I was standing on a board-walk with my daughter in hand, and suddenly the expected enormous column of steaming water exploded into the air with a roar and a whoosh. My daughter clapped her hands in delight as the surrounding crowds let out sounds of expectant appreciation.
Old Faithful geyser had erupted once again in Yellowstone.
On a recent trip to Yellowstone one of our first destinations in the park was of course, Old Faithful, that iconic symbol of the world's first National Park. Being a veteran of many Yellowstone trips, Old Faithful wasn't high on my list of things to see, but this was my six-year-old daughters first trip to the nation's flagship National Park and I wanted her to see first what had brought early visitors to the park and later inspired Congress to set it aside for protection; the thermal features.
Of course the most famous of these is Old Faithful. She was suitably impressed, and having started our trip off already with several grizzly sightings and many bison sightings, she was starting to see why it was Dad was so in love with this incredible place. Yellowstone was making another convert.
Not that it needs to do anything special. Yellowstone National Park was just busy being its spectacular self. This last bastion of truly wild country easily accessible to Joe Public was established in 1872 by a special order of the United States Congress as a “national pleasuring grounds” and has been wowing visitors ever since with its wild splendor. It truly is wild, too.
I know when you're traveling around the park and see all the development at the major tourist attractions such as Yellowstone Lake, the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, Tower Falls, Mammoth Hot Springs and of course, Old Faithful, you're tempted to think of this as a tame and civilized place. This is of course, not true, and visitors who forget this are reminded of this forcefully, often to their detriment.
Many times each year people are hit and gored by the wild bison, fall off rocks, sometimes attacked by bears and a host of other things that could easily be avoided if people would just remember that Yellowstone National Park is not a theme park like Disneyland or their local zoo. Even the developed areas are still essentially wild areas and have wild animals roam through them all the time, as was evidenced by a huge animal print my daughter and I saw imprinted into the mud surrounding the geysers in the Old Faithful geyser basin (known as the Upper Geyser Basin, one of three geyser basins housing the majority of the parks easily accessible geysers) later identified for us by a passing park ranger as a grizzly print. With reasonable caution these close encounters can be avoided.
While we were there we saw elk, deer, antelope, black bears and grizzly, wolves, bald eagles, osprey, beaver, otter, badgers and a host of other wildlife including the ever present bison. Most of this we saw from the road and our own vehicle, something you spend a lot of time in if you are going to visit the park in the busy summer time.
Yellowstone currently averages around 3 million visitors each year, the bulk of which visit during the incredibly busy summer months, and any animal sighting causes a traffic jam with rubber necking tourists eager to see the animals and take pictures. It was once we got out of the vehicle and started hiking some of the back trails we got peace and quiet and saw animals in abundance. This is something I recommend for anyone visiting Yellowstone National Park during the warmer seasons.
Some of my favorite day hikes are Mystic Falls in the Old Faithful area and Pelican Creek trail in the Yellowstone Lake area. They are short, easy hikes that most people can manage easily. However, Yellowstone offers many opportunities for hiking, from easy to strenuous with great rewards for those who go 'off road' and experience the truly wild side of the park.
My favorite time to visit the park is after Labor Day, when the park has settled down and you can feel winter wanting to make an appearance. The elk are in rut and their bugling can be heard throughout the park, the bears are busy putting on just a little more winter fat for their upcoming long sleep, and all the animals seems to sense the oncoming cold days and are busy getting in just a little more food before the cold, harsh winter comes to stay.
However the park is a joy to visit at anytime and roads in the park generally stay open until November 1st, weather permitting. If planning a trip during the winter you can enter the park by car through Mammoth Hot Springs, the parks headquarters, and the road from there to Cooke City, through the Lamar Valley, is open all year long. Otherwise, snow coach and snowmobile tours are available and are a wonderful way to experience the park in winter. A quick search of the internet will give lots of information on these.
Any way you choose, Yellowstone is an amazing place well worth visiting. With respect and responsibility, your trip to Yellowstone will be safe, sane and amazing.
