Days 1 & 2: Getting there via Billings and the Beartooth Highway

Day 3: visiting the Norris Basin and the Artist Paintpots; hiking the Beaver Ponds Trail

Day 4: Exploring Mammoth Hot Springs; visiting Lamar Valley and hiking to Slough Creek

Day 5: Conquering Mount Washburn; visiting the Mud Volcano; leaving Mammoth for Yellowstone Lake

Day 6: hiking the lower rim of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

Day 7: visiting Old Faithful and the other geysers; leaving Yellowstone Lake for the Grand Tetons

Day 8: hiking to Two Ocean Lake; visiting Signal Mountain

Day 9: hiking to Taggart and Bradley Lake; leaving Colter Bay Village for Grand Targhee

Day 10: running the Grand Tetons trail marathon

Day 11: Leaving Grand Targhee for Bozeman, MT

Day 12: returning to Boston

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay, this is getting dire. It’s been practically a month after the fact and I thoroughly forget the names of many of the geysers we saw erupting. Except Old Faithful. Ugh — the only good thing I can say about Old Faithful is it erupted roughly 3 minutes after we arrived in the Old Faithful area, meaning we didn’t have to wait up to 90 minutes to witness the most underwhelming tourist moment since our rainy-day visit to Venice Beach.

Where’s the water? Just a billow of steam, like walking past a large apartment complex’s laundry room vent.

Old Faithful eruption

Tourist moment

But maybe showing up right before it erupted was the problem — we missed the anticipation. After going into the visitor’s center and scribbling down the expected eruption times of the other predictable geysers in the park, we followed the boardwalk to visit them.

We were looking at some mud pot when I realized this was going off, and called to Mr. P to go take a picture. Grand Geyser?

Grand Geyser?

Oh, my. I can’t even remember if this is a different geyser or not.

Hot Springs

Hot Springs

I remember this one — Grotto Geyser! Another eruption we surreptitiously stumbled upon.

Grotto Geyser

And this one — Morning Glory Pool.

Morning Glory

And our last — Daisy Geyser! We waited about twenty minutes for this one, the most by far.

Daisy Geyser

By then, it was almost noon and the crowds were picking up. It was time to leave Yellowstone and head to the Grand Tetons. What a send off!

Okay, a picture

Days 1 & 2: Getting there via Billings and the Beartooth Highway

Day 3: visiting the Norris Basin and the Artist Paintpots; hiking the Beaver Ponds Trail

Day 4: Exploring Mammoth Hot Springs; visiting Lamar Valley and hiking to Slough Creek

Day 5: Conquering Mount Washburn; visiting the Mud Volcano; leaving Mammoth for Yellowstone Lake

Day 6: hiking the lower rim of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

Day 7: visiting Old Faithful and the other geysers; leaving Yellowstone Lake for the Grand Tetons

Day 8: hiking to Two Ocean Lake; visiting Signal Mountain

Day 9: hiking to Taggart and Bradley Lake; leaving Colter Bay Village for Grand Targhee

Day 10: running the Grand Tetons trail marathon

Day 11: Leaving Grand Targhee for Bozeman, MT

Day 12: returning to Boston

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So, by now, I’m blogging a full two weeks after the fact… and it has been a hectic two weeks!

I believe we woke up in our new cabin by Yellowstone Lake and had a totally unceremoniously breakfast involving in-room coffee, bread, cheese, fruit? next to our beds, since our new cabin did not have a front porch. Perhaps Little Boy rallied against the agenda of the day: Yet another hike. That day, it was a six-miler along the lower rim of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, one of the park’s famed features. And justly so!

Upper Falls of the Yellowstone, Via the Lower Rim

We drove to the trailhead and found the route for the lower rim. This afforded us a view of the upper falls — a smaller waterfall and less scenic than the lower falls, but since there was no adjoining parking lot and required at least a half-mile hike to view,  we had it all to ourselves.

