Yellowstone to Teton NP July 13, 2010

We had four other RVs join us in out river overlook last night.  Campgrounds are filled everywhere.  For the number of camping visitors to Yellowstone, the Park Service has less than a thousand campsites in the entire park.  People are forced to drive up to one hundred miles to find a site.

Mammoth Sping

We drove into the park at 8:30 AM thinking we might find a vacant campsite early in the day.  We checked a couple campgrounds but they didn't have any sites that would handle our rig.  We decided to make our way down to Old Faithful.  That is the main thing both of us wanted to see here along with the wildlife.  The wildlife viewing is over rated.  On TV they show animals all over the highway with cars backed up taking photos.  You get the impression that is happening around every bend.  It is not.

We did have an elk step out in the road.  He stopped traffic for a moment.  Then we spotted a grizzly bear next to the road.  The bear backed traffic up for a long distance.  Buffalo are pretty common in the park.  They are seen the most frequently.

We are sitting across from the laundromat in Teton posting our blogs.  It is getting late and we are hungry so I will continue this tomorrow.  See you then.

I'm back.

Yellowstone is by far the most popular National Park.  I guess it gets the most exposure by the media.  It certainly lacks the beauty of all the other parks we have visited.  Nearly the entire park has been burned over.  Small lodge pole pines are beginning to fill in.  The lodge pole pine is the dominate tree in the park.  They are not to be compared to the douglas fir or stately ponderosa pine.  Lodge pole pines are skinny tall trees that are about the same diameter at the top as they are at the bottom.  They truly are poles.

The only thing this park has going for it is the bubbling pools and steaming geysers.  You can see steam rising about anywhere around the park.  Some of the springs are massive.  There are boardwalks that take you right out amongst them.   Many of the boardwalks are miles long.  We are not able to walk that far.  Darlie’s knee is bothering her and I am just not interested enough to go alone.   

We got to Old Faithful at 10:30 AM.  The geyser was due to spout at 10:56 AM.  Our timing was perfect.  We were parked only a short walk away.  We had front row seats.  The park has not gotten up to its usual level of congestion this early in the day.  Right on time Old Faithful did its thing.  It was a spectacular site.  The highest fountains lasted only a minute or so but it spit and burped for about four minutes.   It made our day.  It was worth the ticket, as they say.

We moved on down to the southern entrance.  We didn’t see any wildlife in the southern loop at all.  Everything was in the northern loop.  We were disappointed that we didn’t see more animals.  People who live out here hate the idea that they reintroduced the wolf to the area.  They are reducing the elk, buffalo and moose herds.  The wolves follow a pregnant cow around until she has her young then attacks it before it can get to its feet.  I am sure the naturalists would deny this fact but the locals who hunt and live here have witnessed it.  Cattle ranchers are losing many of their calves to wolves also.  They have a saying; SBS=shoot, bury, silence.  

We would not return to visit Yellowstone.  That is not to say someone shouldn’t visit it once.  The hot springs and geysers certainly are worthy of a visit.  It is not the relaxed park we have come to love.  It is busy and active like what lies below.  You do think about the fact that you are walking around on top of one of the world’s largest magma chambers.  Not far below hell fire and brimstone do exist.

As we left Yellowstone, the Tetons could be seen up ahead.  They are beautiful snow covered peaks.  Lake Jackson lies at their feet.  We have found a lovely campground at Colter Bay.  Again, the Lord intervened for us.  They assigned us a site that was very small.  Our door also opened on the wrong side facing the road instead of the picnic area.  When we drove to the site, it was occupied.  I went back to the office. 

They had made a mistake.  They assigned me to another site which is very pleasant.  Our door opens to a dense forest providing an abundance of privacy. 

One of our first chores was to dump our waste tanks.  We have been dry camping for three days without the convenience of a dump station.  After three days of moving from place to place things get mixed up pretty good in there and form a noxious smelling brew.  It is one of the unpleasant things you have to deal with on occasion.  Darlie has tried all kinds of concoctions to quell the stench.  Nothing works after a couple of days.

As long as we are parked it is fine, but start moving and whew, it is bad.

In the category of things you never thought about but now you understand: there is a reason the outhouse was the out house.  When we stopped at Newspaper Rock back in Canyonlands NP, I used the pit toilet.  That is the modern term for outhouse.  While using the facility, a blast of wind shot down the huge vent pipe and blasted me right in the face with the rich bouquet of human waste.   Since that day, I have avoided pit toilets.  I make the walk back to the MH instead.

We have reserved our site for three days.  Our neighbors came over to visit earlier.  They have been here many times.  They took the map and marked out must see places and suggested daily routes of travel.  We will set off on this new adventure in the morning.