I mentioned in an earlier post that we had originally planned to do a coast to coast trip in the U.S., but decided to do a round trip instead. One of the reasons for this was that we wanted to visit Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, far to the north from the other places we had in mind. A detour through the park would have taken ages so in the end we made up our minds to plan a different kind of trip. That is to say, we had somewhat high expectations to the park.

We were not disappointed.

Getting there

We had spent a night at Idaho Falls on Walmart's parking lot and got an early start by leaving at about 6 a.m.. We were visiting in high season and hadn't made reservations to any of the multiple campgrounds in Yellowstone. Our plan was to get there early enough to get a spot from one of the first come first served campgrounds that we had read about in our copy of Lonely Planet USA. Heading north on road 20 we made good time and crossed the border to Montana just before 8 a.m.. The road cut through Montana for just a few miles but we managed to stop there anyway, at the visitor center in West Yellowstone. We picked up a couple of free maps and got some advice to which campgrounds we should try to head to. And most importantly, we purchased the America the Beautiful national park pass. The card would allow us to enter national parks across the country within one year from the month of purchase. It cost $80 but we had figured that we'd visit enough national parks to save some money with it. Just the Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks would have cost $25…

We entered the park through the west entrance and drove to Madison on the lower loop. The main roads in Yellowstone form a figure eight where the upper loop (70 mi/113 km) and the lower loop (96 mi/155 km) take visitors through the most important sights. We headed north from Madison and found that the campground in Norris was already full and thus continued on to the upper loop towards Mammoth. We were trying to get a site from Indian Creek campground, which according to the park ranger we had talked to in West Yellowstone had taken until 1.30 p.m. on the previous day to fill up. This was probably due to the massive roadwork they were doing on the Norris-Mammoth route, it took ages to cross the long miles that the workers had turned into a rough gravel road. We made it through eventually and found Indian Creek with a few campsites still remaining. A spot cost $15 and came with a bear box to store foods in. We were surprised to learn that most visitors actually stay in tents rather than RV's like us. Steel bear boxes were a must for them in order not to wake up to the sound of a bear clawing its way into the tent. The campsite had pit toilets spread out in many places, and a few spots where one could get potable water from, but no showers or dump stations. Those could be found in different campgrounds, dumping was free in Canyon Village and Madison, we didn't try showers anywhere in the park.

The upper loop

After we had secured the camping spot we returned to the upper loop and drove north to Mammoth Hot Springs where we stopped at the Upper Terraces parking lot. The one way loop drive was forbidden to RV's so we just walked the boardwalks. Unlike most of the hot springs we saw later, these ones didn't stink of rotten eggs but otherwise they weren't the best sights in the park. Apparently there has been a whole lot more water in past years, filling the terraces with reflective coatings of it and offering a multitude of clear colors for visitors to enjoy. Now the water level was lower and the salt like white flats created a different kind of scenery, more barren than beautiful. It was still splendid though, a view unlike anything either of us had ever seen. We walked around probably more than half an hour before heading back to the car and continuing east along the loop, stopping at some great viewpoints on the way to Tower-Roosevelt. There we stopped at the parking lot next to the gas station to walk the Lost Lake Loop described in a day hike brochure we had gotten at West Yellowstone. The loop took us up a steep hill on a narrow path in the forest, claimed to be prime bear country. We hadn't invested in bear spray (available in most of the park's stores for about $50) or bear bells so we tried to make a lot of nervous noises to let them know we were coming. The weather was cloudy and there seemed to be a thunderstorm heading our way so we didn't enjoy the short hike as much as we might have under different circumstances. The path took us by the Lost Lake and an immensely old petrified tree, both of which weren't too spectacular but we were glad we saw them anyway. The most surprising thing about the walk was that the path was almost lost under hay. Apparently not too many people go through the trouble of getting out of their cars and walking in the forests.

We didn't see any bears on the trail, but we encountered one not long after. Visitors in Yellowstone are advised to stay at least 100 yards (91 m) away from bears and wolves and 25 yards (23 m) from bison etc. While driving people are told to stop in the nearest pullout and watch animals from the inside of the car without stopping traffic. This never works. The roads in Yellowstone are notorious for different types of jams, be it a bear jam, a bison jam, a moose jam, or whatever. We encountered a jam after stopping at Tower Falls and waited for a good while for it to clear out. It didn't seem to be happening so I sent Sini out to investigate what was going on. About a minute later I saw a grizzly bear with a tracking collar walking on the hill beside of the road. Sini returned to the car pretty quickly and we both watched as the beast calmly descended the hill and made its way through the stopped cars to the other side of the road where it vanished into the forest. We encountered many other animals later but this was memorable not only because it was the only bear we saw, but also because we got to see it from just a few cars away. And because now Sini can say that she's been within fifty meters from a wild grizzly without any form of protection from the beast.

