Day 3: All Yellowstone, All the Time
Here are the notes I am taking while Molly and I are on a road trip through Idaho (briefly), Wyoming, and Montana, October 2018.
Part 1 is here | Part 2 is here
OCTOBER 8, 2018
RED LODGE — YELLOWSTONE PARK
What in blazes grows in these parts? I have never been so hay fever-ridden. It’s been a rough few nights of sleep time. Fortunately it was my turn to drive (Molly and I trade off days of driving and navigating), so I could just follow Molly’s instructions and not have to navigate – not one of my more honed skills.
We beat it back into Yellowstone, post haste. I’ve always declared that Yellowstone is my favorite National Park, based on dim childhood memories and an epic trip taken around the area when I was 17, with my mom, Aunt Pat, and sister Ann, which was one of the funnest summers of my life. I think my nostalgia for that time is linked to Yellowstone, and to even dimmer memories of visits to my grandparents’ ranch in Ennis, MT. But my actual concrete impressions of the actual Park are few. I remember Old Faithful and the Opal Pool and flashes of beauty.
Well, I remembered rightly.
Lamar Valley is a stretch that is known for a wildlife spotting, and it did not disappoint. Perhaps you’ll be disappointed because timing and distance kept me from taking many or any satisfying shots. But rest assured we saw moose and bison, and later, loads of elk.
Bison, I think, through binoculars lens
Of all the incredibly nice moments so far, this was an extra specially pleasant one. There were just a few other people around, all united by the delight in seeing animals. It was very gentle and lovely. Not to mention the weather couldn’t have been more fall-perfect.
And some bison showed up, close enough to look like bison!
The Lamar Valley area was very beautiful to behold, but you could also see some steamy bubbly hot springs in the edges of the river, which hinted at some of the geothermal nuttiness that was just ahead.
We visited this cute petrified tree, a left over from when there were redwoods here, during a vastly different climate, long ago.
“The petrification process can only occur when sediment completely buries the tree, blocking oxygen flow and preventing standard decomposition. Water flowing through the sediment deposits minerals in the tree’s cells, and over thousands of years, these built-up minerals form a perfect replica. Even the tree’s cell structure and fibers are preserved.”
We liked this little guy. Also we know that he’s the last standing one from three that used to be side-by-side. The other two were dismantled by souvenir seekers in previous decades. And very back luck befell them since, as we all know, to take petrified wood is to lay a curse upon oneself.
We upped and overed it into Mammoth, which will be our home for the next two days. We were not prepared for Mammoth to be an actual little tiny town. Nor did we expect so may elk wandering and sitting around absolutely everywhere, looking pretty insouciant.
Excuse me, Miss Magpie, you’ve got an elk on your ass
And then things got even more magnificent and malodorous. The land that is known as Yellowstone is basically atop a volcano, which leads to geothermal extravaganzas, including geysers, mudpots, fumeroles and springs. Yellowstone is constantly changing scenery, bizarre tableaux, beauty and strangeness.
And occasionally there’s a stenchy smell-track to this epic movie; sulphorous gasses that can be a little much.
But it was all so thrilling. What a day. Now we’re tucked into our little cabin in Mammoth, our home for two nights.