On day seven of this adventure, we finally made it to Yellowstone! All I can say, is that it was well worth all the effort, planning, replanning, anticipation, etc, etc. It truly is amazing. God, gave us humans a great gift at Yellowstone. His awesomeness is on full display on a daily basis here.
We got up early, packed the car and headed out towards Yellowstone. We made a quick stop at the Buffalo Bill Dam so LeAnn could take a few more pictures since her camera's battery ran down the day before while we were there. We headed toward the entrance, paid our small fee, and entered into a wonderland. It just opened up in front of us almost like a movie. Snow-covered peaks in the distance as we climbed higher into the Rockies. Then suddenly, there was Yellowstone Lake. Just amazing! As we got near the edge of the lake, we came across our first thermal feature...a group of steam vents called Steamboat Springs. It was just a small sample of what was to come. As we got near the first major intersection, we came across our first Yellowstone buffalo. Three huge guys that were each as big as a car. It was like the park was putting on a show just for us.
We made our first stop at the General Store at Fishing Bridge. Made some purchases and got some goodies. We then went on the actual Fishing Bridge. The bridge is located where Yellowstone Lake empties and forms the Yellowstone River. This is a favorite spawning location for the Cutthroat Trout. It apparently got to be such a popular place to fish the trout, that the Cutthroat Trout almost became extinct. Hence, you can no longer fish off of the Fishing Bridge.
Afterwards, we headed over to the Lake Lodge for lunch. Great sandwiches overlooking the lake. We then drove down the road a bit and took a great hike. The Elephant Back Trail took us to the top a mountain that overlooked the lake. We decided to ignore the Beware of Bears sign and trek to the top. It was good thing everyone got new hiking boots before the trip as they were definitely needed. After we got to the top, we were rewarded with an amazing view of the lake, river and surrounding area. We then hiked down, which for some reason took only about half as long. We had wanted to take a smaller hike to a natural bridge, but they had a Beware of Bears sign as well, but this time, they put a road block barrier in front of the trailhead. So we decided, they were kind of serious about that on this trail.
We then headed down to the West Thumb Geyser Basin. The lake is "kinda" shaped like a hand and the thumb area is surrounded by this basin. We were excited to see our first geysers and hot springs. Ian of course was bummed that none of them went off while we were there. He apparently thought they were going off all the time. But we did see some beautiful hot springs, mud pots and geysers. It is amazing to see these geyser basins and know that there is a volcano fueling all of this heat. You can really feel the heat and with the steam coming off of them you get an instant facial. The smell of sulfur was there, but it wasn't as bad as I had anticipated. Which is fortunate, because Ian walked around with his nose buried in his shirt for four days. We saw the famous Fishing Cone Geyser. This geyser sits in the lake. The story goes, that in the early days of the park, people would fish here and then put the fish in the geyser and cook it still on the hook. Unfortunately, the water in the geyser has traces of arsenic, so they were slowly poisoning themselves. Obviously, that practice is no longer allowed. While we were there, Fishing Cone was completely submerged under the water. The lake was high due to large amount of snow melt they have had. You could still see it. It was probably only a couple of inches below the surface of the lake.
While we were at this basin, a couple of elk decided the geysers would be a great place to take a stroll and nap for a while. It was amazing to see these huge animals just walk among us, like we were not there. It was just another reminder that we were in a very special place.
We then headed over to our hotel, the Old Faithful Inn. I have always wanted to come to Yellowstone, and I have always said that I was going to stay at the Inn. I wanted to walk out the front door and watch Old Faithful erupt. It is crazy, but I wanted to experience that. As we headed over to the Inn, we crossed over the Continental Divide twice. Very cool, but I don't think we ever got the kids to understand what the Continental Divide is. As we got to the Inn and drove up to the entrance, it was a beautiful and amazing as I thought it would be. Walking in to the lobby, you immediately look up and the six-story lobby and fireplace. It is amazing. We quickly checked in, took the largest of the bags to our room...which I will describe later. We then walked over to Old Faithful, and right on cue, it erupted in full force. It was like the park wanted everything on our first day to be picture-perfect. Ian was on cloud nine...he finally got to see a geyser erupt! You just stand there and watch it shoot water over a hundred feet in the air. It was great. After we recovered, we went next door to the Old Faithful Lodge and had dinner. As we walked back, we got an encore performance by Old Faithful. Could our first day in the park be any better. We ran by our car and got the rest of our stuff out and headed to our room.
Now our room. We stayed in the original part of the hotel that was built in 1904, or was it 1914. Oh, well...it's old. It is in it's original form and is quite rustic and small compared to today's modern hotel rooms. That is to say, there was no bathroom. That was down the hall, with the showers. Now before you freak out, let me say this. We made our reservations a year in advance. And this was the only type room left at the Inn then. Also, it was $89 a night. We could of stayed at the Lodge with a bathroom for $200 a night. Plus, dang it, I wanted to stay in the Inn! It turned out not to be so bad. The bathrooms were right across the hall from us and there were private showers in each. We did have a sink in the room, so it wasn't that big of a deal. The rooms were quite small. There were no televisions, phones, or alarm clocks. No closets, just hooks and hangers to use. There was a small fan and a radiator for temperature comfort. But we found the room to be warm and we slept with the window open and that was just fine. It was actually just fine and the kids ended up loving it.
Now I know I have gushed more than usual. Okay, I never gush! But have you ever had a dream of doing something. And that dream comes true, and exceeds your expectations. Well, that was this day for me. It was amazing and one I will never forget. I am staying at the Old Faithful Inn, I walked out the front door, and Old Faithful erupted as if it had been waiting all day for us. WOW!! The park is beyond words. If you have never been, you owe it to yourself to go there. It makes you feel very privileged to be there and let's you know that only God could have created something so incredible.
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