#45: Yellowstone National Park
I was a little stressed out about Yellowstone. I get anxious about the parks that are large, popular, and iconic. Yellowstone is all the things. Plus, battling crowds, driving around for parking spots, and waiting in lines are all hurdles that take away from what the actual park provides to its visitors.
Maybe it's because I had the worst in mind, but fortunately, I had an enjoyable experience at Yellowstone. When I visited as a child, I only remember Old Faithful and the paint pots. However, there is so much more to this park than those few memories that stick in my mind. Although we didn't hike, we saw a lot and were thoroughly pleased with our several days there.
To introduce you to the park, here are a few fun facts about Yellowstone:
Yellowstone the first national park in the world, established in 1872.
Yellowstone is larger than Delaware and Rhode Island - combined.
Yellowstone Lake is the largest high-alpine lake in North America, sitting at 7,733 feet above sea level.
Yellowstone is home to the largest, free-roaming herd of bison in the world.
After two decades of extinction, gray wolves were restored to Yellowstone in 1995.
In the past, Old Faithful erupted about every 60 minutes. However, due to earthquake damage over the years, it now erupts about every 88 minutes.
I was surprised that upon exiting Grand Teton National Park, I practically rolled right into Yellowstone National Park. My first mission was to find a place to camp. Since I came up from the south, I tried a few places along that route. These campgrounds were far out of the way, but I still stopped to check them out. Not surprisingly, nothing was available.
Eventually, I got up to Grant Visitor Center and checked out the campground there. Also, booked. At this point, my best bet was to camp outside one of the park entrances - either the entrance at West Yellowstone or the entrance in Gardiner, Montana, to the north. I spoke to a few people at some of the booked campgrounds, learning that West Yellowstone had limited options. Decision made: I'd take the rest of the day to drive up to the north end and find a place in Gardiner, Montana, to spend the night.
We made our way to Old Faithful - the can't-miss at Yellowstone. It was busy but manageable. The next eruption of Old Faithful was in about an hour, so leaving Addie in the Airstream while parked, I walked around Upper Geyser Basin. I was amazed by what I say - all the colors, the geothermal activity - it was just so fascinating. ***NERD ALERT***
I underestimated the time it took to walk around, and by the time Old Faithful erupted, I was pretty far away. Seeing it from a distance was still pretty impressive, though.
For the next eruption, I got a little closer.
We made our way out of the park to the north to find a place to camp. Gardiner is the town at the north entrance, which also hosts the iconic Roosevelt Arch, constructed in 1903. With Yellowstone as the first national park, and this entrance being the primary one, people wanted something grandiose to mark it. President Theodore Roosevelt dedicated it, and it’s now a national historic landmark.
Gardiner sits at the junction of the Gardner and Yellowstone Rivers. Thanks to Campendium, we found a pretty stellar spot for the night. It was a pull-off from a forest road, but the views were top-notch.
The next day Addie and I drove back into Yellowstone. Our first order of business was to swing by Mammoth Campground, right inside the park boundaries, to see if we could get lucky with a site (this was a first-come, first-serve campground). We arrived at 9 am, and there was a line of RVs waiting to slide into spots as parties unoccupied them. It wasn’t looking great for us, so we canned that idea and carried on.
I took Addie for a walk around the Mammoth Hot Springs area. We spotted some elk, just hanging out around the buildings.
In general, the scenery was gorgeous. We relaxed and people-watched, without putting much pressure on ourselves to do much.
I headed back to Gardiner later on in the day. I was craving an afternoon beer on an outdoor patio. The first place we tried wasn’t dog-friendly, which I found odd as most of these towns welcome dogs in their outdoor spaces. We landed at The Corral, a place known for its burgers. I opted for a salad and a Huckleberry beer.
Since we enjoyed our stay at the previous night's campsite (and didn't have my other options), we decided to go back there for another night. This time, there were a few more campers, but still room for us.
There was much more in the park to explore the following day. We headed east, toward Tower-Roosevelt. I didn't know what we would find, but I was happy with what we encountered. Exhibit A:
It was going to be impossible to beat seeing bison on the road, but we came close. Did you know that there is a “Grand Canyon” of The Yellowstone? There is.
Traveling south, we made our way to more incredible hot springs, mud pots, and fumaroles. I stopped where I wanted to stop and didn’t stop where I didn’t want to stop - one of the joys of traveling solo.
The problem with not stopping in some places is that I completely neglected to visit the Grand Prismatic Spring. This is the largest hot spring at Yellowstone, and I missed it! Whoops. Big whoops. I saw other cool ones, though. But still….HUGE whoops.
After pulling off at multiple locations for sights along the main road and passing through Canyon Village, we found our way to Yellowstone Lake. I didn’t even know there was a lake at Yellowstone. We stopped to pick up some cheese and crackers and enjoyed a little lakeside picnic.
After a quick stop at the gift shop, we were on our way. It was time for us to head down to Salt Lake City…it was Saturday, and we had an appointment at Airstream of Utah on Tuesday. The bumper needed its replacement, and more importantly, I had to get this water heater/furnace diagnosed and fixed (again). I was keeping my fingers crossed that they would be able to figure out a solution. At this point, the Truma was haunting my dreams.
I felt sad to leave such a beautiful place but excited to get the Airstream fixed, hopefully for the last time.