Yellowstone day one

Days are long in Wyoming this time of year. The sun rises around 5:00 and it doesn’t get dark until about 9:30. We are located very far north of where we usually live, and the farther north you travel, the longer the days are in the summer. Now this may seem an obvious fact to you but it somehow escaped me until just a few days ago when I was wondering why I was being awakened at 5:00 am each day. There are a few things that take some getting used to here – the long daylight hours is one, the elevation is another (I still get winded after any exertion), the lack of communications infrastructure (which I know you are tired of me complaining about), and the distance one must travel to procure supplies of any type.

Today we found ourselves in need of a few simple groceries and a propane gas cannister for our camper. I discovered, while showering last night, a 45-degree evening, that our propane was empty because propane is what powers our hot water heater. Jim came to my rescue, quickly switched the tank over and restored the hot water, but we needed to exchange the empty one. But none of these services are available close to where we are staying. So when in Wyoming, do as the Wyoming-ites??. We “went into town to get some supplies”; that is to say we drove 45 miles to the town of Jackson to find a grocery store, a gas station and while we there we found a great place for dinner. The Mangy Moose has been a favorite restaurant in Jackson since 1967. It has a fun, comfortable and inviting décor and menu which really emphasize the western vibe of the town. Food and beverages are locally sourced whenever possible, and local beef and bison are featured on the menu. It also has wifi, of which we took full advantage and uploaded the blogs that I had been writing.

For an appetizer, we ordered chips and salsa and were served a dish with salsa on one side and homemade guacamole on the other. Jim ordered the Prime Rib, which is their specialty, and it came with horseradish, mashed potatoes, and grilled asparagus. I ordered the fish and chips – the fish was locally raised rainbow trout, which had a salmon color because of the food and water here. It came with a delicious slaw which was very lightly dressed and included diced mango. Everything was absolutely delicious and very generous portion sizes. After dinner, we sat in the “saloon” and listened to live music (voice and acoustic guitar) and used their internet. We met the owner, Dave Yoder, whose family is from Pennsylvania and he told us how several of their employees are from Pennsylvania. Small world isn’t it?

On our drive back to our camp ground, we spotted a Moose along the roadside in Wilson, Wyoming. We stopped and there in the bushes was a Mama Moose and her calf – the Moose was black but the baby was a light tan. They were very skiddish and kept well-hidden so the photographs I got were not clear enough to share.

But I have really gotten ahead of myself here, because the main event for today was Yellowstone Park. I don’t even know where to begin about this beautiful park. The first national park in the world, Yellowstone is absolutely enormous. It is impossible to see even the main attractions in less than 3 or 4 days. It has 60% of the known geysers in the world; it has lakes and rivers, waterfalls, mountains, wildlife, and an abundant supply of all of these things.

We left early in the morning and entered through the south entrance ultimately heading for Old Faithful. This is perhaps the most well-known feature of Yellowstone but the drive to get there is equally beautiful. We stopped and viewed a magnificent lake. We saw Elk grazing in a meadow and we kept an eye out for more wildlife. At one point we pulled over to view the beautiful Lewis Lake and further down the road, the Lewis Falls. The wildflowers are everywhere here – they even line the edges of the roadway. I was able to pickup a wildflower guide at the visitor’s center so I can identify the ones I photographed.

We stopped for breakfast at the Lakeside House restaurant and enjoyed a simple buffet while viewing the beautiful lake. The breakfast was just okay, but the view was world-class.

We then arrived at Old Faithful about 10 minutes before it was due to erupt and it did not disappoint. It erupted on schedule and sent a plume of water 40 feet into the air. In the area surrounding Old Faithful are many thermal areas – some just look like puddles of water which suddenly start to boil. Others constantly spew steam and gas. The entire area smells like hard-boiled eggs. The buffalo come here to warm themselves during the winter and the cold nights like we’re having now. The temperature has been in the mid-30’s at night in Yellowstone.

We continued our drive and found more thermal areas, some of them are beautifully colored, others are simpler. All are just amazing.

One particularly pretty area had a creek running through it – the creek babbled along as it gently splashed over the smooth rocks. We stopped to just listen to it and admire the area and close to the parking lot, we spotted some elk grazing in a field.

Our drive took us on a loop through the southern part of the park. Our next adventure will be to go further north in the park toward the large falls. And that is for tomorrow.