We decided to celebrate two birthdays in Yellowstone National Park- the national park service’s centennial on August 25th and my birthday on August 26th.  One of the reasons why we chose to celebrate the park’s centennial here is because Yellowstone was the world’s first national park with its founding in 1872.  It is also huge, (3,472 square miles in fact!) and spans 3 states- Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho, so it has lots of different areas to explore.  Below are our highlights of our time in Yellowstone.

Northeast Entrance via Beartooth Highway

We were advised by fellow roadtrippers Nothing Mundane that we should enter Yellowstone via the northeastern entrance.  Beartooth Highway, the road leading into the NE park entrance, is a series of twists and turns, ascending a mountainous area via a number of switchbacks.  We stepped out of the car to admire the view, feel the coldness of the high elevation, and marvel at the leftover snow still on the ground at the end of August.

Bison (not wolves!) in the Lamar Valley

After we entered the park, we were greeted by bison in the picturesque Lamar Valley.  This area is actually known as a “wolf watching mecca” but we did not see any as we were passing through.  Interestingly enough, gray wolves were only reintroduced into this area in 1995; there is a whole National Geographic documentary on it that we watched after our time in the park which was quite informative!

Camping out in Canyon and Grant Village

Because of Yellowstone’s vast size, we decided to split our time between two campgrounds while in the park to minimize driving while maximizing our exploration of the park.  We spent our first three nights in Canyon Campground and another 2 nights further south in Grant Village Campground.  We were quite surprised how developed both of these areas were.  Canyon campground alone has 273 sites and Grant has a whopping 430.  Run by a concessionaire (Xanterra), checking into our campsite felt like checking into a hotel.  Our stays also came with 2 hot, un-timed showers per night.  There was a laundry area as well, which was a nice amenity for us given our constant state of travel.  Just across the way from Canyon campground was Canyon Village, with a visitor center (yeah, passport stamps!), a lodge with a restaurant, a post office, two gift shops, a grocery store with nearly everything you could need (albeit at a bit of a premium price!) and two more eateries.  It was definitely a surprise to come to a park with so many amenities.  These parks are keeping us on our toes.

Birthday Dinner: Old West Country Cookout

In lieu of cooking a nice dinner ourselves, we opted for the Old West Country Cookout to celebrate my birthday.  We rode a horse-drawn covered wagon out to Yancy’s Hole, and along the way we were regaled with history of this area of the park along with some legend and lore.  The whole thing was quite cheesy but I had read the reviews in advance and was prepared for it; I thought it was quite fun.  Once out at Yancy’s Hole, there was a buffet dinner, where each person got a sizable steak and enough sides (e.g., potato salad, corn on the cob, watermelon, cobbler) to stuff you up for the evening!  There was music, stories, and coffee made on the fire.

Norris Geyser Basin

Norris Geyer Basin on the western side of the park was a nice introduction to Yellowstone’s geothermal activity.  Admittedly before coming to Yellowstone, I didn’t know much about the park.  I of course knew about the geysers (and we had seen a few in Iceland so I knew what to expect there) but I wasn’t prepared for the spectacular colored pools of steaming water and minerals, the steam vents (called fumaroles) or the mudpots (i.e., stinkpots, which we’ll get to later!).  We walked about 2 miles around Norris Basin as the area captivated all of our senses- I was in awe of the sheer beauty of the pools, springs, geysers, and steam vents, most of which were creatively named; my ears were on high alert, listening to the gurgling of the water in some areas, in others waiting(/hoping) for the geysers to spew water high into the sky; my nose was tickled by the largely mild sulfur smell (hoping that it would stay mild!); our bodies could feel the heat of the steam emanating from many of these geological features.  It sure is amazing to see the effects of this seismic activity.

Mammoth Hot Springs

The highlight of our time in the northwest corner of the park, called Mammoth Hot Springs, was walking along the Travertine Terraces.  This colors abounding this area result from thermal water on the limestone, thermal water, and organisms.  Every time I think I’ve seen all of Yellowstone’s beauty, this park surprises me with more.

ALL of the Overlooks of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

Before we left our campground in the Canyon area, we had to visit its namesake, a 20 mile long canyon formed by the Yellowstone River.  There are two roads (North Rim and South Rim) on either side of the canyon with many viewpoints and short trails along the way.  I think we stopped at nearly all of the overlooks to take in the views of the Upper and Lower Falls.  We also walked down Uncle Tom’s trail, which included 328 steps down (and then back up again!) to get a beautiful view of the Lower Falls.

Mudpots Abound!

Thus far in our trip, the sulfur smell was bearable.  Sure you can smell it a bit in the Norris Basin but it didn’t seem so bad; plus ooh look at the pretty colors – distractions abound!  But I kind of lost it at the mudpots.  Up front I’ll mention that my sense of smell is quite astute- I was the one in college taking the garbage out before my roommates because I smelled it first.  I also loathe the smell (and taste) of eggs; I especially used to hate it when my mom made egg salad when I was a child; I had to leave the room.  My aversion to eggs and their smell has not waned over the years.  When my husband was in grad school, unbeknownst to me since I left the house first, he often made hard-boiled eggs for breakfast.  One weekend, he decided to prepare his eggs for breakfast; I’d like to say that I am not the most dramatic person, but my response was such that he has not since made hard-boiled eggs in my presence 🙂  Anywho, all this to say that I barely survived this short, half mile walk around the stinky mudpots.  Since I was somewhat paralyzed, Adam took the camera and documented not just the mudpots but my reactions as well!

Geysers Erupt!

Of course we went to see Old Faithful.  Behind the visitor center is a large viewing area, and we sat with a lot of people, anxiously waiting for it to erupt.  Given that Old Faithful erupts for between 2 and 5 minutes every 60 to 110 minutes, we didn’t have to wait too long to see the magic!

We also drove down Firehole Loop Road, where we caught some glimpses of the Great Fountain Geyser.  In contrast to Old Faithful, this one erupts every 9 to 15 hours.  But, when it does erupt, there can be activity for about an hour or so.  We missed the main eruption but got to see some of the spurts here and there which was pretty neat!

Excelsior Geyser and Grand Prismatic Spring

A bit north of Old Faithful is the Midway Geyser Basin, home to Excelsior Geyers and the Grand Prismatic Spring!  Excelsior Geyser appears to be a steamy but calm turquoise pool, however, it it used to be a very active geyser (it last erupted in 1985).  Just beyond Excelsior is Grand Prismatic spring, the park’s largest hot spring.  The colors that make the hot spring so beautiful are thermophiles, bacteria that can survive in really hot temperatures.

Overall I felt like we saw a good amount of what Yellowstone has to offer; next time we return it will be nice to do more hiking and explore some of the areas that are more off the beaten path.