So, when someone talks about Yellowstone, what is the first
thing that comes to mind? Old Faithful!
I really wanted to go see this, so
after a quick tour of the lake and an educational brief for the kids with park
rangers (we learned about how far to stay away from the Wildlife and how to use
bear spray), we headed over to the Old Faithful area.
On the way there, there
were cars stopped on the side of the road and people out with cameras
everywhere! There was a small herd of elk and their babies (calves) grazing on
the grass along the road, so we also stopped to get out, take photos, and
explore. We found a bunch of elk poop
and elk tracks and flowers and then got back into the truck to continue to our
destination.
Pulling into the parking lot at Old Faithful, we could see a
bunch of buildings and everyone walking in the same direction, so we followed
suit.
We quickly came upon a boardwalk with seating and with a huge crowd
around us, waited for that giant geyser to spray her hot steam into the air.
Old Faithful certainly isn’t the only geyser in the area,
and it’s not the biggest.
Beehive Geyser erupting |
While sitting there, waiting, we could see geysers shooting off in the
distance in the treeline. Then, all of a sudden, a small geyser, named Beehive
geyser, which is right near Old Faithful, started to erupt. Apparently, this
geyser only goes off once every 8 to 24 hours, so we were lucky enough to see
it and then within a few minutes of it erupting, Old Faithful joined the party!
Old Faithful |
It was really incredible to see in person after having seen photos of it my
whole life. It was windy that day, so it wasn’t as high as it could go
(approximately 90’), but it was beautiful, nonetheless.
After the geyser erupted and the crowds somewhat thinned, we
headed off on a trail around the area to see more hot springs and mud geysers
in the Upper Geyser Basin. The colors in some of the geysers were incredible:
blues and greens and yellows and reds. There were some that were boiling,
others simply steaming. The ground around us was littered with buffalo tracks
and buffalo patties (poo, people…that would be buffalo poo). The minerals dispersed
by the springs must be a good source of nutrients for them as they frequent the
area.
We made it back around the loop and headed into one of the
shops in the area. We found ourselves some Huckleberry lollipops and syrup and
jam. We then headed to the Old Faithful lodge which is an incredibly unique and
beautiful log cabin lodge with a large amount of history. There, we got some
huckleberry ice cream and a few souvenirs. Let me start this next part by
stating that when we began the day, we were in shorts and t-shirts, but we did
have jackets with us. It was a bit chilly, but we all ended up taking our
jackets off as we walked around. We came out from this adorable hotel, it was
cold. So, so cold. Now, there was a bit of snow on the ground at the campground
and along parts of the drive, so we knew this was a possibility, but we didn’t
expect it to start snowing on us. It did. It got so cold, so fast. We got into
the truck and started driving. In the lower elevations it rained on us, but as
we climbed up certain peaks, it was snowing.
As we drove out of the Old Faithful area, we saw a few
single buffalo in the trees. This was odd to me as I had really only thought of
buffalo in open prairie lands in large herds. We found a canyon river drive and
as we pulled into it, we were immediately greeted with a sighting of a young
elk, feeding on the grass along the river. These animals were completely
undisturbed by the passing vehicles and people with cameras pointed at them.
Further into the canyon, there was a small parking lot to get out and see the
waterfall in that area. It was a fast moving, raging waterfall, but not
extremely tall. We, of course, got some photos and headed back out of the area.
By this point everyone was pretty chilly when we got out of the truck.
We
headed back to the campsite where we found that we had gotten quite a dusting
of snow and it was still snowing.
We turned the generator on to heat the
trailer, made dinner, and put the kids to bed. We had to turn the generator off
by 8 for quiet hours, so Miah and I sat by the campfire drinking a bottle of
wine he had picked up from a nearby Yellowstone store (where he also bought me
a coat, because I packed warm clothes for everyone but myself somehow).
We got up in the morning and it was FREEEEEEZING!! It was 40 degrees in the trailer, but luckily it heated up quite quickly as we made breakfast and ran the heater again. The kids, in the meantime, went outside and made a snowman on the picnic table!!
We got up in the morning and it was FREEEEEEZING!! It was 40 degrees in the trailer, but luckily it heated up quite quickly as we made breakfast and ran the heater again. The kids, in the meantime, went outside and made a snowman on the picnic table!!
Today’s destination wasn’t anything in particular, but we wanted to see what we could and see as much wildlife as possible. We were not disappointed! Almost immediately after getting onto the road, we saw herds of buffalo (and boy were they scruffy looking as they were losing their heavy winter coats). They were walking along the roadside, in the road, laying in valleys eating, and just doing their own buffalo things. There were bulls and cows and calves of all sizes. We went into Canyon area and found another, much larger, waterfall. After a small walk around this area, we went to the restaurant to get some food and then to explore one of the visitor centers and museums available.
Leaving there, we wanted to head north, but the road was closed because the pass was no longer passable due to the amount of snow they had received and they were clearing it. Instead, we decided to head toward the rainbow pools of Yellowstone.
On the way, we, once again, saw people pulled
over on the side of the road, aiming cameras up into the hillside. We got out
and saw a momma blackbear and her cub hanging out. We were able to get
some great photos with my camera! It was incredible to see them, though they were far enough away, we couldn’t even use my phone to take photos.
The rainbow pool area was a bit disappointing due to the very cold weather because it was so steamy that it was difficult to see the actual pools.
some great photos with my camera! It was incredible to see them, though they were far enough away, we couldn’t even use my phone to take photos.
The rainbow pool area was a bit disappointing due to the very cold weather because it was so steamy that it was difficult to see the actual pools.
We headed back to the campsite and made dinner.
This was to be our last night in Yellowstone and we were going to head out the following morning….if you’ve seen my facebook posts, you know this didn’t happen quite as we had planned.