On March 1, 1872, Yellowstone became our country’s first
national park. Yellowstone encompasses 2.2 million
protected acres, offering opportunities to explore distinctive hydrothermal and
geological features and observe diverse wildlife. This park contains about half the world’s
active geysers, and geologic wonders like the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone
River, Mammoth Hot Springs, and, of course, Old Faithful Geyser.
The park's vastness is overwhelming. We planned 6 days to visit and made a wish list of all our “must-see” attractions. We then plotted them on Google Maps to plan the most efficient routes. Because it’s not possible to see everything in one day, we broke up the park into sections and managed to see almost everything on our bucket list. There are too many things on the list to go into detail here, but the video and photo links above show most of them. My personal favorite was Mammoth Hot Springs and Pete’s was the size of Lamar Valley and photographing the wolves.
This park has five different entrances,
providing several options for planning your visit. Whether you're staying in a hotel,
camping, backpacking in the backcountry, or driving through on a day trip, many
resources are available. With ten visitor centers located throughout the park,
information is readily accessible. The rangers at the visitor centers are
extremely friendly and helpful. This was our 50th wedding anniversary,
so we splurged on the Old Faithful Inn and the Canyon Lodge. Both were very
beautiful, but very expensive. Keep in mind you are paying for location,
location, location. These are not luxury hotels, and the rooms were very cramped.
There are no TV’s, refrigerators, or microwaves and no wifi or cell signals.
One last thought, with about 4-5 million
visitors per year, be sure to pack a triple dose of patience. We encountered many
ignorant tourons and rude, self-entitled people. I don’t understand why they act that way, but I guess I was brought up differently. People walking
right up to bison is very common (and stupid) and as I was shooting some video
at Yellowstone Falls, a Gen-Z international tourist just walked right up to me
and shoved me out of the way because she wanted a selfie where I was standing! Those are the extremes and in all fairness, we also met many kind, friendly people. The park is worth
seeing at least once in a lifetime. You have to take the good with the bad and understand
that not everything will be perfect. If you keep that in mind, you will have a
wonderful trip.
Until next time....
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