Yellowstone National Park

31^st August Norris Geyser Basin and Artists Paintpots.

Yellowstone was the first National Park to be created in 1872.  It covers around 2 million acres and although most of it is in Wyoming it also edges into Montana and Idaho.  Although the lowest 

elevation is 5282ft, most of the park is above 6000ft.

We spent our first day on the west side of the park and visited Norris Geyser Basin and Artists Paintpots.  The geysers were amazing – so many of them.  They stimulate the senses; the smell of sulphur; the hot steam being wafted by the wind; the colours of blue, green, yellow, orange, browns; the sound of bubbling water, plopping of liquid mud and the hissing of steam released under pressure.

There were one or two lone bull Bison to be seen and as we left the park we saw some Elk by the river.

1^st September Lamar Valley

We drove down the Lamar Valley to see what wildlife was about.  As it was during the day time we
did not expect to see wolves as they are normally only seen at sunrise and sunset.

We saw Bison in herds and individuals on their own; many Pronghorn Antelope; a mule deer and a bighorn sheep.  There were a small herd of Elk near the Visitor Centre.  The stag was resting in the shade of the church.  The rutting season starts mid to late September. 

We also saw some Sandhill Cranes in the distance.

Tower Falls was very busy as it is a Holiday weekend.  So we only spent enough time to see the Falls and have an ice cream.  There were some people there trying to get signatures on a petition to stop hunting of wolves in the National Forests surrounding the National Park.  Wolves are only protected in the national park.

We joined the campfire at the campground that evening and were treated to a close-up encounter with 12 Elk.  They came down from the mountains into the town and right up to the fence line of the campground.

2^nd September A Non-Day

This was a bit of a Non-day.  Paul woke up with a sore throat and a cold (ran out of Irish whiskey) and spent the day horizontal either on the bed or the sofa.  The clouds obliterated the sun and it rained in the afternoon.  A Non-day.

3^rd September Old Faithful.

Old Faithful geyser is in the Upper Geyser Basin where the majority of the world’s active geysers are located (others are in Russia, Chile, Iceland & New Zealand).  Five of the geysers here are
predictable.
Old Faithful reaches heights of between 106-184 ft and we watched it go off within 5 minutes of the expected time.  We also saw Castle Geyser, which reaches a height of around 75ft, erupting from across the river. 


 

The new Visitor Centre was completed in 2011 and everything looked a bit different from the last time we visited here in May 08; when there was snow on the ground and a blizzard was blowing. 


This time we were able to walk around all the Geysers and Hot Springs as well as the Fumaroles and Mud pots.  Chromatic Pool and Morning Glory were particularly impressive with their colours, which are caused by microscopic thermophiles; they survive in hot temperatures as well as high acidity or alkaline environments.

4^th September Canyon Village.

We spent the day around the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone where the Yellowstone River pours over two waterfalls of around 300ft.  We viewed the river from various points.  Most impressive was the Brink of the Lower Falls where a path down into the canyon stops at the level of the river and then you can lean over the railing to follow the water over the falls (made you feel quiet dizzy).

We descended the 328 steps to Uncle Tom’s point (and then climbed back up!) and also drove up to the famous Artist’s Point which exceeded expectations.

At one point we came across a herd of Bison coming down the road – all traffic stopped!

On the rim of the Canyon we were fortunate to be high enough to look down on an Osprey nest, with a youngster waiting for the parent to bring food –
which we witnessed as the adult flew in with a fish in its talons.

Towards the end of the day we drove to Blacktail Creek for a spot of wolf-watching.  We were advised two wolves were regularly spotted in this area every evening.  However we were not to be fortunate enough to see them.

5^th September West Yellowstone

We visited the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Centre just outside the National Park west entrance.  The Centre takes in rescue animals and is set up to educate humans on the animal’s behaviour.  Some Grizzly bears had become ‘habituated’ to human presence and relocation was not successful so consequently they were taken into captivity.  Some research is done in the Centre including the Bear-proof testing of containers.