Different story for the lower falls. For one thing, we had to descend a steep series of see-through steps. I was a little freaked out (I pathologically fear the void) and was forced to turn around shortly after this picture.

On Uncle Tom's Trail to view the lower falls

Mr. P has no fear of the void and got a fab picture replete with rainbows:

Lower Falls with Rainbow

Oh yes. It was magnificent.

Lower Falls of the Yellowstone

The trail continued to several viewpoints accessible by car, so we had to fight the crowds for viewpoints.

The rusted walls of the canyon

Shortly after leaving the tourist-congested area, we entered a totally different universe featuring the geothermal features (steam vents, acidic ponds, volcanic rock) that created the canyon many many years ago.

Continuing along the lower rim trail

About a mile later, we finished the hike and had a picnic. The rest of the afternoon, everyone relaxed while Mr. P and I went for a trail run near the lake. We returned, went for a casual dinner, then ventured to take in the sunset by Yellowstone Lake.

Yellowstone Lake

Yellowstone Lake

Days 1 & 2: Getting there via Billings and the Beartooth Highway

Day 3: visiting the Norris Basin and the Artist Paintpots; hiking the Beaver Ponds Trail

Day 4: Exploring Mammoth Hot Springs; visiting Lamar Valley and hiking to Slough Creek

Day 5: Conquering Mount Washburn; visiting the Mud Volcano; leaving Mammoth for Yellowstone Lake

Day 6: hiking the lower rim of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

Day 7: visiting Old Faithful and the other geysers; leaving Yellowstone Lake for the Grand Tetons

Day 8: hiking to Two Ocean Lake; visiting Signal Mountain

Day 9: hiking to Taggart and Bradley Lake; leaving Colter Bay Village for Grand Targhee

Day 10: running the Grand Tetons trail marathon

Day 11: Leaving Grand Targhee for Bozeman, MT

Day 12: returning to Boston

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mount Washburn is reputedly to be the one Yellowstone hike that one must do if one only has time for one hike, because the summit affords views the entire park. It’s about 6 miles round-trip with 1400 feet of elevation gain on a wide, non-technical dirt road. After only a few days in Yellowstone, we quickly figured out that 90% of the park’s visitors do not venture more than .25 miles off of the main road. But with Mt. Washburn’s reputation, we still started early. There’s nothing that the Ps hate more than crowds.

Uphill climb up Mt Washburn -- Why am I the only one smiling?

Very soon, our destination came into view, marked by a prominent lookout tower/visitor center. It was a very good motivation for Little Boy!

Lookout tower near summit

Little Boy was, at times, surprisingly game for the journey…

With his kiddie hydration pack!

But other times, I had to resort to bribery-by-candy to get him to move. And, at times, I may have insulted his masculinity, but that’s for him and his future therapist to decide.

We're. Freaking. Hiking.

The view improved and I got that giddy “ooooh, mountain!” feeling.

View on the way up

And suddenly, we were on the summit. Little Boy looks so jaded, like, wateva.

Summit pic

People oohhed and aahed over Little Boy on the summit. “Wow, I can’t believe… wow, how old is he?” But Mt. Washburn was actually minor compared to some of his other hikes (I’m remembering you, Moosilauke, with your 7.4 miles and 2450 foot climb). Dare I say ma belle-mere struggled a bit more?

The views were amazing, of course.

View from Mt. Washburn

As we made our way down, we encountered dozens of hikers ascending Mt. Washburn. This is why we come early! we affirmed to ourselves.

We didn’t bring a picnic, but after coming back to the car, we readily found a picnic area nearby with a nice space for some football.

football!

We continued driving to Yellowstone lake. We encountered traffic, of course.

Traffic

Other bison, looking scenic

We also encountered the hydrothermal mud volcano cluster known as “mud volcano.” Keep in mind the photographs do not convey the sound, smells, or motion of these mesmerizing features!