Bewildered by this encounter we continued south to Canyon Village where we dumped our wastes and filled the fresh water tank before heading to the North Rim Drive that follows the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. The drive had numerous lookouts offering marvelous views of the ravine and the Yellowstone River with its waterfalls. We also took the Inspiration Point detour before heading back to Canyon Village where we filled our gas tank. All of the petrol stations we checked in Yellowstone offered fuel for the same price, $3.199 per gallon, which was only marginally more expensive than outside of the park. The park is made to be circled with a motorized vehicle and thus there are plenty of gas stations around the two loops and each major sight is equipped with a large parking lot. Finding a spot in one may still be a problem, especially when driving a larger vehicle. Our 19 feet long RV was luckily a perfect fit to any normal parking spot in the park. Americans like pickup trucks and so the parking spaces have to be bigger than they are at home.

We managed to see two more large animals on the way back to our campground; a moose on a field very far away and a bull bison from just a few meters. The latter was by far the more impressive one, partly because we have an abundance of moose at home. The bison was huge and reminded us about the dangers of driving too fast or in the dark in Yellowstone. Hitting an animal is a very real possibility (more than 100 large animals are killed on the park roads each year), though most of them seemed to know better than to venture on the pavement. We stayed below the speed limit (max 45 mph) and drove safely back to Indian Creek to rest for another adventure packed day.

The lower loop

We hadn't really planned how many days we wanted to spend in Yellowstone, but in the morning of our second day we figured that we'd need at least two nights. It was easily arranged, we just walked back to the campground office and paid another $15 to keep our spot until the next morning. With that taken care of we took off towards the south, once again penetrating the massive roadwork they were doing on the way to Norris. From Norris we continued again to the south on the lower loop, stopping first at Artists Paintpots. We'd thought that these would be a collection of colorful pools, but at the furthest point of the loop trail we found a bubbling hole filled with white mud that occasionally spat out some of its contents a couple of meters to the air. The rest of the area was quite pretty too with steaming pools etc.

We stopped on a couple of viewpoints on the road to Madison where we tried to do the Firehole Canyon Drive, but found it to be forbidden for RV's. Further south we went to see what there was at the end of Fountain Flat Drive and ended up on a parking lot where one could park to go on several longer hikes. Next we stopped at Fountain Paint Pot and got our first taste of the masses that make touring Yellowstone a little exhausting. The area was packed full with visitors from all over, many of them Oriental. This paint pot was also a bubbling white mud hole, surrounded by a couple of nice looking geysers and more steaming pools of turquoise water. Continuing on we stopped at Midway Geyser Basin and had some difficulty finding a parking spot, but doing the circle twice was the key to success once again. Midway Geyser Basin is famous for one of the most spectacular sites in Yellowstone, the Grand Prismatic Spring. As the name suggests, the large spring has many colors to it and if viewed from above it truly looks like something out of this world. We got a pretty good look at it from the ground level too, there are boardwalks all around the area that you can use to view the surrounding pools as well. Like in most thermal areas in Yellowstone stepping off the designated path was a strict no-no since you can never be sure that there isn't a pool of boiling water just under a thin crust of earth.

Our Lonely Planet USA told us that we could get a better view of the Grand Prismatic Spring by climbing up the hill next to it on the trail that leads to the Fairy Falls. That route was closed for renovations on our second day but we tried it on the third. RV's are not allowed to park on the small parking lot leading to the trail, but we got a spot at the nearby pullout. After starting to follow the track we quickly realized that you really aren't supposed to get off it to climb the hill. Everywhere where a path had already formed on the delicate hillside the rangers had posted a sign telling people to keep off it. A lot of people still climbed the hill, but we didn't. The view might have been great, but we didn't feel like breaking the rules or the meager vegetation on the hill.

Next on our agenda was possibly the most famous of all of the many sights in Yellowstone, the Old Faithful geyser. After finding a parking spot we walked to the steaming geyser to see if it was about to blow or not. Apparently it does so every 90 to 108 minutes and never misses a burst. The area was almost abandoned so we thought it safe to leave the geyser and go see the estimated time of the next eruption at the visitor center. Turned out that we had missed the previous by activity by twenty minutes or so and thus we had plenty of time to get ready for the next one. This meant taking out our foldable chairs (courtesy of my old host family in Oregon) and some other picnic essentials to the viewing area and picking a spot to chill at. Most who come to see the Old Faithful crowd by the fence surrounding the geyser and create a claustrophobic mass united in their expectation of the forthcoming event. We sat on the gravel a short way away, calmly eating cold hot dogs without anyone pushing us around. When the time came and the Old Faithful started to show signs of waking up I took out my camera and filmed the whole thing without anyone jumping into my view. The geyser didn't let us down and sprouted out a massive column of steam and water just about exactly when predicted. It really was pretty cool and we thought we had a great view even from a little further away. At the very least we were very comfortable.

After seeing the eruption of the famous geyser we took our picnic accessories back to the car and walked around the area a little more. We followed a trail up to a viewing point and found ourselves completely alone. Visitors in Yellowstone usually seem to prefer the comforts of their vehicles and the paved paths surrounding parking lots. You'll never have the park to yourself, but if you want to escape the crowds it is as easy as taking the nearest gravel path. Nine times out of ten you'll find yourself enjoying some great little sight all by yourself. We followed the path to Solitary Geyser that erupts every five to seven minutes and waited for it to burst before heading back to the main area. The steaming expanse of land surrounding Old Faithful apparently has the largest density of geysers in the world, a fact that becomes somewhat obvious when visiting it. Everywhere you look there are columns of steam rising from the ground. We might have walked to the end of the very large complex of boardwalks, but it started to rain and we thought it best to head back to the car. We still saw some great examples of thermal activity there, it was definitely worth the side trip.

