10 May

It’s going to be a beautiful day, cold, but no point complaining, we’re bundled up in the cab with blankets wearing everything warm that we own. Tim started Bruce early to warm the engine which takes a good 25 mins before the heater starts working. After stopping by the park sign for a photo, we’re through the West entrance at an impressive time of 7:30! The sky is a happy blue, I’m taking it as a promise of heat to come.

We’re all alone, no other cars, its really nice. There is a mist is dancing over the water as we drive along side the pretty Madison River, leaves me wondering for a moment if the river is warm, a natural hot tub would be lovely right now.

• 

• 

We learn from the information brochure given to us at the gate, that Yellowstone was the 1st of all National Parks, designated in March of 1872 by President Grant, and that somewhere around 4 million people come to visit these geologic, geothermic wonders. The greater Yellowstone ecosystem is as complex as it is diverse, and with growing numbers of daily visitors, park management is under great pressure to carefully balance the nature hungry tourist against the fragile environment.

We read the park spans nearly 9,000 sq/km comprising of lakes, canyons, rivers, forests and mountains. Yellowstone Lake is one of the largest, high-elevation lakes in North America, which is centred over Yellowstone Caldera, which lies in the middle of the largest super volcano on the continent! And that within the park, hundreds of species of birds, fish, mammals & reptiles can be found, i’m hoping to catch a glimpse of a hunting wolf pack or lonesome moose.

As we make our way towards Old Faithful, we pass by large, open meadows with grazing bison. Steam raising from their backs, and beyond them steam is also raising from the ground. If I was a bison, i’d be hanging out near one of those natural heat vents to keep warm.

• 

Old Faithful was discovered in 1870 & named for its frequent and somewhat predictable behaviour. Scientist estimate up to 32,000 litres of boiling water is released, up to 180 feet into the air every 60-110 minutes! And has been consistently for the past 50 + years & probably longer. Coming to the park in early season & during the pandemic has its advantages. There are very few visitors, which means easy parking, no line ups & we have our choice of seat at the viewing point. So we sit and wait, because Old Faithful is a naturally occurring event, there is no set time for her to let off steam. While erupting, it sounds just like an over filled kettle that has no whistle. We left Bruce parked and spent a few hours in this region, we treated ourselves to watching 3 eruptions…because we could!

• 

• 

• 

While waiting for Old Faithful to gather her energy, we took walk to check out some of the other geysers. A network of raised boardwalks have been built to preserve the surroundings. Each one so unique & pretty, (the geysers, not the boardwalks). Charley put herself in charge of reading out their fun names, like Turquoise Pool, Opal Pool, Flood Geyser, Spray Geyser, and Imperial Geyser. Each with individual characteristics & behaviours. Watching the water boil & bubble up from holes in the ground is mesmerizing & a reminder of the power lurking not too far beneath our feet!

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

So the sun did shine, but a sharp wind kept us wrapped up, while Jaxon claimed he was comfortable in a t-shirt!! As Old Faithful did her thing for our third time, the kids tummies started to rumble. Back to the truck hot chocolate & lunch and afternoon strategy. The downside of coming at this time of year is that much of the park was still closed, including the Lamar and Wapiti Valleys, dashing my hopes of seeing any wolves.

Yellowstone is a big park with too much to see in one day, so around 5 o’clock we make our way out via the North East gate. Passing through old Fort Yellowstone, a former army base thats now home to the parks management & administration offices. With a history of its own & nicely preserved, all we can do is enjoy the sight as we drove through. The public tours & museum are again closed due to…..Covid.

Crossing the river we enter into Montana, and the quaint,135 year old, western town of Gardiner. A town with an authentic, rough around the edges, yet welcoming atmosphere. Many of the park employees live here, but is a town with its own identity. Tourism is the main economic driver, the residents have carved out a living from park visitors, thrill seeking river rafters and those coming to steam themselves in the Mammoth hot spring river.

An old miners home on main street has been turned into burger joint, serving both locals and tourists. Unable to resist, we order up a beef, a bison and elk burger. Oh yeah, it was good and worth the $45 paid. Checking Ioverlander for a place to camp for the night, we climb a steep road high above and back from the town to a dirt pull out on the side of the road. Looked good enough for us, another car pulled up soon after, a man passing through also looking for a safe camp for the night. Tim chatted with him for an hour while I put the kiddos to bed with hot water bottles, it was going to be a chilly night.

May 11

No surprise that we’re up early. Tim makes his coffee & is out the door. I make a hot oatmeal or porridge breakfast to warm our bellies, this time being careful to sprinkle on cinnamon and not cumin! Kids are sleepy and slow moving. Jaxon is always the last to get out of bed, today is no different, the smell of a hot breakfast does it. Back down the hill, through town, across the river and through the park gates. Although we’re retracing our steps, this direction still gives a new perspective. No welcoming blue sky today, instead, heavy clouds are looming and everything is grey.

Climbing back up through the park we stop for a quick look at some terraces, layered over time with mineral deposits. Stop for a photo at the ’45th Parallel’ sign & explain what that means to the kids, to which Charley replies “ok, so basically we’re at the quarter mark”. Cresting the next hill, suddenly everything is white! White with snow!! Winter is back!!!

• 

• 

• 

• 

We made our way over to see the Mud Pots. Passing by many grazing Bison, which is pretty much the only animal we have seen so far. Growing up in New Zealand I remember seeing thick grey mud bubbling in Rotorua’s geothermic region, its very similar here. Pulling into the Mud Pots parking lot other drivers are giving us strange looks, as though we just drove in from the twilight zone, front of the truck covered in snow. They must have come via the opposite direction, suddenly assessing their own ability to drive through snow.

What was once a hillside with tall trees, that now lie where they fell. Dead from the ground up, as vents in the ground opened up, turning the fertile soil to gooey mud, the trees fell over, some igniting & burning. We read about how this area of ordinary forest one day started to change, and how over the past 25 years massive mud pools & pots have changed the landscape. There is plenty of Bison tracks in the soft mud surrounding the outer edges, so they do come to keep warm.

• 

• 

Am not sure where the rest of the morning went, or maybe we’re just ready to drive, but before heading out, we’re wanting to see just one more geyser, the dramatic, Grand Prismatic. Said to be the most colourful spring in the entire park, but its snowing! Still we’ve come this far, no leaving without seeing it. With the worst footwear imaginable, we set off to make a quick loop of this ‘brilliant’ feature. Sleet is lashing at our faces and theres several inches of snow on boardwalk. Wouldn’t be so bad if the boardwalk was made of wood. But it’s not, its made of that plastic kind of wood, reducing traction factor to zero. The kids thought it was great fun, boot skating till Jaxon was soaked through from falling on his butt too many times. A mix of steam, fog or cloud rolls in and out, leaving us with no more than a glimpse of this beauty.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Driving out we pull over and watch a grizzly sow & her 2 cubs playing & eating. Watching them through the binoculars for a few minutes before a heard of bison moved in and stole the show with a prancing calf trying to keep dry. Exiting the park back over on the blue sky Idaho side, you’d never know that a winter storm was in full swing just 5km away.

We make another promise to return to this beautiful place and explore much more…..

• 

• 

• 

• 

May 13th

We’re crossing Idaho rather quickly, it appears Tim is eager to get back home. I don’t want to go home, I could quite happily just keep on keeping on….