More on Yellowstone

Trip Start Jun 27, 2008

Trip End Sep 2008

Loading Map

Map your own trip!

Map Options

Show trip route

Hide lines

Flag of United States Cody, Wyoming
Thursday, July 24, 2008

We spent 7 days in Yellowstone and have a lot of impressions and feel that we did a good job of seeing the sights. In my previous blog, I said the animals were most impressive to me. That's a little curious since the thermal features are more unique. After all, it is in the caldera of a super volcano that is accumulating magma for another gigantic eruption. AND it is 40,000 years overdue. So that should be exciting. Thing is--I hate to admit it--it is more exciting on TV when you get all the explanations and special affects. After a while, in Yellowstone, one boiling mud pot or steaming sulfur spring or geyser looks like the last one. You have to keep reminding yourself that you are standing in a volcano. But the animals are not better on TV. We were hiking in the Northeast corner to find the largest petrified forest in the US. We never did. Don't ask me how we could miss it. What we did see is 8 prong horn deer. This is a rare sight and we feel privileged to have seen them

Geyser in Lake

. We saw pelicans flying over our lake. And did I tell you about our view? The view from our tent and tent cabin were spectacular. We had no view from our Yellowstone cabin. But to make up for it, the Lodge had a huge porch with rocking chairs. Everyone gathered there all times of day and rocked and looked out on the view. If my photographer can get the pictures on, you will see the view where we spent time every evening.
     I have to tell you about the food because I am a little bit of a food snob. No more. We ate in the cafeteria every day, morning & night. I ate turkey with mashed potatoes & gravy with dressing and green beans right out of a can. I ate pot roast and over-cooked spiral spaghetti with marinara sauce. I loved it all. It's just amazing how hungry you get at 7,000 to 8,000 feet.
     Sleepy too. One night I slept 10 hours. I don't remember doing that even when I was a teenager. We did some hiking and walking up is pretty hard in that altitude even after two weeks. We always chose to walk up because walking down, as in around lakes, etc, one could get devoured by mosquitoes.
     The other really impressive thing about Yellowstone besides the animals for me was that each of the 5 or 6 distinct areas have quite different features, weather, and interesting aspects. There was our lake area

Natural Bridge

. There was a 'grand' canyon with a great hike and two beautiful falls. There was the arid northern part with the invisible petrified forest and those 8 prong horn deer. And of course there are the thermal features. There are plains with herds of bison, flocks of birds, and elk. And all through it, there are rivers that run cold and clear and are very beautiful themselves. Some are wide. Some are narrow with rapids.  Some have geysers in them.
     The other thing I noticed is that the staff are working on Yellowstone time. Most are not year round staff. They are retired people or teachers or mostly students who do other things 10 & 1/2 months a year. They do not work fast. There can be 5 or 6 tables of dishes in the cafeteria and they are taking their time clearing them. This is OK. You are required to slow down in Yellowstone so they can be slow also. Your maximum driving speed anywhere in the park is 45 miles an hour. You rarely get to go that fast because people are making sudden stops in front of you if they think they see an animal or if they see another car stopped that might have seen an animal. This is also OK because you are doing the same thing.
    Hope everyone gets a chance to come to Yellowstone. You may want to hurry as I said the eruption is 40,000 years overdue and that will change things.

Cody hotels Slideshow