Great American Road Trip Leg 2: Yellowstone National Park
We made the short drive from Grand Teton to Yellowstone on Thursday morning, July 20. It was the first time in the park for all of us! There were beautiful lodgepole pines lining the road on both sides.
We stopped at a little waterfall close to the south entrance.
Then we headed over to the Upper Geyser Basin to see Old Faithful. The parking lot was HUGE and it was shocking how packed it was. Even Zion has nothing like the crowds at Old Faithful. We didn't know where we were going or what to expect, so we ended up running over to the geyser, thinking it was about to go off, then sat around for awhile until it finally did. It rained a little while we ate our lunch on a little stone wall of one of the nearby lodges.
It was fun to be a little further back to see not only Old Faithful, but also everyone's reaction to Old Faithful.
After that, a few of us ran over and bought some Junior Ranger booklets (more about that later) and then we set out on the boardwalks to explore! We didn't really have high expectations for this area, but we absolutely loved it! There were definitely times when each child took their turn being a pouter or whiner, but by the end, everyone was in great spirits. Bryn was having an especially hard time, but in a moment of what must have been divine intervention, an osprey flew by and that instantly cheered her up.
There were little bubblers and gushers everywhere. Hundreds and hundreds. They sure stank, but it was an amazing place to explore.
We went a couple miles out to Morning Glory Pool, and it was worth the hike.
This is where Bryn got to fill in seeing an osprey in the Junior Ranger book.
We bought a great guidebook off Amazon and read about the names and histories of many of the geysers. They have great names, and everybody picked out their favorite. Leah really wanted to see one called Daisy Geyser, but it was off the beaten path. But she decided it was worth the extra walking so Nate took her over to see it and it made her life.
Animal tracks in the fragile ground.
The Fire Hole River runs right through the geyser basin.
Bryn wanted to know about a mammal she had seen by the water, so we flagged down a real live park ranger and asked him. We aren't 100% sure we figured it out, but the ranger was very nice. He was from American Fork, less than an hour from our house.
We stopped and took a peek at the amazing Old Faithful Inn, got ice cream at the lodge to raise everyone's flagging spirits, and got back in the car to see Grand Prismatic Pool.
Grand Prismatic Pool is a huge, colorful hot spring, but you couldn't see a lot because we were looking at it from the side and it was very steamy. Every time we walked through the steam Asa would shriek, thinking we were going to get boiled alive or something. Lots of people here too.
A cow moose.
We drove to Canyon Campground and claimed our spot, a nice wooded area with no one behind us. It took a while to get everything set up and dinner done. We had freeze-dried meals that night, followed by peach cobbler. The kids didn't love it, but they sure loved camping.
We had a leisurely morning the next day. Everybody got a shower, which was an adventure, and we had pancakes and sausage, which Leah thought was the best food ever. It was chilly at night and in the morning, but our sleeping bags did great, and we had lots of knit hats, coats, and blankets for the mornings.
We headed over to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River . . . and immediately ran into a traffic jam. Some of the lookout points were closed, so the others were extra slammed with tourists. Yellowstone lives up to its reputation of being extremely crowded in the summer. We spent a lot of time in a line of cars waiting for parking or in a line of people hopping on one foot, waiting for a turn at the pit toilets.
Bryn found the Yellow Stone!
The canyon was beautiful!
We took a hike to a place called Lilly-Pad Pond. Michelle's hands were sweaty the whole time we walked along the canyon rim.
But she loved the pond. It's just her kind of place.
We ate a picnic lunch at the pond and tried not to get eaten by mosquitoes.
And found some great mushrooms that needed to be documented.
Loved the oranges and yellows contrasting with the blue-green river. Nate was astounded at how big the Yellowstone River was, and how far it flowed (all the way to the Missouri River).
Then came the major snafu of the trip. We got back in the car, Nate turned the key, the van turned over and over, and it didn't start. We've had this problem occasionally before (and Michelle has since decided there's nothing wrong with the car, it's just Nate trying to start it wrong), but this was a terrible place for it - gas station eight miles away, cars driving around trying to find a place to park, us with a lot we wanted to see and losing daylight. We decided to get some starter fluid, so Michelle started a movie on the laptop and Nate started approaching total strangers and asking for a ride to the gas station. After a few attempts, a nice couple agreed and took him back to the station, and eventually, he found a ride back with a group of hippie twenty-somethings, sitting on the floor of their van while beer bottles rolled around. Nice folks, actually.
