And now to Yellowstone

Today was our first day in Yellowstone and what a day it was. Geographically, Yellowstone and Grand Teton are side by side but so different. Grand Teton is beautiful and elegant. The part of Yellowstone that we saw today is beautiful, rugged and a little scary. Guess it’s all that 40 mile caldera, magmatic heat, eruptions, hot springs, fumaroles, mudpots, rugged mountains and canyons, and so forth. Each park is wonderful and unique, and we are thoroughly enjoying both. Tomorrow and the next few days we will check out some of the attractions on the east side and the north part.

We had been warned that there was extensive road construction approaching the south entrance of Yellowstone – we waited about a half hour before we were allowed to go through and then we had about 20 miles of rough dirt roads. Guess they are widening and improving the roads and they are hurrying to get the work done before bad weather hits. They were still working when we left the park about 6:00. There is also a whole section of the road closed, which makes it impossible to do the ‘Grand Loop’. It’s OK – there’s too much to cover in one trip anyway.

Today, we got a little peek at the West Thumb of Yellowstone Lake and then took the west side of the Loop, because we wanted to see Old Faithful. The park literature says there are 200 active geysers in the park – but Old Faithful is the most famous. It was right on schedule, but we were late – we arrived just as it finished erupting. So we waited for the next time, 90 minutes later. Found a nice place to sit, take photos, and add to Maddie’s growing circle of friends. There were lots of people there with dogs on leashes – she showed interest in them – but of course, it was the people she liked best. She and I were sitting on a bench at one of the geyser sites, as they don’t allow pets even on leash on the paths or boardwalks at any of these areas. This very handsome, distinguished silver haired man approached us and immediately began to speak to Maddie in French. She jumped up and greeted him in the most friendly way (as Maryln would say, kisses on his face) and they had some really special moments together. She really liked him, as he really liked her – I didn’t even know Maddie understood French!

We also visited other geysers, thermal pools, rivers, waterfalls, cascades, and other impressive sights. We crossed the Continental Divide three times – that doesn’t happen every day. There was a big fire in Yellowstone in the 1980’s and there are many damaged trees in the area we saw today. They are lodge pole pines, which accounts for more than half of the trees in the park – that are dead and standing, or dead and fallen. The brochure says the 1988 fire didn’t affect the area further east. In Yellowstone, as in Grand Teton, the aspen trees are beginning to turn yellow – so pretty.

Pretty tired after today’s outing…Maddie is crashed already and I think Dad and I aren’t too far behind her. More to see tomorrow…

Sep 16, 2009

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