After thoroughly enjoying our few days driving through the Grand Teton National Park and taking in the magnificent views, we headed North into the much anticipated Yellowstone Park. It did not disappoint!
Our first stop off was top of mums bucket list for the park, Old Faithful Geyser. I am not sure what we were expecting, but it was very impressive, the geyser is named old faithful because it one of the only ones that can be reliably timed to go off, approximately every 90 minutes and it has a huge half circle of bench seating for the crowds to gather and wait. With front row seats we sat and watched as the various geysers around old faithful puffed and whistled, bubbled and boiled, with the occasional spurt of steam and water. After a 20 minute wait Old Faithful did not let us down, and it put on a 2 minute show of fountains and steam before simmering down again.
We enjoyed the board walk trail that took us deeper into the park to see some of the pots and geysers closer up, there were warnings all around not to step of the board walk for fear of breaking the crust and sinking into the mud, I needed no warning, it was quite apocalyptic and sinister looking!
Following on the hot springs and geyser theme, our next stop was at the Grand Prismatic Springs. This was on my bucket list having seen an image of it on the front cover of Wanderlust magazine a couple of years ago. The area was very different to Old Faithful, but no less impressive. The steam blowing of the hot springs was intense and the colours of the pools just stunning. I was disappointed to find that as impressive as the Grand Prismatic Spring was, you could not see the vibrant colours from the ground. We spotted a view point in the hillside behind the spring, but time was ticking on as we were due at the campground, so we had to leave it for another day.
Trying to book a pitch at the campgrounds in Yellowstone is like trying to win the lottery! They book up a year in advance with people getting a full refund up to 2 days before your stay. When we first planned our trip 3 months ago, we got the last spot in the whole park and there was only one night available. Luckily when we tried again 2 weeks before our trip another night had come up at a different campground so we didn’t have to keep driving out of the park. The other thing is the price – one night at Fishing Bridge Campground was nearly $110 with full services!
Madison Campground was lovely, set in a woodland location with basic facilities but stunning views in the River valley. We went for a walk to do some filming in the morning and the river was steaming as the warm water from the hot springs hit the frosty morning air. We still find the bear boxes to keep any food and used BBQ’s in a little disconcerting, the park rangers are very strict and regularly patrol all the grounds to check that you are following the bear safety rules.
At this point we had still not seen much in the way of wildlife bar one lone buffalo and several squirrels and chipmonks, so the next day was the day to set off to search in earnest. Both mum and myself had neck ache from twisting and turning, scouring and searching the horizon for anything that moved.
After visiting the Impressive Norris Geyser basin and more mud pots and hot springs, we set off to Hayden Valley. All the guide books had highlighted the drive across the high plains as a great area to see Bison particularly. Wow, did we see Bison! We spotted a herd of about 30 on the side of the road in front of us when the cars suddenly came to a standstill. What happened next is like comedy gold, however, I did observe from a distance as they are huge creatures with big horns. The herd had decided to cross the road and one of the huge bulls was acting as lollipop daddy blocking the road so the young calves could cross. However, he didn’t have very good control of the calves who spent the next 20 minutes darting back and forwards with the errant teenagers doing the same!
With traffic backing up considerably, the park ranger came along in his huge truck to try and move the buffalo on, he hooted his horn at them, set off his siren and gently tried to nudge them of the road, but the bulls were having none of it and politely nudged the park ranger back. It was a 10 minute stand off that we will never forget! We were only glad we were not the campervan immediately at the front of the bison road block, as they did receive a nudge or 2 from an irate bison as he sauntered off to greener pastures.
Another highlight of the day was a visit to Canyon village and the scenic drive that took us past the upper and lower falls of the Yellowstone River. They were hugely powerful and impressive, tumbling deep into the gorge they had cut out. We also stumbled across the painted canyon that was equally as impressive, it reminded us of the Grand Canyon.
After a peaceful night getting some chores done at Fishing Bridge campground which had a very impressive laundry area (23 washing machines and 16 tumble driers) we spent one last day in the Park. We dropped mum off at the historic Old Faithful Inn as she wanted to see what it was like and see Old Faithful erupt again from the magnificent window view. We headed a few miles north to do the hike to the Grand Prismatic view point, what a view it was! I thought that most of the photo’s I had seen would have been highly edited and photo shopped but the depth of the colours was just incredible! Even the steam was tinged blue and pink around the edges. I have to admit, as amazing as the photo’s are, it was a bit of a bun fight up there with many a drawn out Instagram photoshoot and lots of pouting. It was just as intriguing people watching.
We were staying just outside of the park that night and headed out to the west entrance. On our drive out we spotted a few elk on the other side of the river, we pulled over and were treated to 15 minutes of calmness and beauty as they decided to gracefully cross the river towards us. They are such serene, gentle creatures, particularly as it was just the females and their babies.
Nearing the end of our Yellowstone experience, we stayed the night by the western entrance which is in Montana, so state number 42 for mum. We had chosen this spot as we had given up on seeing bears in the wild and we wanted to visit the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Centre where there are 8 rescued bears. It was just the most awesome morning there and well worth a visit.
As part of their fundraising endeavours, the centre tests various new products that claim to be ‘bear proof’. If the product lasts for 60 minutes in the enclosure then they get a certificate to prove its validity. Today was cooler box testing day. The box had been filled with some tasty morsels for a grizzly bear, fish heads, peanut butter and honey. We watched for over 20 minutes as a female grizzly tried her hardest to break into it. She tried clawing and ripping it open, using her powerful jaws to chew it open and when neither worked she jumped up and down on it repeatedly!! She even pushed and dragged it into her pond area and crashed it against the sides of the wall. After 20 minutes it was fully intact and she was not happy. On the way out we did see some of the previous boxes that had been tested, it makes you realise how much you would not want to be there in the wilds if they were after your food for real!
The rescued wolves were a pitiful sight, pacing up and down in their enclosures. There were also some rescued birds of prey with various ailments, we were surprised at how huge some of the eagles are.
We had one last drive through the park to get out at the northern entrance which was quicker and more scenic than driving the long way around the edge of the park. Our last stop off was Mammoth Hot Springs. We had to smile as the town was under siege from an elk stag and his huge hareem of females with their young, apparently they had spent the last few weeks parading around the town lounging in gardens and open areas and the park rangers were pretty fraught trying to keep the elk and tourists safe from each other! Another awesome sight to see on our RV roadtrip.
Sadly we did not see any bears or moose in the wilds of Yellowstone so maybe we will need to return as there was still the top loop of the park that we did not drive…
Watch our YouTube Vlog to see footage of some of the outstanding views and wildlife that we saw in the park
In our next Blog we travel across Montana and visit the historic town of Virginia City before rendering Wyoming to see the iconic Devils Tower.
Hope you have all had a great week
Jackie and Richard
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