Did you know that the McDonalds in Utah have Wi-fi? They do, which is a great and joyful suprise for us on this holiday Sunday, when everything else is closed. Happy Fourth! Unfortunately, they do not have electrical outlets, and as this computer's battery is running short, this will be a short entry, for a park that deserves a lot more.
Yellowstone was awesome! We spent the first three days at Madison campground, on the western half of the park. This half of the park was mostly devoted to geysers, hot springs, and mud volcanos. We saw lots of all of the above, which were mostly smelly, weird, and beautiful! Who knew that bacteria could grow into so many different colors and shapes, or that sulfur could smell so many different kinds of bad? In all honesty, they were all really cool and strange and wonderful. Old Faithful was exciting, couldn't imagine it in the height of tourist season, because it was jam packed as it was. We spent about 5 hours waiting for another geyser, the Great Fountain, to errupt. We were given a window of time in which the erruption was likely to occur. It was worth the wait, mostly because we were sitting on spacious benches in the sun, in a beautiful park, surrounded by mountains and a far-off smaller geyser that went off every half hour or so. We saw that one a grand total of 8 times. The Great Foutain finally did go off, and it lived up to it's reputation as better than Old Faithful. We were very close to it, and had to crane our necks to see the top of the water jets.
We spent a second three days in the park at a campground in Canyon Village, on the other half of the park. This half seemed more devoted to wildlife, which was plentiful everywhere! We got up early one morning (5:00AM is too early and cold!) to see animals when they are most active. Which held true for us. A herd of buffalo decided to cross the road when we were passing, and needless to say, our car was stopped for quite a while. I had a staring contest with a bison about 3 feet outside of my car door, until I got scared and looked away. Bison can be up to 2000 lbs, and can run at 30 miles an hour! Apparently their heads are so large because they are built to be a snow plow in the long winters. I think I'll stick to staring contests with squirrels in the future.
We got to see nature in its rawest form - a mother bear and her three cubs feeding on a bison or elk carcass in a stream. The bears were on one side of the stream, while two wolves waited on the other bank, wanting their turn at the buffet. A coyote came too, but the wolves chased the coyote away. We came back to the same sight later in the evening, and the same animals were still there. This time though, there were two coyotes and only one wolf, and the coyotes got their revenge. (Don't worry, we watched all this through binoculars and at a safe, ranger-approved distance.)
We left Yellowstone, and drove the whole hour and a half to Grand Teton National Park. Grand Teton is very similar to Yellowstone, without quite the same numbers of wildlife. I think Yellowstone spoiled us, so that the couple herds of elk and bison were not quite as impressive as they might otherwise have been. The mountains however, were breathtaking. The Grand Tetons look like postcards or movie backdrops. Hard to believe they were real, right in front of our eyes. The campground was not much to speak of, except, drumroll...... SHOWERS!! And better yet, they were free. Up till this point, Yellowstone was the only place that had showers, and they were $3.25 apiece! Needless to say we took great advantage of that.
Arches here we come!
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