The drive to Yellowstone went much along the lines of the drive to GNP, minus the trip odometer turning over. When we were about 15 miles out of the north entrance, we pulled over and grabbed some buffalo burgers. They were good, but if you hadn’t told me they were buffalo and not beef, I wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference. Well, I guess it was a little leaner, but still as greasy as ever though when you get it between two hamburger buns. I think the grease may have been blue colored as well, but it could’ve been the loss of recent sleep.
The first thing we saw was a couple of hot springs. They had a path set up so you could walk around and get “close” to them without stepping on the thermal area. Basically there was only a thin crust of land above the “thermal area” where the hot springs were bubbling beneath. A misstep could result in falling through th surface and awakening a new hot spring while you enjoyed the searing hot pleasure of being burned alive. Another thing they pointed out was the presence of sulfur in the springs but trust me, you’ll know it’s there by that lovely smell. Apparently though, there is a myriad of creatures that love the hot water and when mixed with the sulfur, (and water) they make sulfuric acid. So once again this all comes back to… STAY ON THE PATH.
The hot springs had a variety of colors in them. We saw, blue, yellow, green, red, orange and maybe even purple too.
The wildlife in Yellowstone was nothing short of impressive. While we drove around, we saw a bison rolling around on the ground trying to probably scratch that itch it just couldn’t reach. It seemed kind of funny for a little bit, and sometimes you may think about approaching it, but then you remember that this creature weighs as much as my car with all of us in it. We were hoping to see a wolf or coyote, but they do a good job of staying hidden (most canines and felines are smart like that). We also saw a lot more bison and a lot of elk.
Driving around was amazing. The park is the original national park and I believe it. In may the weather goes from around 60 degrees and nice outside to somewhere around freezing with just a 20 minute drive and no, that drive does not include a dive into the lake. We could see ice still formed just inches away from geysers which was a confusing sight. We also saw a couple of pines that looked like they could survive in the springs. After a long day of wandering around the park, we finished up at Old Faithful. Now, apparently he’s not as faithful as he used to be (stil within about 10 minutes of predicted time though). We were also told not to expect much since it was only well known for its punctuality, but it still shot up about 30 feet into the air which was pretty impressive.
We had planned on camping out in Yellowstone, but a less than inviting weather forecast had thwarted us once again, so we decided to drive into Cody, Wyoming and put up there for the night. While we drove, it got dark and began to snow. Fun stuff when you’re driving.
