Thermal Exploring.

America’s first national park was created in 1872 by Ulysses S. Grant and is easily one of the most crowded parks I’ve visited, which by the way is not to say that it’s not 100% worth visiting. I skipped the park during Labor Day Weekend for just that reason and looking back, I wonder if it would have mattered. The best time to see Yellowstone, I can tell you from experience, is a weekday between the hours of 5am and 11am. I learned to fly fish while at Yellowstone from my new friend, James, or as I like to call him “Texas” - said in a strong southern accent of course. It’s hard, technical and a lot of fun and I proudly bragged to Thatcher how much of a skilled fisherman I had become at a sport that even people years in are still getting the hang of. I myself had begun bragging at about the three hour mark; clearly I’m a pro. Hopefully I can use my skills again soon and actually catch something next time. Since I left the park, I’ve taken a break to visit a friend in Colorado and in doing so got to drive through Wyoming and its small western towns, hay barrel fields, and gorgeous mountains; a drive I would happily do again. I also had my eight month road trip anniversary come and go almost without even realizing it. Crazy, right? I’ve made some serious progress and I am currently sitting in my tent pitched at a free campsite inside Badlands National Park, a spectacular place that I have yet to really explore and one of the few places in South Dakota worth a damn. More on that next time though, I’ve put off Yellowstone long enough.

After happily backtracking to Missoula, Montana, and getting to experience Germanfest there, I was ready to hit the road again Monday morning. I figured it was Labor Day and therefore a solid plan since most people would probably, hopefully, be using the end of their four day weekend to exit the park. I got there many hours later and luckily a little before sunset. Just in time, I rolled into the town north of the park, Gardiner, with limited camping options but a bar across the river that said “BEER” in big bold letters on the outside. Sold. I dropped by, pulled up a chair to the bar and got a local wheat beer. After a fun conversation with a girl around my age who worked at the stables in Yellowstone and a not so fun encounter with a drunk local who awkwardly asked me if I had been to Savannah, Georgia, as maybe a pickup line, I wasn’t sure, I was ready to go find a campsite. I knew of one so I headed that way and got there just as the sun was fully setting and grabbed one of the last sites. The campground in the national forest was only $7 and there wasn’t much dispersed camping to be found otherwise so I grabbed it and set up shop. I had leftovers ready to go so no cooking was necessary and I strolled over to two girls at their own picnic table just across the way sitting next to another couple. The pair of German girls studying abroad in LA and the couple from Utah and Argentina had also just met and were sharing a campsite. The five of us sat, making jokes, eating our separate dinners together, sharing teas and travel stories trying to combat the brisk air. A white SUV which had circled the campground an hour prior was again driving through the loop. Curious, I flagged them down to find out if they were indeed the same people. They were. I offered them half of my campsite since clearly they were shit out of luck and the sites there were so big you could fit a large RV and a tent in them with room to spare. They graciously accepted. Our group suddenly expanded and sitting around the fire, the nine of us, I remembered what I enjoy most about this trip. The by chance encounters with wonderful strangers. The four guys, a younger brother my age from Bethlehem, PA, his older brother and their two cousins, made a late dinner and told us all about their week long over packed national parks trip through the rockies. They sounded excited and looked exhausted; a ten hour drive will do that to you, I would know. One of the guys had a couple questions about traveling on the road for a long time and for the first time in a while, I wasn’t the only one who could answer and I was relieved. The question that intrigued me the most was one I hadn’t really thought about before. He asked if traveling the way I have been, so much all at once and by myself, has restored my faith in humanity. To be fair, I never lost it, but the answer is definitely yes. I can confidently say that I’ve met more people willing to help out, show me around, or those who just want to be a part of my story than I ever have before; all of whom I am grateful for. 

