, based in West Yellowstone, MT. West Yellowstone is super touristy; the Main Street was packed with tie dyed Yellowstone shirts and caps in all colors and mini wooden animal figurines. Anyway, we entered the park, then spent about an hour in a long line of cars. You have to travel about 10 miles from the entrance to reach the southern loop. Yellowstone has one main road to drive on, and it’s set up in a figure-8, creating the northern loop and the southern loop. We started in the southern loop, planning to see all the popular geyser spots on day 1, along with a trip to Lamar Valley.

It turned out that the traffic was due to a buffalo sighting. Yellowstone’s roads are all two lane roads, with very slim shoulders, and they are typically pretty winding, so the speed limit is a maximum of 45 throughout the park. It is just generally accepted that if you spot wildlife on the side of the road you may slow down to take pictures. This ends up leading to a lot of congestion, as people stop in the middle of the road to watch the animals and take pictures. Yellowstone did do a good job of building in many pullout areas for cars, which are essentially broad shoulders or mini parking areas to park your car and get out and see the wildlife. The American buffalo, also known as a bison, was the animal we saw the most of. At first we slowed down to get a better look at each one, and also took pictures every time. By the end we barely paid them a glance, since they were so common throughout the park.

Our first stop on Day 1 was Lone Star Geyser. The lady who gave us our map highlighted it, so we thought it had to be good. She pretty much just highlighted every sight noted on the map though, so we weren’t sure how useful her recommendations were. There was a 5 mile round trip walk through the woods in order to reach the geyser, so not too many people were interested in viewing this one. The walk was nice, and we had our bear spray with us for protection! The geyser was a chimney geyser, meaning it stuck up out of the ground like a chimney. After about a half hour of waiting it finally erupted, and kept erupting for 15 minutes afterwards. It was a really neat sight! The eruptions are caused by all of the geothermal activity under Yellowstone, which builds up pressure and forces water up through tiny passageways in the rock, eventually exploding out as water vapor.

Next up was Old Faithful, the most well-known geyser. The Yellowstone staff have Old Faithful’s eruption schedule down to a science, so we knew we had an hour to kill before it went off. We decided to wander the Upper Geyser Basin, which is essentially an area around Old Faithful with dozens of other smaller geysers. Yellowstone is actually home to 60% of the world’s geysers, so there are many to see. We watched Old Faithful erupt from the observing platform up above the geyser on a hill. It was a neat view, seeing it go off along with the sea of people surrounding the geyser to watch, but we couldn’t appreciate how high the eruption was or how powerful it felt.

Next we paid a visit to the Grand Prismatic Spring. We did the Fairy Falls walk to the scenic overlook which was 1.6 miles round trip. It was a pretty easy walk, other than the climb at the end. The hill was worth it though, as the view over the spring was incredible. Yellowstone also has these hot springs, which are pools of water that don’t have the same pressure buildup that geysers do, but they are still incredibly hot. The heat in the water also messes with the coloration of the rock it touches, so the hot springs end up with a really unique color gradient: aqua blue in the middle, turning yellow and then orangey towards the edge of the pool. They are absolutely beautiful; Maddie and I both agree that hot springs are superior to geysers in terms of beauty.

At this point it was pretty late, and we’d spent a lot of time walking. We considered leaving early and heading to Big Sky to stay with Nat, Maddie’s friend, as we had planned. However, we had heard the wildlife in Lamar Valley at dusk was fantastic, so we decided to drive there. Lamar Valley is located in the northeastern section of the park, and we were in the west. Like I said earlier, this is not a small park (it’s one of the ten largest national parks in the US!). Thus, at some point we realized it would be impossible to see the animals at sunset and make it back to the west before it was pitch black, and the road was too narrow and curvy for me to feel comfortable driving past dark. We decided to audible and stay in Gardiner, MT, the town at the north entrance of the park.

The change in plans was well worth it as we made the drive to Lamar Valley. We were now driving the northern loop, and it was a sight to behold. You can see a lot more land on the northern loop, and there are some great views of wide open grassland below towering mountains with rivers running through the open land. Just stunning beauty. The gradual descent into darkness as the sun set was the cherry on top. The ride to Lamar Valley was Maddie’s favorite part of the trip, it was that beautiful. On the ride we saw a ton of buffalo, as always. At one point we turned a corner and saw dozens of cars pulled over on the side of the road, with people lining a river, binoculars and cameras pointed at the opposite bank. There were no pullouts in this section of the road so the road had become just one lane, but no one seemed to mind, because on the other side of the river was a mother bear and two cubs.

You are warned to look out for bears everywhere you go in Yellowstone. Grizzly bears kill and maim people every year in the park. Black bears aren’t as big of a threat, because you can usually scare them away. A bear sighting is just about the crown jewel of all wildlife sightings as far as we could tell. In Lamar Valley we were viewing black bears. They were hidden in the thicket on the river bank for most of the time, but just as we were ready to leave the cubs popped out and started wrestling and climbing a tree. It was the perfect show to end our day. And even better, we got to drive west, into the sunset, which was so incredible Maddie nearly started tearing up. We retired to the Yellowstone River Motel in Gardiner, planning to wake up at 6 to head back to Lamar Valley for a dawn wildlife drive.

The next morning we got to see herds of buffalo all across the valley. There must have been hundreds, if not thousands in the valley alone. While we were stopped, standing outside the car to see the buffalo, a lone wolf trotted past us just 15 feet away. We returned to Gardiner to collect our stuff and grab breakfast (which was great, but took forever since they were cooking on a stove much like I have back home, except our stove only needs to feed 6, and theirs needed to feed the hundreds of hungry park visitors.)

