Yellowstone National Park is quite intimidating for a first-time visitor. At 2 million acres and endless natural wonders, it seems impossible to see it all, but we made a valiant effort. We stayed at the historic Old Faithful Inn and set out to see as much as we could.
Geysers and Other Thermals
Old Faithful is simply the best known geyser of all time - and time is its essence. By reputation its eruptions were as regular as a timepiece until the 1959 earthquake, but actually, it's far more predictable today than it ever was in the past. If the most recent eruption lasts more that 2-1/2 minutes, the next will occur in 91 minutes, otherwise it will erupt again in 65 minutes (both predictions can be off by a mere + or - 10 minutes which is really quite remarkable).
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| Old Faithful |
When we first saw a geyser basins from a distance, it somewhat resembled a line of smoldering fires, which was a little eerie, but the pure white of the steam has a distinctly different and unique appearance.
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| Upper Geyser Basin |
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| Mammoth Hot Springs |
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| Dragon's Mouth Spring |
The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone
Everyone who goes to Yellowstone wants to see Old Faithful, but what I most wanted to see was the Yellowstone River and the falls made famous in Thomas Moran's painting and I was not disappointed. Even in October, the river runs heavy and the upper and lower falls were magnificent. Even the Tower Falls, closer to the headwaters, make an impressive sight.
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| Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone |
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| Upper Falls |
Wildlife
After Alaska, this is obviously the next best place to see wildlife. Entering from West Yellowstone, we weren't in the park 10 minutes before we saw our first herd of elk and the first of the many bison we encountered (bison in Yellowstone are like alligators in the Everglades: after the second dozen or so, it's like, "Oh, there goes another one".)
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| Bison in the Mist |
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| Bull Elk at Mammoth Hot Springs |
Hayden Valley is another area where wildlife is most often seen. As we entered the valley area we saw a grizzly bear digging for roots, rolling in the grass and just generally enjoying life. We didn't get any closer than snapshot range, but that was probably as much as we really wanted.
We approached the main overlook for Hayden Valley with great anticipation. Herds of elk or bison and even packs of wolves are often spotted there. Not surprisingly, we got bison, again.
We did see elk one last time. Our visit was during the peak of elk rutting season, but we hadn't seen or heard anything out of the ordinary. Finally, when we were returning to the Old Faithful Inn at the end of a very long day, we saw elk along the Grand Loop Road. We stopped to look and spotted one bull and two cows calmly grazing among the trees. As we sat watching the bull, he calmly raised his head and gave us a quick, half-hearted bugle call. I had to laugh. I assume he was a little annoyed, but perhaps he just felt sorry for us.
The 1988 Yellowstone fire destroyed most of the moose habitat in the park and even though the area has recovered, the moose have not yet returned, so we had to go south to Grand Teton National Park if we hoped to see any.
We were advised that the Gros Ventre River area was the best place to look, but when we initially went there, we didn't see anything and planned to go early the next morning to check again. Unfortunately, we slept later than we planned and, then, on the way, we were distracted by a small herd of pronghorn that was settled into the area near the entrance to the campgrounds.
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| Pronghorn Herd |
When we finally moved on, it was past mid-morning and we weren't too optimistic, but, even though we were late, we were lucky. A small herd of young moose was just finishing grazing and one-by-one they were all settling into the grass when we came upon them. We saw one bull and one female heading down the river and another bull and three females which had already settled in for a nap, but one bull was still grazing and calmly posed for us. Finally, he had had enough and settled in behind his brother, so we reluctantly moved on.
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| Bull Moose Along Gros Ventre River |
Grand Teton National Park
From Yellowstone, the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway heads south into Grand Teton, a much more sedate place than Yellowstone but the jagged mountain range clearly identifies it as a unique place. The fall color at this lower elevation was still impressive.
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| Mount Moran from Oxbow Bend |
The importance of the Mormon contribution to the settlement of the west is often overlooked, but it's difficult to ignore it when Mormon settlements pre-date the National Park the way they do in Grand Teton. It may have been a hard life, but at least the views were spectacular.
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| Grand Teton from Mormon Row |
What We Missed
When we return, and we will return, there a number of things that will be on our must-do list. We didn't get to visit the Lamar Valley in the northeast section of the park, so that will be first.
Then, the Mammoth Hot Springs area is worth more time than we had for it. We would really like to explore more of the historic area with the original army-built structures.
The northwest park entrance which leads to Mammoth Hot Springs is the location of the Roosevelt Arch which is supposed to be second only to Old Faithful itself for photographs. I'm curious as to what that's all about.
We did see a good selection of geysers, but the naturalists make eruption predictions for a select group of geysers in addition to Old Faithful and it would be fun to schedule visits to them based on the predictions. Another set of geysers to see would be those at West Thumb that are said to line the shore of Yellowstone Lake.
And on it goes. . . . The problem is that afterwards, we'll easily come up with a new list of things we missed and want to see.
Other Things
Craters of the Moon National Monument
There is speculation that this will be the next National Park and for good reason. The magma plume presently under Yellowstone can be tracked back to Nevada as it remains in place and the continent moves west over it, but it is here that the plume made (and still makes) the greatest impact west of Yellowstone. Lava covers most of the 750,000 acres of the monument and early settlers thought the landscape resembled the surface of the moon.
Twin Falls, ID
The twin Shoshone Falls that give the city its name are on the Snake River and are as high as Niagara Falls, if not as wide. When we were there, 90% of the water was being diverted for irrigation, power generation and to allow repairs to the dam, but even the reduced flow is still a pretty amazing sight.
Yellowstone vs. Yosemite
Not to evade the question, but the truth is, there is no answer to which is the better park. It truly is an apples and oranges comparison.
Yellowstone, at its core, is a giant caldera created by an ancient volcano and is most famous for its geysers and other thermal features. At its core, Yosemite is a glacier-carved valley most famous for its sheer, granite cliffs and majestic waterfalls.
One is a place of unique natural wonders and the other is a place of infinite beauty. Old Faithful leaves us amazed and Half Dome leaves us in awe, and both places are crown jewels of America's National Parks.
(To see the snapshots of the grizzly bear and more photos, go to Yellowstone National Park)
