I left my hotel in Pocatello, Idaho in the pre-dawn hours, wanting to make it to Yellowstone early so that I would have time to enjoy it before driving on to my hotel in Montana. I haven't been fair to Idaho. I understand there are a lot of beautiful things to see in the state; unfortunately my route didn't take me past them. Still, the weather there was nice, and the morning sky before sunrise over the highway was beautiful. There is one more thing I can say for Idaho: the people there are remarkably warm and friendly. I spoke to quite a few Idahoans, and interestingly enough everyone I spoke to, when I mentioned my plans, told me all about the bears in Yellowstone. The man who changed my oil told me that there were an unusually high number of bears this year, and that he'd seen "a bunch" last time he'd visited the park. A gentleman staying at the hotel with me said being at Yellowstone was like being inside a zoo on steroids and warned me not to get friendly with the bears. Even the woman who hogged all the guest laundry machines had seen "a ton" of bears in Yellowstone.A word or two about bears before I move on. I brought two really great books with me on my trip: Travels with Charley in Search of America by John Steinbeck, and another excellent and extraordinarily entertaining bit of non-fiction called A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson. Both books mention bears, both specifically talk about the bears in Yellowstone, and both discuss how dangerous bears are particularly when faced with idiotic tourists (like me). The prospect of seeing bears in Yellowstone was unnerving even before I'd read these books, and reading them only fueled my nervousness. After speaking with the friendly folks in Pocatello, I found myself under the impression that the park was literally crawling with the animals. I actually had a nightmare about being attacked by a bear, and by the time I set out in the morning I had visions of myself gripping the wheel in terror as I tried to navigate my way through a sea
of angry black bears. Why do I say all this? Because for all the wonderful, amazing, incredible things I saw in Yellowstone, the one single thing I did not see? You guessed it - not one single solitary bear.
of angry black bears. Why do I say all this? Because for all the wonderful, amazing, incredible things I saw in Yellowstone, the one single thing I did not see? You guessed it - not one single solitary bear. I arrived at the entrance to the park very early, and stopped to have a really great breakfast at a place named (ironically enough) the Three Bear Lodge. I then began my drive through the park, which from about a mile in becomes absolutely extraordinary. I was blessed with perfect weather, too - blue skies and sunshine. The road runs along side a clear blue flowing river, which is surrounded by green grass, wild flowers, mountains and trees. There is still plenty of evidence of the 
wildfires that struck in Yellowstone a few years back, but the green is pushing its way back through. Driving by one of the areas where the trees had been damaged by fire, I saw an entire family of elk - a mother, father and four children, just strolling through the woods. I walked into the woods, and got within about 20 feet of them so that I could get a few good pictures. I knew not to get any closer - they aren't bears, but they're not exactly bunny rabbits either, and it's best to let them have their space.
wildfires that struck in Yellowstone a few years back, but the green is pushing its way back through. Driving by one of the areas where the trees had been damaged by fire, I saw an entire family of elk - a mother, father and four children, just strolling through the woods. I walked into the woods, and got within about 20 feet of them so that I could get a few good pictures. I knew not to get any closer - they aren't bears, but they're not exactly bunny rabbits either, and it's best to let them have their space. 
Continuing on the road, I came to an area where there were hot springs and geysers. There's a nature walk through the area, along a wooden walkway. There are signs warning folks not to walk on the ground as it is quite hot and extremely unstable. Of course, it occurred to me that the walkway was built right on top of this unstable ground, but I elected to ignore this fact and proceeded down the trail. One of the springs was stunning; I wish you could see it 
more clearly in the picture - boiling, crystal blue water going deep into the surface of the ground. Just a few yards further is an area known as the "Paint Pots", where the mud bubbles and boils, and it does look quite like white paint. Just slightly further still are a few small geysers, and almost everywhere you look you can see pockets of steam rising from the ground. It occurred to me that this place must have been shocking to those who first happened upon it; before there were National Parks and 
signs and rickety walkways. I can only imagine what must have gone through their minds; certainly this place looks like no other I have ever seen. It's a bit mystical, and a bit frightening. I enjoyed it for a while, but before long I began to doubt the safety of the walkway and hightailed it back to my car.
