Yellowstone.....views, beautiful landscapes and bison by the car

Yellowstone National Park

We had rolled into Cody, Wyoming last night after dark.  All we knew was that road in was straight and uphill.  We woke this morning and looked outside to see that the town was ringed on three sides by tall snow capped mountains.  Beautiful.  We headed west out of town on Route 16 which led through Shoshone Canyon for 50 miles to the East Entrance of Yellowstone.  Immediately after leaving Cody the highway went through a narrow portion of the canyon with high steep rock walls that eventually led to a tunnel.  Emerging from the tunnel, we were presented with a lake on the left with tall mountains in the distance.  The canyon soon widened and was lined with ranches as the road wound it's way west.  The yellow aspens that dotted the valley soon gave way to evergreens as we proceeded up the canyon.  The mountains were rocky and mostly bare with some snow on the tops.  Horses in corrals lined the road as it wound it's way through the canyon toward Yellowstone.

We paid our entrance fee at the East Entrance Rangers Station and started into the park.  The road climbed higher and higher twisting through a high canyon.  The road twisted along the cliff face affording sweeping views of the snowy canyon walls.  Higher and higher it climbed until eventually reached the top of the pass at 8500 feet elevation.  Then it was a slow downward curvy ride until it rose again the 9000 feet in the second pass.  Before heading down into the valley, it afforded expansive views of the lake below us nestled in front of snowy mountains in the distance.

As the road wound out of the high mountain passes it passed through acres of dead trees.  It was apparent that there had been a forest fire at sometime in the recent past as the tall snags were bare and there were a lot of blackened tree trunks and soot on the ground.

Along the lake in the valley.

The road wound along the lake and through areas were steam was emitted from the ground and the whole area smelled of sulfur.  Around very corner there is another sweeping vista and I'm leaning forward in my seat driving to try to absorb it all.  Pine trees line the road as we wind down to the Great Geyser Basin and the country opens into huge meadows with mountains in the distance.  A right turn takes us to the visitor center and Old Faithful.  The parking lot for the visitor center is huge.  There are actually three visitor centers that are enormous log cabin structures all closed up for the season.  This is a slight inconvenience as it's lunch time and the cars food provisions are down to a bag of pretzels, a bottle of water and two apples but we make do.

 I believe this is the perfect time of year to visit Yellowstone.  I had heard the crowds in summer are terrible and after seeing the visitor center complex at Old Faithful I can believe it.  Today, there is only about a hundred people waiting to see the geyser erupt and up until this point we have pretty much had the road to ourselves.  I have been able to stop the car in the middle of the road to jump out and take pictures without any cars coming by.  Early to mid fall is definitely the time of year to see this beautiful park.  The little bit of snow on the ground and the mountains only adds to the splendor of the enormous landscape.

Old Faithful Geyser

The road runs straight through the Great Geyser Basin, the largest locations of geysers and thermal activity in the world.  One of only three locations these occur in great amount.  Water bubbles from the ground and is scalding hot.  Steam emits from fumerals and wafts across the valley.  The ground is stained green, gold and brown from the sulfuric water.

The stark landscape looks like a moonscape as the sulfur kills the vegetation.  The only thing living in the area is bacteria and insects that have adapted to survive in the climate.

Soon we are travelling through a wide valley with meadows and rounding the corner there are a few cars stopped in the road as bison are wandering across the road.  We stop and are amazed as the huge animals pass only three feet from the car.  You could have reached out and touched them.  (By the way...bison smell really bad.)

There are not enough adjectives in my vocabulary to describe the scenes laid out before me.  It is awe inspiring and humbling as it makes me realize how small we really are on this planet.  The problems of our daily life are truly insignificant when put into perspective.

Eventually the road started to wind down a canyon as we headed toward the north entrance and Montana.  The road had more curves than Kim Kardashian as it clung to the cliff face and dropped out of the mountains.  We had spent the day at over 8500 feet above sea level and could really feel it.  It was difficult to breathe and doing a little walking around took our breath away.  It was an exhausting but fantastic day.  Just before we left the park, we passed a small wooden sign along the road stating "Entering Montana".  A far cry from the huge signs along the interstate.

After leaving the park by the north entrance, the road wound through a small western town where the locals lounged in front of the few stores that were still open.  Route 89 straightened and the speed limit posted at 70mph, 65 mph at night and signs cautioned to watch for wildlife on the roadway.  This proved to be true as mule deer and elk crossed the road in front of the car.  Occasionally, bison grazed along the roadside in the fields as we raced north trying to get to a town before the sun went down.

We hit I90 again at Livingston, Montana, turned west as the highway climbed through the mountains and then dropped into Bozeman, Montana where we stopped for the night.  We have seen so many animals on this trip:  a wolf, elk, mountain goats, mule deer and bison.  However, we are still in search of the elusive jackalope.  Maybe we will see one in Canada along with sasquatch.  

The entire day had been filled with the beautiful sights of Yellowstone and I could have spent a month or more there exploring the back country.  It was nice seeing what we saw from the road but as everyone that knows me is aware I desire to see the back country where the crowds don't go.  At any rate, the scenery was amazing and I'm running out of adjectives to describe this amazing country that I'm passing through.  I thought today about my life on the east coast and how crowded it now seemed compared to out here.  My mountain was definitely rural and I prefer to be out of a city.  The country out here is huge, expansive and at times mind boggling.  It's certainly one of the most impressive sights I've ever seen and I will never regret this journey.

Tomorrows trek will be taking a secondary highway (Route 12) through Idaho into the southern corner of Washington.  The landscape should be interesting compared to the interstate and I have been driving with my camera in my lap.  Perhaps we will find some potatoes along the way.