Yellowstone: A Trip thru Wonderland Part 1
Ahhh Yellowstone, my home a way from home, the place that leaves me in awe and wonder each time I visit.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>
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In August I was invited along with a friend’s family to play tour guide, which is one of my favorite things to do in the park. So I dusted off my old tour books, checked up on current conditions and packed my bags.<o:p></o:p>
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Many trips to the park start with flying in from some where. We flew into <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Salt Lake City</st1:place></st1:City> and had about a day in the area. My aunt (who lives there) told me about this great farmers market. Where I saw this guy!
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Which I thought was just fantastic.<o:p></o:p>
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Next we decided a quick trip up to snowbird. I figured us low landers need to acclimate to the altitude so I tried to think of activities that weren’t too active. And it was a gorgeous day for a tram ride (and a little cooler than in the valley.<o:p></o:p>
We saw a mountain bluebird up at the top:<o:p></o:p>
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And we saw a moose and calf on the way back to the car:
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Funny story about the moose. When I was a tour guide in <st1:place w:st="on">Yellowstone</st1:place> I used to try to convince people that seeing a moose was better than seeing a bear. Partly because I saw moose pretty much every tour (some strange knack I guess) and I saw a bear maybe once a week. People tip better for bears, so I would have preferred the reverse and the convincing didn't go far.<o:p></o:p>
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For this particular moose my friend walked right past it. I am like how the heck do you walk past a moose and a calf. His response was “I see more darn moose with you!" He is right; he has seen moose with me 3 separate occasions in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State w:st="on">New Hampshire</st1:State></st1:place>. Maybe I am the moose whisper?<o:p></o:p>
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The next day we head north towards <st1:place w:st="on">West Yellowstone</st1:place>. Along the way we stopped at Golden Spike National Historic Site. It’s in the middle of nowhere, but I thought it was pretty well done. It is where the two Trans continental railroad met.
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We also kept seeing signs that said "rocket display", I convinced my party to check it out. And it was weird, random, in the middle of no where and very cool all at the same time.
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The company that makes rockets for NASA and other missile defense systems is based in <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">UTAH</st1:place></st1:State>, the use the middle of nowhere as part of their facilities. From what I can tell, it was all pretty guarded for some reason.<o:p></o:p>
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We continued north, hit west, settled into our rooms and I said "let's go do old faithful!!!" So we drive from west <st1:place w:st="on">Yellowstone</st1:place> to old faithful village and in my own typical fashion the thing has just gone off. (Used to happen all the time when I did tours too, I recognized the sea of people heading my way). So we waited, <st1:place w:st="on">Old Faithful</st1:place> was a little beyond its predicted window, but for its age I will forgive it, even if it was dark.<o:p></o:p>
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The next day we head to Mammoth, to do the terraces, look for sheep, take a dip in boiling river and then go the loooooooooooong way back (via Mt Washburn).<o:p></o:p>
We made two stops along the way. The artist paint pots (which is one of my favorite thermal areas):
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On the way we stopped at <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Swan</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Lake</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>, which for the record I have never seen a swan on.
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Here are some photos of the terraces in mammoth:<o:p></o:p>
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<o:p></o:p>
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And of course you have to go visit the arch<o:p></o:p>
Probably made more sense when the trains were servicing the park and I was hoping to see pronghorn or bighorn sheep along the way. We saw neither (it was also noonish).<o:p></o:p>
And we stopped at boiling river. This photo is of the Gardner river on our way back from the dip in boiling river.
After Mammoth we had a nice picnic lunch, and did not share our picnic basket with yogi, but we did head east towards Lamar valley looking for wildlife. And we found some right off!<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
I have to say this bison crossing the road might off been one of the funniest things I have ever seen. Although I didn’t get photos of it, just after I took the picture, a ranger showed up and tried to get the bull across the road.<o:p></o:p>
So you maybe asking yourself, what measures does a ranger use to get a bull bison with his lovely ladies in tow across the road? Apparently taking off your orange vest and waving it in the air why saying "come on buddy move along". I almost wet my pants. Then the ranger took a rock and sort of skipped it along the pavement near the bison. No movement.<o:p></o:p>
Then a couple of minutes later, the bull decided he was ready to move along and did.<o:p></o:p>
Funniest thing ever!<o:p></o:p>
I talked to the ranger after, because when I worked in the park I very rarely saw rangers out for bison. But this particular summer, the park was seeing its most visitors on record, and thus more human interaction with the wildlife, they had already had two goring incidents, so the increased ranger presence made sense.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
We continued in Lamar looking for wolves and pronghorn and taking nice scenic photos.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
After Lamar valley we headed home, looking for grizzly. And I saw one, but the rest of my party didn’t. He was hustling along the field on the north side of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Mount</st1:PlaceType> <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Washburn</st1:PlaceName></st1:place>, which there are very few pullouts and no really good places to stash your car (being a cliff and all). But we had already seen a black bear with 3 cubs!!! (Maybe she adopted one, I didn’t get a chance to talk to the ranger), so we were doing well on the bear category.
Ok that is part 1. <o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
In August I was invited along with a friend’s family to play tour guide, which is one of my favorite things to do in the park. So I dusted off my old tour books, checked up on current conditions and packed my bags.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
Many trips to the park start with flying in from some where. We flew into <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Salt Lake City</st1:place></st1:City> and had about a day in the area. My aunt (who lives there) told me about this great farmers market. Where I saw this guy!
