Day 4 - Yellowstone and Running with the Sheep
The pitter patter of a four-legged creature on the roof woke Emily up this morning. Breakfast at the Rustic Inn was spectacular, featuring bold coffee, scrambled eggs cooked up with fresh chives, onions, and peppers, and lots of fresh, delicious fruit. Kristina made a point also to eat a spiral pastry in honor of yesterday's adventures at the Spiral Jetty... and then, we were properly fueled for our morning of driving.
Rain (and some sleet and snow) came and went as we drove up through Wyoming, into Idaho, and on into Montana. We made a stop at a conveniently located auto parts store to replace the passenger side windshield wiper (have to keep the view clear for the passenger photographer!). The cashier seemed surprised Emily picked out the right model. He was probably even more surprised when she promptly swapped it for the old one without his help. It wasn't the last time today she had to do a little car maintenance...
We made a final stop for gas in West Yellowstone, right outside the western entrance and then headed into the park. Shortly after entering, the tire pressure sensor lit up. Back out of the park and into West Yellowstone we went.
Four gas stations later, we found an air pump, conveniently located next to a tire shop. Emily checked all four tires, topped each off a pound or two, and could only guess that perhaps the spare tire was causing the issue. And we really... really didn't want to pull everything out of the car to get to the spare. We decided to borrow a gauge from the tire shop to double check (you can't really see this here, but it's a Jeff Gordon tire gauge, which Kristina thought was hysterical). Back into the park we went.
And finally, about a half hour later, the sensor light went out, just in time to spot our first wildlife in the park.
Yellowstone is like a place left over from prehistoric times. Perhaps most impressive is its sheer size. Stretching 100 square miles, you could easily spend a week here, exploring all Yellowstone has to offer. Besides its towering, snow-capped peaks and deep valleys, wandering rivers and streams, and wide variety of large animals, it boasts some serious subterranean activity. This place is a geothermal hotspot, folks!
First we drove down to the south-central portion of the park to see Old Faithful. Along the way, we passed many other not-as-faithful geysers. The earth was fizzling and steaming all around us. It's actually kind of disturbing when you think about the fact that this whole area sits atop a volcano...
We watched Old Faithful fizzle and steam for about 45 minutes (sitting outside in our winter coats and hats... it was 35 degrees today).
We stopped at the Visitors Center to get some maps and advice about the observation points, and to pick up literature on bear safety, since many of the people we talked to today had seen bears during their journeys (we never did... sorry, Doug). Emily rehydrated at a gigantic snow bank.
The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone was, indeed, grand. It include two big waterfalls. Unfortunately, we could only see this via the lookout points because all hiking was closed (it's still very much winter here and all trails are covered with several feet of snow).
At this point, we were three hours from Cody, WY, our stopping point for the night, and it was time to head out. Now on the eastern side of the park, we headed south towards the recently opened (as of last Friday) east entrance. Waiting for the trip to begin, we were annoyed at all of the contingency planning we had to do in the instance that roads wouldn't open in time. What could be causing this delay, we wondered? This is ridiculous, we thought. During this drive, however, it became evident --- more snow. Walls of it taller than the car. And steep mountains with an active threat of avalanches during the spring thaw. We get it now.
After leaving Yellowstone, the drive to Cody was pretty spectacular, too, boasting stunning scenery and more evidence of volcanic activity in the past. Thankfully, the snow was gone at this lower elevation.
Coming around a particular bend in the road, Emily spotted a herd of sheep running in the middle of the highway. They weren't running across, but full steam in the direction we were driving. The sheep had been harder to spot than the bison or elk we saw today because of their coloring. Emily felt an overwhelming urge to run with the sheep, who looked so free and wild, roaming around this gorgeous countryside. Kristina pulled out the camera and started capturing our wild ride along with the sheep. She managed to stifle her laughter, so the audio you hear is Emily. This was our "Deeth Starr Valley" moment of the day.
This portion of the trip required a lot of planning. After we had laid out our original itinerary, we realized that we were way ahead of tourist season in Yellowstone. This caused us to create a back-up plan and monitor Yellowstone's weather closely in the weeks and days leading up to the trip. As of Saturday (Day 1), we determined that we had access to enough of the park and roads crucial to making this activity feasible to make a go of it. However, to do so, we had to drive a little further around to enter from the western side instead of coming up from the south entrance like we had originally planned.