Waking up at 5am is the worst especially when you’re camping. The sun is not up yet and my first thought is always “why am I doing this again?!” I enjoy it because of the morning light which is my favorite to photograph, the sunrise, and the fewer crowds. Ah yes, that’s why I do it. The cold temperature though, no thank you. I got changed in the bathroom that morning, the only place with any kind of heat, and promptly put my gloves and beanie back on before exiting to pack up my tent. My fingers were so cold I couldn’t light my lighter to make tea; yikes. The park was eerie and amazing that early as I drove past Mammoth and over to Lamar Valley, the northeast section of the park known for its wildlife and change of scenery. It was by far my favorite part of the park and I highly recommend it first thing in the morning. I detoured for six miles along a dirt back road that would eventually connect me back to the park’s highway in search of a Bison on my way there. Thatcher had told me all I had to do was drive towards Lamar Valley and through it and I’d see them. I couldn’t wait. Rolling golden hills surrounded me and the sun beamed in through the hazy sky as I slowly came up and around turns, the only car in sight for the entirety of the detour. I pulled over at a hill I had a good feeling about and walked up and over the hump and stopped short. About a football field away from me was a massive Bison, just one, grazing and looking at me. I can see now why they are the national mammals of the Unites States, did you know we had one of those? I stood frozen and excited and whipped out my camera, glancing at where Bertha was just in case. I knew I was fine though, I wasn’t advancing towards him and he barely stopped eating let alone paid me any mind. It slowly made it’s way across the small dirt road and up and over another hill on the opposite side after a few minutes and I proceeded on, ecstatic and amazed by what I had just seen. Little did I know that my drive through the light flooded Lamar Valley over the next hour would provide me with amazing views of hundreds of Bison. Some in herds, some single and crossing a bridge right alongside cars, some butting heads right next to Bertha kicking up as much dust as possible, and some, I am excited to say, were calves. It’s insane how long traffic is held up by these amazing and humongous creatures, whether it’s from surprised onlookers trigger happy with their cameras or because they decide to walk in the middle of the road and not give a damn - or both.

This is still not the best part about Yellowstone in the morning. Fun fact, two thirds of the world’s geysers can be found in Yellowstone, about 500 are active per year, and spoiler alert; morning is the best time to see them. Driving through the park, the sun lighting up the horizon in beautiful pastel colors, everything looked as though it was on fire. Off in the thickly wooded distance, white, puffy smoke stacks shot up and continually faded into the morning sky clearly marking where to find each geyser. I came around a turn to a pullout to find a winding river completely devoured in thick smoke. I could barely tell a river was down there. I know for a fact the smoke is more present in the morning because I passed by this same spot at 4pm and it was just a river, nothing more. The following day I woke up early and saw more geysers to the same effect. The smoke was thin in parts and very thick in others and hovered just above the ground in layers shooting back as far as I could see. Each of them had a name better than the last; Fountain Paint Pot, Anemone, Morning Glory, Sawmill, Splendid, Surprise Pool, and my favorite - Young Hopeful. It reminded me of The Little Engine That Could as it bubbles and boils and tries with all its might; one day little geyser, one day. They all made their presence felt with their steam bellowing out of them and occasional small water eruptions. In order to be a geyser there has to be an intermittent discharge of water and that’s not to say that it has to happen all the time, either. Some only happen every few years or longer, some are constantly erupting and bubbling over all day long and some, like Old Faithful, do it multiple times a day on a semi-regular schedule. There are so many basins with multiple geysers it is hard to choose just one favorite or even see them all. I walked boardwalks, drove back roads, dodged tourists, and saw as many as I could in one morning before the heat took over and the crowds settled in. Driftwood laid among the thermal hot spots that I wished I could snatch up and take home with me and made the whole scene a little more eerie. Trees grow in these thermal pools as well, oddly enough, their tall, richly colored trunks shoot up a few stories and their first foot or two is completely white like the heat has sucked all the pigment out of their bases. The trunks reflect in the water soaked earth, sometimes the only color and at other times the dullest part of the scene.