<o:p></o:p><?xml:namespace prefix = v ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" /><v:shapetype id=_x0000_t75 stroked="f" filled="f" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" o:preferrelative="t" o:spt="75" coordsize="21600,21600"><v:stroke joinstyle="miter"></v:stroke><v:formulas><v:f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @0 1 0"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum 0 0 @1"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @2 1 2"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelHeight"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @0 0 1"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @6 1 2"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelWidth"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @8 21600 0"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelHeight"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @10 21600 0"></v:f></v:formulas><v:path o:connecttype="rect" gradientshapeok="t" o:extrusionok="f"></v:path><o:lock aspectratio="t" v:ext="edit"></o:lock></v:shapetype><o:p></o:p>
Which I thought was just fantastic.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
Next we decided a quick trip up to snowbird. I figured us low landers need to acclimate to the altitude so I tried to think of activities that weren’t too active. And it was a gorgeous day for a tram ride (and a little cooler than in the valley.<o:p></o:p>
We saw a mountain bluebird up at the top:<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
And we saw a moose and calf on the way back to the car:
<o:p></o:p><o:p></o:p>
Funny story about the moose. When I was a tour guide in <st1:place w:st="on">Yellowstone</st1:place> I used to try to convince people that seeing a moose was better than seeing a bear. Partly because I saw moose pretty much every tour (some strange knack I guess) and I saw a bear maybe once a week. People tip better for bears, so I would have preferred the reverse and the convincing didn't go far.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
For this particular moose my friend walked right past it. I am like how the heck do you walk past a moose and a calf. His response was “I see more darn moose with you!" He is right; he has seen moose with me 3 separate occasions in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State w:st="on">New Hampshire</st1:State></st1:place>. Maybe I am the moose whisper?<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
The next day we head north towards <st1:place w:st="on">West Yellowstone</st1:place>. Along the way we stopped at Golden Spike National Historic Site. It’s in the middle of nowhere, but I thought it was pretty well done. It is where the two Trans continental railroad met.
<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
We also kept seeing signs that said "rocket display", I convinced my party to check it out. And it was weird, random, in the middle of no where and very cool all at the same time.
<o:p></o:p><o:p></o:p>
The company that makes rockets for NASA and other missile defense systems is based in <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">UTAH</st1:place></st1:State>, the use the middle of nowhere as part of their facilities. From what I can tell, it was all pretty guarded for some reason.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
We continued north, hit west, settled into our rooms and I said "let's go do old faithful!!!" So we drive from west <st1:place w:st="on">Yellowstone</st1:place> to old faithful village and in my own typical fashion the thing has just gone off. (Used to happen all the time when I did tours too, I recognized the sea of people heading my way). So we waited, <st1:place w:st="on">Old Faithful</st1:place> was a little beyond its predicted window, but for its age I will forgive it, even if it was dark.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
The next day we head to Mammoth, to do the terraces, look for sheep, take a dip in boiling river and then go the loooooooooooong way back (via Mt Washburn).<o:p></o:p>
We made two stops along the way. The artist paint pots (which is one of my favorite thermal areas):
<o:p></o:p><o:p></o:p>
On the way we stopped at <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Swan</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Lake</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>, which for the record I have never seen a swan on.
<o:p></o:p><o:p></o:p>
Here are some photos of the terraces in mammoth:<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
And of course you have to go visit the arch<o:p></o:p>
Probably made more sense when the trains were servicing the park and I was hoping to see pronghorn or bighorn sheep along the way. We saw neither (it was also noonish).<o:p></o:p>
And we stopped at boiling river. This photo is of the Gardner river on our way back from the dip in boiling river.
After Mammoth we had a nice picnic lunch, and did not share our picnic basket with yogi, but we did head east towards Lamar valley looking for wildlife. And we found some right off!<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
I have to say this bison crossing the road might off been one of the funniest things I have ever seen. Although I didn’t get photos of it, just after I took the picture, a ranger showed up and tried to get the bull across the road.<o:p></o:p>
So you maybe asking yourself, what measures does a ranger use to get a bull bison with his lovely ladies in tow across the road? Apparently taking off your orange vest and waving it in the air why saying "come on buddy move along". I almost wet my pants. Then the ranger took a rock and sort of skipped it along the pavement near the bison. No movement.<o:p></o:p>
Then a couple of minutes later, the bull decided he was ready to move along and did.<o:p></o:p>
Funniest thing ever!<o:p></o:p>
I talked to the ranger after, because when I worked in the park I very rarely saw rangers out for bison. But this particular summer, the park was seeing its most visitors on record, and thus more human interaction with the wildlife, they had already had two goring incidents, so the increased ranger presence made sense.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
We continued in Lamar looking for wolves and pronghorn and taking nice scenic photos.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
After Lamar valley we headed home, looking for grizzly. And I saw one, but the rest of my party didn’t. He was hustling along the field on the north side of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Mount</st1:PlaceType> <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Washburn</st1:PlaceName></st1:place>, which there are very few pullouts and no really good places to stash your car (being a cliff and all). But we had already seen a black bear with 3 cubs!!! (Maybe she adopted one, I didn’t get a chance to talk to the ranger), so we were doing well on the bear category.
Ok that is part 1. <o:p></o:p>
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twobassets.smugmug.com
Or if there was ever a shoot out there. I would totally be a guide!!!!