Yellowstone National Park
“Say geothermal one more time, I dare you!” So, said Norah, in her best Alexander Hamilton voice, as Eli diligently read the information pamphlet aloud as we drove into Yellowstone. We were trying to hype up why Yellowstone was designated as America’s first National Park and why our touring around the park would feel different than the other places we’ve visited so far.
Yellowstone, with its myriad of steaming sulfuric vents, mudpots, geisers and bubblers is such an interesting place to visit. What it lacks in the grand peaks of Yosemite or Grand Teton, it more than delivers with its weird and wonderful attractions.
On the afternoon of our arrival, we made our obligatory visit to Old Faithful. If there was ever a moment where it felt like we were at Disneyworld instead of a National Park, this was it. The crowds were thick and people were saving seats among vast rows of benches as though the Main Street Parade would be appearing at any moment.
Norah and I joined the crowd to sit and wait for the grand reveal, as Ben would say. Ben and Eli decided to do some exploring. As such, we were in two different spots when the geyser blew and we were able to capture it from two different angles.
As soon as the geyser eruption ended, the crowd thinned significantly and we set off on the boardwalk trail to explore several of the other bubbling, spewing, and smoking areas of the basin.
Our second day, we set off for the Grand Prismatic, which is truly mind-blowing. The colors are formed by heat-loving algae and bacteria who thrive in the warm thermal waters and let their colors shine.
We parked at the Fairy Falls trailhead and hiked first to the Grand Prismatic overlook which, although crowded, did not disappoint.
We took turns taking pictures of strangers and asking them to return the favor. Although there was a lot of steam still hovering over the geyser that morning, we were able to see all of its colors.
We were among the few and brave who continued on the five-mile hike to Fairy Falls, rather than just turning around and returning to the parking lot. Although the falls were a little underwhelming and the hike will mostly be memorable for the multitude of mosquitos on the trail, I am glad that our kids – who the pandemic had made into jello – can now hike a fairly long distance with few complaints and just the usual candy bribes.
We got back in the car and went up the road a short distance to get a closer look at the Grand Prismatic. With energy running low, we did this pretty quickly – hanging around just long enough to snap a few pictures before heading back to camp.
Our last morning in the park, I took the kids to Upper and Lower Yellowstone Falls by way of Hayden Valley. The falls and their surrounding area have a totally different feel than the rest of the park and we popped in and out of the car, taking short hikes to different overlooks to get a feel for the area.
The best moment of the day was when we arrived in Hayden Valley. I said something to the kids like “keep a lookout now because if we’re lucky we’ll see some wildlife.” And, about two seconds later, we noticed a small group of bison crossing the river in the distance. We pulled over and got out of the car to watch them.
After finishing their crossing, they began walking towards us. They came closer and closer and I realized they were going to come right up to us. So, I threw the kids back in the car as a precaution and sure enough, they split into two groups with half passing right in front of the car and half passing behind to cross the street and continue up the hillside. The kids could not deny how cool it was to be that close to a buffalo.
Inspired by their close encounter, we stopped again just a little further down the road to watch a huge herd as it slowly grazed along a ridge. There are a lot of babies this time of year and it was fun to watch them nuzzling mom and frolicking with one another.
To me, there is something about this scene that is the perfect snapshot of the American west.
Our wildlife viewing bonus round came as we were returning to camp and saw a group of mom and baby elks crossing the road.
Because temperatures were cool in the evening, we were able to make a campfire and enjoy hanging around. Norah introduced charades to Ben who loves to act out scenes with great gusto – although none of us can figure out who he’s pretending to be. We realized that a good strategy was just to say “Baby Yoda” or “Boba Fett” as odds were good that was right.
Part of Yellowstone’s Grand Loop Road was closed for construction this year, so we only explored the lower half of the grand figure eight road. I think that was just fine: the park is enormous and expansive and we had no trouble filling our days just with the highlights in a small portion of the park.
I learned from fellow campers that they often split their time, moving between two or three different campsites in the park to make the most of the different areas. If we were to return here again, we would likely do just that.
We said farewell to Yellowstone and started our last week of traveling. We have just two more significant stops, in South Dakota, as we cross the plains and set our sights on home.
