September 21…. Yellowstone

We left our camp outside Helena MT and headed off for Yellowstone. Earlier, a few weeks ago, we had received a call from the park that electricity was compromised in the campground and we might not have any. I’m thinking, No can do, we are not set up for that, so our trip to the big park was in jeopardy. Fortunately, they called again a couple days ago and assured us that our site would have power all week, though a good half of the sites were still without. Whew!

Long drive, entering through Gardiner MT and the Yellowstone North Gate. Immediately, traffic and narrow roads became an issue.

Yellowstone National Park is ENORMOUS! Almost 3500 sq miles. Over 2 million acres. Driving time, top to bottom is almost two hours IF there are no jams due to animals. Which we promptly encountered.

Driving through the Hayden Valley area, what seemed like hundreds of cars all stopped and abandoned, off the road, partially in the road, or just plain in the road. Buffalo were spotted in the distance, and then…. The Grizz.

As we maneuvered through the traffic, I spotted a grizzly bear, just visible through the gaps of the stopped cars. Too brief a sighting to get any pictures, but there he was. My first grizzly sighting. So cute. So fuzzy. I just wanted to pet him, but business comes first, gotta get where we’re going and drop off the rig.

After setting up in camp, we made our first foray into the park and headed for the iconic Old Faithful area for the afternoon. The Old Faithful Inn, once the largest freestanding log building in the world, still in the top five.

And out back, the Old Faithful geyser. I visited Yellowstone in 1981 and the geyser would blow every 60 minutes, almost like clockwork. After an earthquake in 1983, she now blows about every 90 minutes, plus or minus 10. Almost as faithful as it once was.

We only had the short afternoon left, so we spent it walking around the lower geyser basin. We strolled past a bunch of geysers, pools, hot springs, steam vents, fumaroles, and anything else you can think of that involves hot water or steam coming from the ground.

AND, my personal favorite, the Buffalo. If I wasn’t so obsessed with moose, I’d definitely be chasing buffalo. Hmmm. Buffalo Mozzarella. Probably not $500/lb, but certainly a good sideline to add to The Moose Ranch.

(And no, you don’t have to tell me that buffalo mozzarella has nothing to do with buffalo, it’s just part of the humorous whimsy that is Mike Pekrul)