Bison and Elks and Bears! Oh My!

As we packed up our Montana campsite, our host told us of a spectacular drive through the mountains to Yellowstone National Park, our next destination.  He spoke of Red Lodge and winding roads up the Rockies for views unlike any other that would take us to the Northeast Entrance of the park.  He did warn us to drive carefully because of the high number of deaths on that road each year. 

With our adventurous ways tamed just a bit after our last excursion, we followed Betty’s advice and took the safe, boring highway to the North entrance instead.  The ride to the park may have been average but all that changed once we crossed through the gates of the world’s first National Park.

I was not prepared for the scope of Yellowstone.  I read a lot about the park and the many different geological areas, each offering different experiences but as we climbed through the mountains, I was in awe of the beauty of the changing landscape.  The first area we drove through was Mammoth Hot Springs.  Large white stone, which looked like ice caps on a mountain top, were covered with colorful hot springs, pools and waterfalls.  There is nothing else like this in the park, so if you have the time, it’s worth a stop and look around.  We continued our scenic drive to Canyon Campground for a two day stay.

Canyon Campground was one of the larger campsites Yellowstone had to offer.  We found our spot and settled in.  The boys were ready to set up the tent to sleep outdoors that night until Dennis noticed the bear claw markings on all the trees around us.  It was probably nothing and the Ranger assured us bears don’t frequent that area anymore but…  The kids slept in the camper that night.  I mentioned how I began to relinquish my fashion standards a bit in the last blog.  In Yellowstone, however, I took it to an all time low. 

I did something that I never thought I would do in my entire life.  Dennis and I are both early risers and in an effort to not wake the kids we decided to go for an early morning walk to get the paper and a coffee.  I went for this mile walk in my pajamas!  Granted, they looked similar to sweatpants but never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would be in public in PJ’s!  Strange thing is that no one noticed or cared.  More importantly, I wasn’t the only one.

Being uber relaxed, we plotted our day.  A friend of ours had loaned us a book on all the day hikes in Yellowstone.  I found one hike that seemed right up our ally and was only 2 miles from Canyon.  After breakfast, we geared up and head out for an easy, 2-4 mile hike or so we thought. 

The very first leg of the hike took us from Uncle Tom’s parking area through a trail to Artisians’ Point.  This was a fairly popular walk that brought you into the beginning of the “Grand Canyon of Yellowstone”, where you could see the Upper Falls waterfall and all the tourist on the other side of the canyon.  Once you reached the parking lot at Artisians Point, most folks turned back but thanks to our trusty hike book, we went to the back parking lot and continued our hike.  And oh what a hike it was!

I would not classify the next part of this trail as easy.  We hiked up and up and up and up alongside a cliff, continuing further along the canyon.  The higher we climbed, the more amazing the views.  We saw Bald Eagles swooping over the rocks, canyon walls that look like watercolors dropped from the sky.  Sure we were hot and tired but loving every minute of it, most of us at least.  After hiking to a top elevation of 8100 feet, we saw the trail split back to Clear Lake and Lily Pad Lake where we continued our adventure.    At this point, the boys regretted all the hiking gear we took.  Dennis took on all the gear no one wanted to carry.  Now, the jokes about how it is the jack ass that carries all the gear through the canyon are so obvious I couldn’t resist but I seriously have to say thanks to Den.  

We came across Lily Pad Lake where the name was well suited.  With my love of frogs, I moved quickly through this area, the boys on toad alert the whole way.  I made it through without a sighting!  At least 3 miles into the walk so far and no end in sight, we made it to Clear Lake, again properly named. 

We were all so tempted to jump right in and cool off but the idea of walking back in wet shorts wasn’t so appealing.

We all reveled in how our hike brought us up a cliff and then down into the woods that opened into these inviting lakes but imagine our surprise when we rounded the corner to find yet another, completely different landscape.  The next 1/8 mile was several boiling pools of mud.  My skin could have used that treatment, I tell you!  Some were a roaring boil, others were spurts that jumped 3 feet in the air.  It was unlike anything I’ve ever seen.  We would have admired them longer but the smell of sulfur was almost unbearable!  Just like the first time Cam saw the hundreds of bugs that met their fate on the front of our RV, his gag reflex kicked in and we hustled out of there very quickly!

We couldn’t believe we saw three unique geological areas on our single but tiring hike, and then we rounded the next corner to see our final change in landscape – a large open meadow with rolling grass and shady trees.  Pinch me!  I can’t believe this is real. 

As Luke’s hat almost blew off his head again, we all offered to carry it for him because it is now a sacred symbol of our adventures.  As Dennis turned from joking with Luke he stopped dead in his tracks.  An entire herd of Elk were grazing in the field below.  Back in South Dakota, Luke learned the hard way not to yell “Look!  It’s an animal!” when spotting wildlife and we all stood still and watched these beautiful creatures surrounded by nature.  We could see a few Buffalo way off in the distance, thankfully posing absolutely no threat to us. 

After 3 hours and 6+ miles, we spotted our last show stopping site – the parking lot where we started.  We could see the finish line.  I was a little disappointed I didn’t see any bear, from a far of course, but our time in Yellowstone wasn’t done yet.

To see our entire photo album, visit Snapfish.