The car started fine after that and we headed back to the service station to get the car looked at. Along the way, we had a close-up view of a bison crossing the road. We've seen bison at Antelope Island, but the ones at Yellowstone were bigger and somehow wilder.
The mechanic at the gas station was too busy to see us, so we decided to chance it. We stopped at the enormous convenience store by the Canyon visitor center (it had a malt shop and food court - not at all like our previous national park experiences) and then decided that despite delays, we had enough time to head back toward the geyser basins to swim in the Fire Hole River. So we put on our swimsuits and went on our way.
It was easy to find the swimming hole (there are only two places you're allowed to swim at Yellowstone) from the dozens and dozens of cars there. We parked and then walked to the long wooden staircase that led down to the river. Before we knew it, Bryn and Addison were in the water splashing and having a good old time. They went deeper and deeper into the water.
Here I need to pause to remind readers that Bryn is not at all scared of water, even when she should be. One year at Grammie and Gramps's house (long before she could swim), she ended up in the pool TWICE and had to be fished out. So not the largest helping of common sense or lack of self-confidence.
Now back to the story. Before we knew it, she was over her head and being carried downstream. Someone made to help her, but it seemed like she was OK. She could touch again. But there's a little natural rock dam that makes the pool deeper upstream, and the current carried her over that and into the river proper, with lots of rocks at the bottom and a pretty strong current. It was wide and shallow, so if she was strong enough she could have stood up and been alright, but as it was she was being swept further and further downriver!
Nate chased after her and after a couple terrifying minutes caught her. She was really shaken up because she remembered that there was a waterfall (several miles) downstream and was terrified she was going to go over it. Nate sat there for a long time holding her and trying to figure out how to get back to shore with her. He could stand up and walk over the rocks, but he was worried he would drop her. Finally he ended up scooting slowly across to the shore and then they hiked back to the rest of the family.
So that put a bit of damper on our experience at the Fire Hole River, plus the water was pretty cold, so we didn't stay a whole lot longer. Nate and Addison went upriver a little ways to a spot where the walls around the river narrow up and there's a little gorge. After getting stuck in a pretty fierce undercurrent a couple times (also very scary), they managed to float down through the gorge. Success!
Lived to tell the tale. This picture makes it look like the river took her swimsuit, but she's actually wearing one.
Asa drifted off on the way back to camp.
That night we cooked hot dogs, boiled corn on the cob on the camp stove, and roasted marshmallows. Delish!
Bryn liked this sign in the bathroom. A good reminder to not get too close, which we would need the next day.
Good morning, sunshines!
This gray jay liked to hang around the campsite.
Saturday morning, we packed up our stuff and got ready to head to Montana. But first Addison really wanted to go see the Mud Volcano, halfway between the canyon and Yellowstone Lake. To earn their junior ranger badges, the kids had to attend a ranger-led activity, and there was a ranger walk that morning at the Mud Volcano, so down we went.
Nate hung out with Asa while the rest took the tour, and they learned all sorts of cool stuff about the supervolcano at Yellowstone and the mating habits of bison.
This was called the Dragon's Lair.
Right when we got back to the car, along came two gigantic bison, and they moseyed right by the car. We could hear them growling and everything. Wow!
We drove through the Lamar Valley, famous for wildlife, and saw pronghorn and bison in the distance. We even saw specks way out there that some people told us were wolves. That means that technically, all the kids got to see the animal they wanted to: Addison saw a moose, Bryn saw a wolf, Leah saw a bunny, and Asa saw a spider.
We stopped along the river and had a picnic lunch. It was nice that despite the crowds, we could still find a solitary spot. As I recall, Bryn was in a major bad mood about something, but it was nothing a little time in the outdoors couldn't cure.
Off to Montana! This was Nate practically all the time. It's a wonder we survived.
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