8/22 - 23 - Yellowstone, the Great!!!!! FINALLY!!!

Old Faithful = show-off.











Sadly, Adam stands against a backdrop of dead trees due to fires and a pine beetle pandemic.







We have arrived, folks! All other National Parks bow down - Yellowstone is King! Yellowstone was America's first National Park, and it sure is a doozy.

By the time we got to our campsite, which we had reserved on Grant Village, near Yellowstone Lake and the first town through the South Entrance, it was almost 4pm. We set up camp quickly and made a very late lunch of French toast. Bears in the Rockies, we learned while we were there, are not a real threat. Bears at Yellowstone, however, are a serious matter apparently. When we finished lunch we had to clean up immaculately and store everything edible and odorous in a bear locker provided near each campsite. A small detail that Yellowstone does share with the Rockies was the presence of loud, clicking grasshoppers.

Due to the sheer size of the park and the diversity of its many features we opted to stay two nights at Yellowstone. We figured we'd camp one night in Grant Village and then see where we wanted to camp for our second night, since there seemed to be plenty of availability for tent camping.

After lunch was cleaned up we both went to the state-of-the-art shower facilities to clean ourselves. Ahhh, refreshing. We then went into town to do some grocery shopping and while we were there it started to RAIN. AGAIN!! We just decided to share a burger and fries at the little restaurant there since we couldn't cook now.

Our campsite was dark and rainy when we got back and we began deliberations over sleeping in the tent or the car because it was shaping up to be colder than the Rockies. What the heck? We kept getting robbed by the weather. Anyway, we slept in the tent. Big mistake. We both had on several layers, two pairs of socks, and hooded sweatshirts tied over our heads, and we still couldn't mange to generate enough heat between us. By morning, our tent was so cold, we thought we were lying in a puddle of water. The rain outside persisted all night; it sounded like a bunch of kids taking turns tossing handfuls of gravel at our tent...or so we thought. Neither of us wanted to go out in it but we were too frozen to go back to sleep. At 7:30am, Adam finally unzipped the tent to the shocking sight of SNOW just outside; on the ground; on our chairs; everywhere. No wonder we couldn't get warm. And the rain had actually stopped long ago; what we were hearing was the snow melting off the trees above us and landing on our tent. Yes, everyone, we got snowed on while camping. It may have only been an inch thick in some spots, but still...try sleeping on the ground in it. And the best part was that we got to clean it up. Yay to that!!! We were tired and cold and just wanted to get out of there. It took a couple extra hours to pack up.


An extra side of snow to go with your freezing cold, sir?

Adam being a naughty. He's standing on dangerous thermal crust at Fairy Falls. (below)


The next few hours were filled with chores, including washing our soaked towels and blankets at the laundromat. We met a woman there who regaled us with her tales of hiking and wildlife encounters. She and her husband and their daughter were hiking in the Tetons with a small group of fellow campers when they spotted an enormous Grizzly Bear not more than 75 ft. from them. They all panicked but, thankfully, one guy in the group was familiar with bear behavior and walked them through the experience. The Grizzly was following them on the trail so they were instructed to move off to let him pass. They all climbed up the side of the trail as the bear wandered by, only TEN FEET in front of them. Safe. In total, she saw nine bears, and was lucky enough to spy a moose as well. This excited us about the prospect of wildlife sightings ourselves.

We left there to eat, mail more postcards, and finally unload the burden of that darn Coleman stove - we mailed back to Trista's parents, who lent it to us. We did all this in the town of Old Faithful, where the world's most famous geyser resides. Of course we waited for it to go off. The suspense of waiting was as cool as the big pay off.

We also stopped to see, that day, the Kepler Cascades and the hot springs of Fairy Falls and the Midway Geyser Basin. Of all the parks' unique attractions, Adam seemed most excited about seeing the Midway Geyser Basin, home to Yellowstone's largest and most brilliantly colored hot spring: the Grand Prismatic Spring. When viewing it you are level with it and so much steam was escaping from its surface that you can't really see the rainbow of colors that it's made up of. Oh well, it was still neat. Also there, was the Excelsior Geyser Crater, which bubbled like Champagne and poured down into the Firehole River below.


The awesome Grand Prismatic Spring, a very popular attraction, steaming us over.

Because of the snowfall, even though the day had cleared beautifully, we weren't taking any chances our second night. Again, all of Yellowstone National Park was booked. We found an affordable room at the Pony Express Motel in the town of West Yellowstone in Montana, just outside the West Entrance to the park. Neither of us expected to visit Montana during our trip but West Yellowstone is an awesome little Western town with great entertainment, restaurants, and its very own live theatre playhouse. We visited the Wild West Pizzeria (hehe), voted the best pizza in town, and stuffed our faces. We called it an early night, put on "Revolutionary Road," and dozed off in sweet bliss.




Trista near the Firehole River.














Wild West Pizzeria in West Yellowstone, Montana.