Yellowstone
We were all quite giddy for our visit to Yellowstone. As we were entering the park, the kids asked what we would find inside the gates, and Adam and I realized that neither of us knew what exactly Yellowstone was. For anyone else who may feel the same: it is SO much more than buffalo and grizzly bears!
As we were driving we noticed the ground steaming in the distance, and then we remembered, YELLOWSTONE IS A MASSIVE VOLCANO!! And boy was it showing off that day!
The hikes were INCREDIBLE! With wooden walkways over boiling pools, steaming streams with holes leading to the depths of the earth, and colors like we had rarely seen before. The weather was a bit chilly so we wore our warm jackets, and the breezy wind ensured that the sulphur smell was never far away.
We made sure to cover our noses, and also had many good laughs at the ‘fart clouds’ that we were walking through. Of course, the boys loved this part.
One travel tip for visiting national parks: be sure to pack in your food and water! Restrooms are available in outhouse form, but aside from the busy summer months, there are no services. We’ve enjoyed some beautiful picnic spots, as well as hiding out in the truck for lunchtime.
Yellowstone has over 10,000 active geysers, and they seem to appear out of every direction, in all various sizes, shapes and colors. They just kept getting better and better! At many points, we felt as if we were driving on another planet.
In several spots, the steam was so dense that we could hardly see one another. We were sure to stay on the paths and hold the kid’s firmly, as caution signs about ‘boiling water below’ were never far away. The kids did great, and said this was their favorite science class yet!
When traveling, we would consider ourselves ‘off season people.’ By working around flexibility in our schedule, we were able to avoid crowds, lines, or congestion. We even lucked out by finding Old Faithful, the largest geyser, right as she was erupting. The geyser has erupted on schedule: every 44 minutes to two hours, since 1870! And this is no basic eruption! The boiling water shoots 99 feet to 125 feet straight up each time. It was awe inspiring to watch, and something I will always remember.
We kept a close eye out for wildlife, but only saw a few roadside buffalo, and one herd in a prairie. We traveled straight from Yellowstone into Grand Tetons and onto Jackson Hole. More about that in the next post. Thanks for traveling along!
