Yellowstone National ParkJul 30, 2008
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A buffalo greeted us as we drove into our campground area.
Our campsite was pretty dismal except for the lone tree outside our...
Lower falls of Yellowstone River
| We spent 5 nights in Yellowstone and, with only an occasional exception, were without cell phone or internet connections. Now that is roughing it! We camped in the RV campground at Fishing Bridge, so had elec., water, and sewer hookups. With the exception of those services, the campground was pretty minimal and we were all pretty jammed together. (The picture makes it look better than it was.) The other campgrounds, without RV hookups, were much more spacious. In spite of our "hardships" Yellowstone is a vast and beautiful park. We spent at least 8 hours each of the first 3 days driving, hiking, and learning about this very diverse park. (The fourth day we realized we couldn't keep up the frantic pace and slowed down to do things just in the Fishing Bridge area.) While the geysers are what draws people to Yellowstone we found that we were continually drawn to the natural beauty that seemed to be everywhere we looked. Yellowstone River is a gorgeous river. It is amazing how much water is in the river. Either they had a lot of snow last winter or the glaciers are melting. :< Yellowstone Lake is huge, in fact, it is the largest lake in the US above 7000' elevation. Yet, it is the geysers that attract the most attention. Old Faithful lived up to its name and went off exactly at its predicted time. They have a window of give or take 10 minutes but it was exactly on schedule. It feels very adventurous to camp in the caldera of a volcano. The wildlife did not disappoint. We saw many, many buffalo (or bison for those of you who prefer the more formal name), many up close and as personal as I want to get. They like to walk down the edge of the road (or the middle of the road) right next to your car. Actually, they can walk anywhere they want. Elk were very plentiful in the Mammoth Hot Springs area. We also saw mule deer, big horn sheep, and a pair of bald eagles. As we were leaving the park, we saw a wolf running along the Yellowstone River. WOW! We did not see any bears or moose. The evidence of the fire of 1988 is still all around. The Park does a great job of educating people about the benefits that have come to the Park since the fire. Many hills are littered with fallen trees, other areas the dead spikes of the trees stick above the young trees that are now growing. This is the result of natural reseeding and is a huge success story -- far better than scientist had hoped for. I found this very interesting because I had worked for 2 professors in college who, back in the '60s, were strong proponents for the theory of allowing a forest to burn itself out. this fire burned from June until the first snowfall put it out in Sept. We loved our time in Yellowstone! |
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