Driving towards the Grand Prismatic Spring that morning, I found myself needing to pull over in awe when I saw what awaited me just ahead. At least six smoke stacks were decorating the grasslands and I couldn’t wait to get up close and see what they really looked like. Every spring and geyser is a little different and depending on their temperature, can be multicolored like the Grand Prismatic Spring. A friend mentioned to me that once you’ve seen one geyser you’ve seen them all. Well, yes, I completely get that and after a while I did start to feel that way, but not when I saw this spring. I actually couldn’t believe he thought the largest hot spring in the United States, reaching 160 degrees fahrenheit on a bad day, could be categorized with the others. Wooden walkways make the spring accessible to the public and crosses over a river from the parking lot. The river bank is covered in small water run offs tucked into multicolored rocks that made for exquisite small waterfalls. Up the walkway and onward, there all of a sudden was a wall of blue steam, like someone had turned up the heat on an olympic sized hot tub. Getting closer, I noticed the multicolored water below me and scanned the area taking in the reflections of the people all along the boardwalk in the water below. The details under the inch or two of water were reminiscent of shallow and wide steps that lead to more ripples and exposed the earth popping up here and there in rough patches trying to break free. Eager to see it from another view, I asked around and found exactly where to go. From above it was truly one of a kind. The large boiling lake’s steam was now fading from a pale pink to that same blue and as the morning progressed had begun to evaporate into thin air. The brilliant blue in the center of the spring shot out to a turquoise then a lip of yellow before reds and oranges made their presence known and the orange seeped out into the rest of the rippled earth like someone dripped a single drop of ink into a glass of water and let it gradually spread over time. I wonder how long it took to look like that. Outstanding.

You know what was not outstanding; Old Faithful. The most famous geyser in Yellowstone and arguably the world, is not only not the tallest or the largest geyser, but it is also not the most reliable time wise. Ironic since that’s basically why it was named Old Faithful in the first place. Real quick, Steamboat Geyer is the largest active geyser in the world and can be found at Yellowstone. Anyway, the first geyser to be named in Yellowstone, Old Faithful erupts every 90 to 125 minutes and has gotten progressively less reliable over the years. The visitor center posts its eruption ETAs all day long with a “give or take 10-15 minutes on either side” disclaimer. That’s a big gap of time to wait around. I did see it erupt and yes, it was cool and I’m very glad I saw all fifty feet of it. James got a solid laugh when it was all over and I proclaimed, “is that it?” I’m not sure what I was expecting but I think something bigger and grander was probably what I had pictured all this time. I did, however, thoroughly enjoy the people watching. The park’s visitor center and Old Faithful Inn have all been built around the geyser and the boardwalk made a loop almost all the way around it for spectator viewing. Selfie sticks at the ready, hundreds of people, some in the most brightly colored outfits and enormous hats I have seen in a while, crowded around the boardwalk arena with their backs to the show, peace signs in the air, and smiles ready for their iPhone cameras. It was something, that’s for sure.

I really enjoyed Yellowstone. It is still not my favorite and not in my top five but those views first thing in the morning are really make this park unique and stand out from the others. That is what it is famous for, after all. The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone is a must see and note worthy stop as well. The Yellowstone River, the park’s namesake, cuts through the east side and forms colorful and striking canyons with a permanent rainbow draped across its lower falls. If you have a moment, also check out Mammoth up in the northwest section of the park. Tall towers made up of shelves with thermal water trickling down them can be found there. Terraces, they’re called and they look a lot like giant chocolate fountains, minus the chocolate. Their water trickles from one tier to the next and continues down the side of the large formations. Each terrace is a mixture of white and orange like a creamsicle and each shelf of the terrace is curvy and crinkled, the edges resembling leaves of lettuce. Am I making you hungry yet? Ha ha. It’s a small feature of the park and one I honestly didn’t even realize existed until I saw it on a postcard in the visitor center gift shop. Yet another reason postcards are the shit.

Like I said before, I am exploring the Dakotas right now… wish me luck!

- G.

The Photo:
The Grand Prismatic Spring.
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.
9/6/17.