Our plan for day 2 consisted of Mammoth hot springs, the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, and a return to Old Faithful to meet up with Amelia Osgood, an incoming freshman on the woman’s basketball team. We started at the mammoth hot springs. Maddie and I jogged up the wooden stairs, dodging in and out of tourists. One elderly couple blocked the boardwalk, arguing about something. We heard the man say something about his wife “always being wrong” and we can only assume he slept outside with the bears last night.

The stairs had us a bit out of breath, most likely due to the elevation (over 7,000 feet), and certainly not due to the fact that we haven’t run in almost two months. The hot springs were beautiful. They were essentially a collection of mini Grand Prismatics. The water run off was really cool here, dripping down the side of the rocks and creating multicolored stair-like structures.

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone may have been my favorite landmark we saw all trip. We drove to Artist’s Point, a lookout spot from which you can see the entirety of the canyon, along with Yellowstone Falls, the iconic waterfall. The view did not disappoint; both the canyon itself and the Falls were spectacular. We spent some time soaking in the view before heading off to Old Faithful.

Along the way we stopped to gaze out over Yellowstone Lake, a gigantic lake in the southeast section of the park. Across the lake were snow capped mountains, and in the middle was a small island. I should say, we saw snow all over the park, and we were told that it had snowed in the area just last week!

At Yellowstone we convened with the Osgoods. Amelia’s parents and sister hung back while Maddie, Amelia, and I took a 3 mile walk to the Morning Glory pool, another hot spring near Old Faithful. Morning Glory was smaller than Grand Prismatic, but we were able to get right up next to it, so we could really appreciate the richness of the colors. There was green and blue and yellow and orange all apparent in the pool. We made it back to Old Faithful just as the geyser was erupting, so we were able to see its full erupting height at eye level, and it did not disappoint! After saying goodbye to the Osgoods it was time to head out, our whirlwind 48 hours in Yellowstone had come to a close.

At one point early on Day 1 in the park I mentioned that I liked the Black Hills more than Yellowstone. The northern loop drive, Lamar Valley, and the Grand Canyon quickly changed my mind. Yellowstone was the most beautiful part of our trip, and one of the most beautiful places I’ve seen in my young life (though the Black Hills are still close!). It was an awesome two day break, and we are now ready to take on the last leg of our trip. Less than 3 weeks remain!

Maddie:

After seeing the Morning Glory Pool with Amelia, a great conclusion to our beautiful Yellowstone experience, we headed back to Bozeman but not without an important stop. We made our way to Big Sky, an emerging ski town, to see the one and only Natalie Swope. Nat and I did Outdoor Action together at Princeton, so she was one of my first friends! After catching up about our crazy, busy gap years and eating pesto pasta, we headed to Beehive Basin Brewery. Charlie and I met Nat’s boyfriend, Drew over dinner then met Drew’s coworkers and friends at the brewery. Charlie and I felt like the cameramen in an episode of The Office as we heard all of the gossip in the IT department. Living in Big Sky seems like a blast; work does not seem too demanding, there are endless outdoor activities, and a lot of college aged kids working in the area. However, we could not help but compare it to the Lotus Tree, a trap for never ending youth. Can you forget what lies beyond Big Sky?

As the sun began to set, Charlie and I figured we should head back to Bozeman to return our rental car, grab some groceries, avoid being trapped by the Lotus Eaters, and get some rest for our upcoming rides. Before we said our goodbyes, Nat presented us with Wilcoxson’s Moose Tracks ice cream. As we have learned throughout Wyoming and Montana, Wilcoxson’s always hits the spot. Big shoutout to Mike Swope, Nat’s dad and avid reader of the blog, for telling Nat that ice cream is a MUST.

We made it back to Cody’s place around 11 to find it as busy as ever. This time a man was heading to a backpacking trip in Yellowstone and two old roommates were stopping by. This morning we all ate breakfast together after Belle, an honorary roommate, made a ton of blueberry pancakes. Every couch surfer shared their story, past travels, and future endeavors.

Because of our pancake party, Charlie and I got a late start. The temperature was quickly rising, yet we were committed to the 100 mile journey from Bozeman to Helena.

The first 50 miles of the ride could not have gone any better. The sun kissed our skin but there was a gentle breeze to keep us cool as we rode along a flat and paved road. Our day only improved when Kane, who at first seemed like an intimidating driver, stopped us to say he had prepaid for our lunch at a cafe in Manhattan, Montana. We were speechless and thankful, honored that a random person would feel so inclined to help us.

The rest of the ride on Highway 287 was another mountainous and tree-lined beauty until the heat was overwhelming. 70 miles in, we reached a 10 mile steady climb and the wind was nonexistent (normally a good thing unless you’re sweating profusely). By this point, no matter how many times we applied sunscreen, we felt the sun piercing our legs and faces. My head began to hurt from dehydration, so I was anxious for the ride to end. When we arrived in Helena around 7:30, the temperature read 89 degrees, our hottest day yet.

We are staying with Tim, an artist, biker, and comedian, who lives in the coolest house Charlie and I have ever seen (we will add a pic of it tomorrow). The house stands out from the rest on the street, and upon entering we were mesmerized by amazing sculptures, paintings, and sketches. Tim told us about one of his many projects, random gifts of art, in which he interacts with strangers by giving out sketches that he’s made. His goal is similar to the lesson we learned from the Welch’s, people are good. Tim also proceeded to tell us about the ghosts that live in this house; I would be lying if I said the stories did not freak me out. We will report any ghost busting that we do!

We have met so many people over the last 24 hours, and their kindness continues to be a highlight of our trip!

Until tomorrow!