We pulled into Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming on August 18 and loved our time there. It was absolutely beautiful, full of wildlife and numerous geysers – including Old Faithful, of course.
The number of bison we saw was surprising and many passed very close to us. There are many warnings throughout the park to stay away from wildlife. As the Cody Nite rodeo announcer said to audience members who were en route to Yellowstone: "Do not pet the fluffy cows. Those bison are lean, mean, tourist-killing machines!" Visitors are supposed to stay 100 yards from bears and wolves, and 25 yards from all other wildlife including bison. Female bison can weigh 1,000 pounds and males can weigh twice that. In addition, they can run 35mph, jump fences and swim extremely well.
There are also many elk in Yellowstone National Park and we were privileged to see a couple up close as we were driving. A cow and a young calf crossed in front of us, but we were unable to get any pictures of them. The buck hung around, almost posing for us as we hung out the window snapping pictures.
The scenery was lovely throughout the entire park, but a family favorite location was a beach we came across at Yellowstone Lake on the scenic drive. We enjoyed a delightful lunch break and played in the waves.
One of the other locations we particularly enjoyed was the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and the waterfall we hiked to. According to the sign: "The canyon varies from 800 to 1200 feet in depth and from 1500 to 4000 feet in width. It's length is about 24 miles. The upper 2 1/2 miles is the most colorful section. Hot springs activity has continued through the ages altering the lava rock to produce lovely colors which are largely due to varied iron compounds."
One aspect of Yellowstone that has been absolutely fascinating is the mud cauldrons and geysers. Most of them smelled like sulpher and were shooting out large amounts of steam.
On our last day in Yellowstone, we visited Old Faithful. We had almost front-row seats to the spectacular burst of water and steam.
Last, but not least, our final major destination in Yellowstone was the Grand Prismatic Spring, which we viewed from both from the boardwalk nearby and from an overlook that required a steep hike. The Grand Prismatic Spring is known for it's lovely colors that are caused by sunlight reflecting off of thermophiles (heat-loving bacteria) and off the steam that rises from the spring.
Off to the Grand Tetons!
Until next time, God bless!
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