more clearly in the picture - boiling, crystal blue water going deep into the surface of the ground. Just a few yards further is an area known as the "Paint Pots", where the mud bubbles and boils, and it does look quite like white paint. Just slightly further still are a few small geysers, and almost everywhere you look you can see pockets of steam rising from the ground. It occurred to me that this place must have been shocking to those who first happened upon it; before there were National Parks and 
signs and rickety walkways. I can only imagine what must have gone through their minds; certainly this place looks like no other I have ever seen. It's a bit mystical, and a bit frightening. I enjoyed it for a while, but before long I began to doubt the safety of the walkway and hightailed it back to my car.My next stop was Old Faithful. There are estimated times posted for the famous geyser's next eruption, which are supposed to be accurate within 10 minutes on either side. I was lucky; I arrived there within about 30 minutes of the next "scheduled" eruption, which actually occurred about 2 minutes after the posted time - not bad. Hundreds of people gather around the viewing area, which is set about 50 yards or so from the geyser.
There are no fences, nothing to prevent anyone from getting closer other than common sense. Speaking of common sense, while we were waiting for the geyser to erupt, in the distance we could see some tourists taking pictures of a buffalo. The tourists approached the buffalo, and I could hear a man behind me saying "those idiots should back off" - and he was right - before our eyes the buffalo charged the tourists, although they were able to escape the angry creature unscathed. This was a pretty entertaining sideshow, and then finally - the main event. Old Faithful erupted - at first just a few small shoots of water, followed by a huge explosion of boiling water from the ground. It's hard to tell from the picture what an awesome sight this is. The whole thing lasted about 5 minutes or so - funnily enough, many of the tourists began 
to mill away before it was over, something I can't understand. I guess they figured the initial eruption itself was the big show. Anyway, I stayed until it was done, then continued through the park.
There are no fences, nothing to prevent anyone from getting closer other than common sense. Speaking of common sense, while we were waiting for the geyser to erupt, in the distance we could see some tourists taking pictures of a buffalo. The tourists approached the buffalo, and I could hear a man behind me saying "those idiots should back off" - and he was right - before our eyes the buffalo charged the tourists, although they were able to escape the angry creature unscathed. This was a pretty entertaining sideshow, and then finally - the main event. Old Faithful erupted - at first just a few small shoots of water, followed by a huge explosion of boiling water from the ground. It's hard to tell from the picture what an awesome sight this is. The whole thing lasted about 5 minutes or so - funnily enough, many of the tourists began 
to mill away before it was over, something I can't understand. I guess they figured the initial eruption itself was the big show. Anyway, I stayed until it was done, then continued through the park.The rest of the park is incredible; waterfalls, mountain roads, rock formations, rivers. At one point I stopped because there was this huge number of cars at the side of the road and people everywhere with cameras. I asked someone what was going on - apparently there was a bear lumbering up the hill. At this point, I had begun to be a bit disappointed that I hadn't seen a single bear, so I grabbed my camera and ventured into the woods to see if I could get a look, but by then the bear had gone on his merry way. When I got back into my car and continued to drive, the ridiculousness of what 
I had just done dawned on me. Bears are big, dangerous, wild, unpredictable creatures. Tourists are maimed and/or killed by bears by the dozens each year. And so when I hear that there's a bear in the woods close by, what do I do? I grab my camera and go in after it. If I had seen the bear, and said bear had chosen to maim me and my camera beyond recognition, I would have deserved it.
I had just done dawned on me. Bears are big, dangerous, wild, unpredictable creatures. Tourists are maimed and/or killed by bears by the dozens each year. And so when I hear that there's a bear in the woods close by, what do I do? I grab my camera and go in after it. If I had seen the bear, and said bear had chosen to maim me and my camera beyond recognition, I would have deserved it. After several hours of being blown away by Yellowstone's unparalleled beauty, I left the park and drove through Montana to my hotel. Montana is beautiful; like Yellowstone only bigger - rivers, mountains, green fields. I'd love to come back some day and spend more time. As I drove through the state, I thought about how lucky I am to be living this life right now, to have the opportunity to see all it is that I'm seeing. There's still a bit more before I start on the final stretch home - Mount Rushmore is next. Wow. Life is good.
1 comment:
Hey Peg! just catching up on your travels over the last few days - good to see you're still enjoying the "high life". You have some talent for writing! you make the us feel like we're experiencing all of this with you!
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