The Dragon's Mouth

Massive Mud pot

Sour Lake

There were fires burning near us. And trails closed due to bears. I thought about how strange it was — in Massachusetts, a road closed due to construction will induce pure blinding rage. But, I cannot argue with a road closure due to bears and fire. We eventually made it to Yellowstone Lake Cabines, only to find out our cabins were not ready. Talk about a blinding rage! (I’m looking at you, belle-mere).

What a great day! I’m so proud of my little hiker who can seriously hike big mountains!

Days 1 & 2: Getting there via Billings and the Beartooth Highway

Day 3: visiting the Norris Basin and the Artist Paintpots; hiking the Beaver Ponds Trail

Day 4: Exploring Mammoth Hot Springs; visiting Lamar Valley and hiking to Slough Creek

Day 5: Conquering Mount Washburn; visiting the Mud Volcano; leaving Mammoth for Yellowstone Lake

Day 6: hiking the lower rim of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

Day 7: visiting Old Faithful and the other geysers; leaving Yellowstone Lake for the Grand Tetons

Day 8: hiking to Two Ocean Lake; visiting Signal Mountain

Day 9: hiking to Taggart and Bradley Lake; leaving Colter Bay Village for Grand Targhee

Day 10: running the Grand Tetons trail marathon

Day 11: Leaving Grand Targhee for Bozeman, MT

Day 12: returning to Boston

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Day 3 was our first full day in Yellowstone, and we were eager to physically exhaust and temporarily cripple ourselves, our parents, and Little Boy. Mr. P got up slightly before dawn to go running. I planned on joining him, but my legs had spotty twinges of tightness; normally this would not hold me back but I was also suffering from severe bear paranoia that not even the hefty canister of bear spray could assuage. It felt much nicer to stay snuggled in the cabin, resting for our busy day.

First up: a trip to the Norris Geyser basin, about 30 minutes away, for the free 9am ranger talk. On the way out of Mammoth Hot Springs, we saw the striking terraces of travertine that the area is famed for, so we could not resist pulling over to walk a bit of the boardwalk. It was our first view of Yellowstone’s geological wonders, and we were all awed.

Mammoth Hot Springs

As lovely as the photos are, they cannot convey the onerous smell of sulfur that accompanied every spring and fumarole. It was otherworldly.

Mammoth Hot Springs

Mammoth Hot Springs

Mammoth Hot Springs

Mammoth Hot Springs

But, as I mentioned, we had a free ranger talk to get to, so we hurried back to the car and continued onto Norris Geyser Basin. We were learning that one must factor in an extra 15 minutes to get anywhere in Yellowstone. If it’s not the lumbering RVs, it’s the freaking bison.

Congestion!

We were five minutes late, but joined the group easily on the boardwalk to listen to the ranger effusively talk geysers, springs, steam vents, and mud pots as we visited various features.

Gorgeous spring in Norris Basin

Otherworldly

Pearl Geyser (my favorite)

Norris Geyser Basin

We saw scores of amazing geothermal things. Really, just amazing. The talk ended at 11am, just as the crowds were started to build up, so we headed out and stopped somewhat spontaneously at the Artist’s Paint Pots down the road — a one-mile loop that toured boiling holes of multicolored mud. All naturally occurring!

Artist's Paint Pots

Artist's Paint Pots

All of this before lunch! We had our picnic on the porch of our cabin — bread, cheese, sandwich meat, fruits, cherry tomato, wine — and then got ready for the first significant hike of the trip. It started in Mammoth Hot Springs and was only 5 miles, but the altitude was kicking our butts a bit, so the 5 miles felt much harder.

Beaver Ponds Loop

When we finally did get to the Beaver Ponds, we saw absolutely no trace of beavers, so we were a little resentful of the hike, what with its rolling hills and seemingly-constant uphill. By the end, we were exhausted. We got back to the cabin just in time to avoid a spat of rain and thunder. But, we were ridiculously “Yea, Yellowstone!”

