Yellowstone is just an amazing place. It is massive, and the landscape changes from prairie, to forest, to practically a moonscape in the matter of only a few miles. The big draw, though, is the wildlife. The first time you drive down a road and are stopped by a herd of bison is pretty amazing. This is America’s version of a safari in Africa. We got to the park in the afternoon and spent the night in a cabin, and then spent the majority of the next day there as well.

Yellowstone National park

Here the girls pose at the North Entrance of Yellowstone. The North Entrance Road Historic District comprises Yellowstone National Park’s North Entrance Road from Gardiner, Montana to the park headquarters at Mammoth Hot Springs, a distance of a little over five miles.

It wasn’t long before we saw our first wildlife. In the trees we spotted some mule deer. In the plains and around some of the hot springs, we began to spot bison, or buffalo as most people call them. We thought this would be our most impressive view, but the next day we were close enough to practically touch them. They were everywhere, and it almost got to the point where we were tired of seeing them.

 

I was particularly excited when we saw our very first bald eagle. It was far off in the trees, but we managed to spot it and get a picture. We also saw coyotes, a bear, a large male elk with a big rack, and other animals, too; but the buffalo were the most awe inspiring. Nowhere in America can you find such a large assortment of animals.

Old Faithful may be the most famous geyser, but Yellowstone has a number of really breathtaking geysers. Yellowstone had everything from foul-smelling hot springs, to lush forests, to large plains, to an assortment of canyons. It was like you were on another planet at times.

 

Regarding the features of the park that deal with the subsurface heating of water and rock, we saw a number of interesting features. Clockwise from upper right is the boiling waters of Dragon’s Breath; the path to and the actual Old Faithful Geyser; Castle Geyser; Firehole River fumaroles and geysers; a hot spring; Canary Spring on the Upper Terrace; and Orange Spring Mound.

8/7/04—8/14/04

The scenery at Yellowstone is amazing, and so Alicia needed to get a full rear window view of it all. We entered through the east gate and shortly thereafter Lake Yellowstone came into view.

At upper left is Yellowstone Lake at dawn. At upper right is Upper Falls near Canyon. Lower right is Gibbon Falls near Madison. Lower left is Tower Falls. Below is the canyon near Canyon.