Rain (and some sleet and snow) came and went as we drove up through Wyoming, into Idaho, and on into Montana. We made a stop at a conveniently located auto parts store to replace the passenger side windshield wiper (have to keep the view clear for the passenger photographer!). The cashier seemed surprised Emily picked out the right model. He was probably even more surprised when she promptly swapped it for the old one without his help. It wasn't the last time today she had to do a little car maintenance...
We made a final stop for gas in West Yellowstone, right outside the western entrance and then headed into the park. Shortly after entering, the tire pressure sensor lit up. Back out of the park and into West Yellowstone we went.
Four gas stations later, we found an air pump, conveniently located next to a tire shop. Emily checked all four tires, topped each off a pound or two, and could only guess that perhaps the spare tire was causing the issue. And we really... really didn't want to pull everything out of the car to get to the spare. We decided to borrow a gauge from the tire shop to double check (you can't really see this here, but it's a Jeff Gordon tire gauge, which Kristina thought was hysterical). Back into the park we went.
And finally, about a half hour later, the sensor light went out, just in time to spot our first wildlife in the park.
Yellowstone is like a place left over from prehistoric times. Perhaps most impressive is its sheer size. Stretching 100 square miles, you could easily spend a week here, exploring all Yellowstone has to offer. Besides its towering, snow-capped peaks and deep valleys, wandering rivers and streams, and wide variety of large animals, it boasts some serious subterranean activity. This place is a geothermal hotspot, folks!
First we drove down to the south-central portion of the park to see Old Faithful. Along the way, we passed many other not-as-faithful geysers. The earth was fizzling and steaming all around us. It's actually kind of disturbing when you think about the fact that this whole area sits atop a volcano...
We watched Old Faithful fizzle and steam for about 45 minutes (sitting outside in our winter coats and hats... it was 35 degrees today).
And right on time, she let off her steam as the crowd of 200 or so people gasped and cheered.
Next, we re-traced our steps northward and stopped at the Midway Geyser Basin. Here, we got out of the car and walked the boardwalk loop to check out the Grand Prismatic Spring. This would been a better view if it were a clear, hot, sunny day... but at least we managed the snow and sleet pretty well with our winter-weather gear and rain coats.
Next, we drove northeast, across the park, to check out the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. More snow!
We stopped at the Visitors Center to get some maps and advice about the observation points, and to pick up literature on bear safety, since many of the people we talked to today had seen bears during their journeys (we never did... sorry, Doug). Emily rehydrated at a gigantic snow bank.
The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone was, indeed, grand. It include two big waterfalls. Unfortunately, we could only see this via the lookout points because all hiking was closed (it's still very much winter here and all trails are covered with several feet of snow).
At this point, we were three hours from Cody, WY, our stopping point for the night, and it was time to head out. Now on the eastern side of the park, we headed south towards the recently opened (as of last Friday) east entrance. Waiting for the trip to begin, we were annoyed at all of the contingency planning we had to do in the instance that roads wouldn't open in time. What could be causing this delay, we wondered? This is ridiculous, we thought. During this drive, however, it became evident --- more snow. Walls of it taller than the car. And steep mountains with an active threat of avalanches during the spring thaw. We get it now.
After leaving Yellowstone, the drive to Cody was pretty spectacular, too, boasting stunning scenery and more evidence of volcanic activity in the past. Thankfully, the snow was gone at this lower elevation.
Coming around a particular bend in the road, Emily spotted a herd of sheep running in the middle of the highway. They weren't running across, but full steam in the direction we were driving. The sheep had been harder to spot than the bison or elk we saw today because of their coloring. Emily felt an overwhelming urge to run with the sheep, who looked so free and wild, roaming around this gorgeous countryside. Kristina pulled out the camera and started capturing our wild ride along with the sheep. She managed to stifle her laughter, so the audio you hear is Emily. This was our "Deeth Starr Valley" moment of the day.
After a quick dinner at La Comida (Mexican/American restaurant), we settled into Cody Cowboy Village, our cabin/motel for the night. A long day of driving tomorrow! And a forecast of three inches of snow...
posted by Emmy @ 10:00 PM
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