Yellowstone National Park is one of those places I always had vague aspirations of visiting. Aspirations: because I’m a nature-lovin’ American who likes a good hike. Vague: because all I knew about Yellowstone involved bears and geysers. Which, it turned out… was pretty accurate.

We decided to take our “big” annual vacation to Yellowstone when Mr. P’s parent expressed a desire to go back after they had visited it last year on a bus tour that didn’t allow them more than 1 hour in the park. Why not go and see three states we’ve never been to (Montana, Wyoming, and briefly Idaho), expose Little Boy to more nature than he ever dreamed or hoped possible, and run a high-altitude trail marathon in the Grand Tetons while we’re at it…

Day 1: Flying to Billings

We left two Thursdays ago for Billings, Montana. The week leading up to that early-morning departure had been a frenzy of work, packing, and cleaning — since Mr. P’s parents would be taking the Yellowstone trip with us and then coming to stay with us in Boston on the very same return plane, I had to make sure the condo would be guest-ready when we returned. So, residual stress stayed with me throughout the plane trip.

We arrived in Billings and I had the feeling to be back in Addis Ababa, what with the mountains, the dry landscape, and the homey airport. After picking up the rental car — a brand-new Cadillac, which I would eventually grow fond of — we hit the local outdoor store to procure bear spray and various other stores to get supplies (snacks, picnic things, wine). Then we found our hotel and Mr. P headed back to the airport to pick up his parents, who were arriving from France. Meanwhile Little Boy enjoyed all the amenities of the Hampton Inn (pool, television, free popcorn) that would not be awaiting in Yellowstone.

Day 2: Driving to Yellowstone on Beartooth Highway

The next morning, before heading out of Billings, Mr. P and I went for a run in Riverside Park along the Yellowstone River… which sounds a ton more picturesque than it wound up being, given the black clouds of gnats that we had to run through. Scores of bugs died in the sweat beads on my neck, and by the end of the run my neck and face looked like Oreo ice cream. Time to leave Billings!

On the roughly three-hour drive to Yellowstone, we took one of the most scenic road in America — the Beartooth Highway. Views and altitude galore!

View from Beartooth Highway

View from Beartooth Highway

Little Boy was a bit surly along the drive, though he livened up when we stopped to picnic at a small pond.

First of many, many picnics

Throwing rocks in the pond

Then, we got caught in a 30-minute traffic stop for construction.

Our ride -- the white Cadillac

Finally, we reached Yellowstone. We paid our $25 park fee at the gate and drive in, promptly seeing a herd of bison along the road. We were excited and joined the cluster of cars that had pulled over to take pictures. Of course, as I correctly predicted, “In 3 days we will be sick of bison.”

First view of bison along the road

Bison

Our first stop in Yellowstone: Mammoth Hot Springs, where we would spend the next three nights in a cabin that flanked the glitzy hotel.

Cabin in Mammoth Hot Springs

I was surprised by how developed the area was, and more surprised by how herds of elk preferred to feast on the grass in the tiny town amid the cars and gawking tourists (special park rangers exist just to keep people from getting to close to the elk) rather than in the wilds.

Elk grazing in Mammoth Hot Springs

Stay tuned for:

Day 3: visiting the Norris Basin and the Artist Paintpots; hiking the Beaver Ponds Trail

Day 4: Exploring Mammoth Hot Springs; visiting Lamar Valley and hiking to Slough Creek

Day 5: Conquering Mount Washburn; visiting the Mud Volcano; arriving at Yellowstone Lake

Day 6: hiking the lower rim of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

Day 7: visiting Old Faithful and the other geysers; leaving Yellowstone for the Grand Tetons

Day 8: hiking to Two Ocean Lake; visiting Signal Mountain

Day 9: hiking to Taggart and Bradley Lake; leaving Colter Bay Village for Grand Targhee

Day 10: running the Grand Tetons trail marathon

Day 11: Leaving Grand Targhee for Bozeman, MT

Day 12: returning to Boston