Day 6: Geysers and Mountains and Grizzlies- oh my!
If there is one thing that I would recommend to people who are visiting National Parks, that would be- start your day early. Even waking up early, it still took us another hour or more to drive through part of Grand Teton, enter through the south entrance of Yellowstone National Park and reach the geysers. By this time, it was nearly noon as we began walking around the Old Faithful parking area. Because it was a little later, the parking lot was already packed with cars, campers and tour buses.
“The Old Lodge”
Although it may sound like an oxymoron, Old Faithful can be described as a predictable natural occurrence. In fact, the geyser is so predictable, that the park rangers are able to narrow down when the geyser will blow to a ten minute window. As we arrived around noon, the next predicted eruption/blow time for Old Faithful was approximately 1:02pm, so we had some time to kill. We quickly wandered through the visitor center and gift shop area and we briefly checked out the old lodge that sits just down a path from the geyser. What I did not initially realize about this area though, was that there are many other geysers and hot springs located just a few hundred feet away from the famous geyser. The park has conveniently built a boardwalk that weaves around and takes you very closely by these other natural formations. Each was striking and unique with its vivid colors and bubbling water and its stark contrast to the pale ground surrounding it. Swerving in between the geysers and pools, were many hoof prints (and other evidence) that bison often times walk right through this area as the travel to other parts of Yellowstone.
As the time pushed closer to 1:02pm, the benches encircling (from a distance) the large geyser began filling up and the people on the boardwalk began gathering around. Almost to the minute, all of a sudden the geyser erupted with a powerful blow of steaming white water. A hundred plus feet into the air the water was launched. As the geyser continued to erupt, the wind picked up and swept the water away as it flew into the air, but just as quickly as it began, the geyser slowly sizzled down and soon it was back to normal.
Old Faithful - you can see people on the boardwalk for comparison
After leaving this area, we continued north in the park and visited other geysers, which also have boardwalks which allows visitors to walk within just feet of these natural pools. Along with seeing multiple geysers (which I was shocked to learn just how many there are in Yellowstone), Mom and I drove through mountains, forests and grasslands, while admiring the immense beauty and size of America’s first national park. While we did not partake in any hiking, we continuously scanned the land for any sign of wildlife- which Yellowstone is fairly famous for; even at the visitors center, people kept telling Mom and I about the wolves and bears and elk that are constantly roaming this park. Because I have so often heard about the wildlife in this region, it did come as a surprise and slight disappointment that we saw hardly any wildlife. After spending around six or so hours in the park, we only saw a few buffalo and a couple deer; I think my expectations of seeing a ton of wildlife was not actually that realistic.
Did You Know? Yellowstone National Park covers 3471 sq. miles of wilderness.
As the afternoon sun began sinking below the mountains, we knew it was time for us to return to Jackson Hole for some dinner and some much needed sleep. After driving our way through this expansive park, we finally left Yellowstone and entered Grand Teton National Park and, funny enough, within minutes of entering this park, we began seeing more wildlife than I could photograph. There were large herds of bison in the fields and numerous elk grazing within a few yards of the road. With this increase in wildlife that also meant that there was, naturally, an increase in people getting out of their cars to try and get a photograph of the animals, or in some cases, to get a picture with the animals. *People in Parks Without their Smarts, Episode 2.*
A few more miles down the road, we noticed that the traffic was getting slower and slower and there were a dozen cars pulled off the side of the road, which only means one thing- wildlife was spotted. Interestingly enough, on our way into the park earlier that day, it was at this exact same spot that we saw a park ranger and a few people standing on the side of the road with massive cameras. When we passed this area the first time, I was curious what the people were looking at, but I knew there was a chance that it could have just been a white-tailed deer, so we continued driving. However, with another park ranger and even more photographers standing on the side of the road now, my curiosity won me over and we pulled over so I could jump out of the car.
I made my way over to where the others were standing, with their massive camera lenses and me with my little, baby camera. Everyone was fixated on a spot that was dozens of yards in the distance, and that had high, yellow grass. Straining my eyes to see what was keeping the attention of all of these people, my question was quickly answered when I saw a large chunk of brown fur pop up from the grass. There was a female grizzly out in the field and when she was on all fours, she was nearly the exact same height as the grass, which allowed her to move about without being well-noticed, which coincidentally I kept reminding myself was not a good thing for me. I quickly snapped some pictures and began messing with the settings on my camera when the crowd of people all gasped and shoved their eyes into their cameras to adjust their zoom. I quickly looked up and saw that the grizzly was now standing on her hind legs and two fuzzy cubs had now made an appearance in the grasses as well. I stood there for a few more minutes, not wanting to take my eyes off of the adorable bears. When the large grizzly decided to disappear back into the grass, I decided that it was time for me to disappear back into the safety of the car.
We soon enough returned to Jackson Hole and got some great pizza at some little eclectic place that was once on Diner, Drive-Ins and Dives. For the life of me I can’t remember the name, but take my word for it, that it was very delicious.