Next we headed east to the West Thumb Geyser Basin and the Yellowstone Lake, passing a couple of bison jams on the way. We had been excited to see one of the huge animals the on the previous day, but on the lower loop their kind seemed to outnumber cars at points. Well, maybe not, but we did see quite a few. At West Thumb we walked to the Yellowstone Lake Overlook, which was a 1.5 mile roundtrip up a nearby hill. The view was quite nice, but we didn't stay long, even though the rain had stopped. We saw more of the lake from the road that follows its shore all the way up to its northernmost point, where it turns into the Yellowstone River. Following that we saw some more bison, few of which swam to the other side as we watched them. At Mud Volcano a couple of other visitors told us that there was a bison blocking the loop trail, so we saw the other things first. At the northern end of the area there was an awesome cave sprouting out steam and water, all the while roaring like there was a huge beast inside. Not surprisingly it was called Dragon-something… We did the loop eventually and found that the bison had made a friend and moved on to the side enough to let people pass from a safe distance. Here we saw another Dragon-something mud pool that apparently had burst into existence only a few decades ago. The landscape in Yellowstone changes constantly and this was a prime example of that. Supposedly the whole place stands on a supervolcano that could possibly end life as we know it if it decided to erupt. To some the thought of standing on it might be a little unnerving, but we just figured that we might as well go quickly and not by starvation. We haven't yet stocked up on the kinds of massive prepper food containers they sell here at Walmarts…

Our last stop on the lower loop was once again at Canyon Village where we went to see the south rim of the canyon the Yellowstone River had carved. Artist Point at the end of the South Rim Drive has supposedly the best views of the entire canyon and we made it there just as the sun was setting. The views didn't disappoint but we didn't stay long to save some daylight for a short hike down Uncle Tom's Trail that descends to a viewpoint of one of the river's waterfalls. The over 300 steps down were quite steep and visitors are advised to take it slow in them, remembering that the elevation in Yellowstone is anywhere between 2000 to 2600 meters above sea level. Luckily we had had our high altitude training in Peru just a couple of weeks earlier, in elevations almost twice that. The viewpoint at the end was worth all the trouble of climbing back up, but anyone suffering from a fear of heights should probably sit this one out. The stairs are made of sturdy metal, but you can see through them to the bottom of the ravine…

Grand Teton National Park

After spending another night at Indian Creek campground we thought that we'd seen enough of Yellowstone. We'd done both of the loops and stopped for almost all of the major sights, from there on we would have to drive through places we'd already visited and to go on different hikes to see the places off the main road. None of the shorter hikes we'd done had been very impressive. Yellowstone really seems to be made to be toured with a car or motorcycle. Plus, we had a lot of ground to cover on our road trip, so we decided to head south.

Grand Teton National park lies at the southern border of Yellowstone and gets a lot less visitors than the more famous park. It was the obvious choice for our route towards south so we redid most of the lower loop to head down towards it. On the way we saw one last bison, raising the number we'd spotted to 20. We'd also seen the one bear, a moose, few elks and some deer, so in the end the wildlife spotting in Yellowstone didn't go too bad for us. The curious thing was that even though we ventured on a couple of short treks well out of the noise of the main roads, we never saw any animals there. We saw these animals while driving, which was kind of cool since it meant that we didn't feel like we were wasting time while on the road. Each time one of us sat behind the wheel we got a feeling like we were going on a safari. Sadly we didn't see any more animals while driving through Grand Teton, but then again we did spend a lot less time there.

After entering the other national park we stopped at the visitor center in Flagg Ranch Village to get some information about the park. They provided us with a map, a newspaper and a pamphlet suggesting a driving tour around the major sights along the two main roads. We were just passing through so we skipped most of the sights, but we did stop for a few. We enjoyed the views of Jackson Lake from a few overlooks by the road and took the Teton Park Road towards Jenny Lake at the intersection. Signal Mountain Drive was forbidden for RV's, but we were able to do the one-way North Jenny Lake Scenic Drive, which as the name suggests was scenic. The only time we got out of the car for more than a few minutes was a bit earlier though, at Colter Bay where we did the two mile Lakeshore Trail with great views of the surrounding mountains.

After getting back on the main road south of Moose we headed out of the national park, stopping for some more stunning views of the Teton Range. For some reason the mountains seemed to get less spectacular the closer we got so apparently it was worth seeing them first from the north. We kept on heading south on the scenic road 89 in a desperate attempt to make it all the way to Utah for another free night at a Walmart's parking lot. We managed to do it in the end and thus ended our great visit to the national parks in Wyoming. We had just a couple of days in Yellowstone and even less in Grand Teton, but they were definitely worth the trip there. If we ever make a Top 10 kind of list of the things we saw on this trip, these parks would be sure to find their place amongst them.