The areas we saw the animals in were very natural looking environments.  The bears were let out in groups, for a couple of hours at a time, to forage for food which had been buried or hidden under rocks etc.  This is with intent to provide a natural stimulus for them.  We watched as the Keepers hid the food and the minute they left the area about 40 ravens descended to see what they might pick-up first.  The bears did not seem bothered by the bird as the lifted the heavy rocks with ease. 
 

In the wild a lot of the Wolves are suffering from “Mange” introduced by humans to eradicate wolves about 100 years ago. Research is being done on the captive wolves to try and treat the problem.

On our way home we stopped in to see the Midway Geyser Basin area.

6^th September Beartooth Pass

The best time to see wolves is late evening or first thing in the morning.  As our evening vigil didn’t work-out we got up at 5am today and made our way to Slough Creek in the Lamar Valley.  We had spotted wolves here during our visit in 2008.  However, today the wolves were having a lie-in.  All we saw was a little coyote walk past.

As we drove further up the valley we spotted some Bison running and then further behind them saw a big black dot – which turned out to be a Grizzly bear casually striding along.  He was coming our way so we stopped.  Within a minute of us spotting him at least 10 other cars stopped too.  We followed him (from a distance) as his stroll took him along the base of a small hill that had some other wolf-spotters on the top.  Had the bear gone up the hill they would have come face to face with each other.

After that excitement we continued out of the north-east entrance of the Park and drove Highway 212 up through Beartooth Pass, at 10947ft.  This is listed as one of the Top 10 Drives in USA and provided some spectacular views across the Absaroka mountain range. 
We had lunch in Red Lodge and then retraced our steps back over the mountains.  The weather had started to change – we could have done without the clouds and rain.

On the way back through the Lamar Valley that evening we saw several herds of Bison – there must have been at least 1000 in the Valley that evening.  We also spotted a bald eagle in a tree above the Lamar River.


Every evening on our drive home we see the Bighorn sheep on the rocks near the park entrance.

7^th September Boiling River

After yesterday’s 5am start and 250 mile drive, we had a quiet day.  In the afternoon we drove into the park to Boiling River.  At this spot hot springs flow into the Yellowstone River and people can soak in the waters.  The River water had a very strong current – and was cold!  The hot springs water was very hot! So you had to be careful where you went in the waters but it was really fun and very
relaxing – and didn’t smell of sulphur.

We had noted some youngsters/teenagers enjoying the waters and then suddenly disappeared.  We thought nothing of it until we got back to the car park where a Ranger was giving each of them a ‘citation’.   For safety reasons food and drink were prohibited from this area and they had brought glass bottles and some were under the legal age for consuming alcohol.

That evening we went out for a meal at the same place we ate at for Alison’s ‘Big 50’ birthday five years ago.  We then joined everyone around the campground fire and learnt that a bear had been seen down by the river in the centre of town.

8^th September Fishing Bridge / West Thumb

We drove down the Hayden Valley hoping to see some wildlife.  There were 4 Trumpeter swans in the Yellowstone River and the odd lone Bison bull in the distance.  We stopped at Sulphur Caldron and Mud Volcano which is a very active and acidic area in the park.  During one period in the mid-70s over 500 minor earth quakes were recorded here in less than a month and affected a number of the active features. 

Dragon’s Mouth Spring was particularly impressive as it belched out steam and hot water. Water boils at only 93C at this elevation.

From Fishing Bridge we carried on down to West Thumb and the Geyser Basin next to the Yellowstone Lake where there were several geysers, hot springs and fumaroles.  Many of these hydrothermal features exist on the lake bottom.  3,100 gallons of hot water pour into the lake everyday yet the lake’s average summer temperature is only 7C.

The Abyss Pool is one of the deepest hot springs descending to 53ft and was a beautiful turquoise colour.

We went home via the Lamar Valley again – but only saw Bison.  It was lovely to watch the calves nursing and listen to the grunts of the bulls as they rolled in the dust.  We tried to picture what it would have looked like 200 years ago when the herds were so vast (50 million is one estimate).

This is our last day in Yellowstone – 10 nights and over 1000 miles of driving and we still didn’t see everything!