All Hail Yellowstone

We left Tetonia, Idaho this morning, giddy at the thought of visiting Yellowstone for the first time. It took just 90 minutes to get to West Yellowstone, Montana, our home for the next few days. We dropped off Rhoda and the dogs, hopped back into the truck and drove 5 minutes to the west gate of Yellowstone, the world’s first National Park.

Encompassing more than 2.2 million acres, there really is no place on earth quite like Yellowstone. Five miles into the park an enormous bison appeared and trotted alongside our truck as if to welcome us. It was magical. The magnificent beast disappeared as we spotted our first geothermal area, the Artists Paintpots.

Yellowstone is actually a supervolcano. It feeds the world’s largest group of hydrothermal features that include geysers and hot springs. The collection at Artists Paintpots were awe-inspiring. We would have stayed there for hours but it began to rain heavily. So we got back on the road and headed to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River, where we planned to spend the balance of the afternoon.

But the weather put on a Yellowstone-worthy show. It began with clouds that turned to pouring rain, then sleet, hail, snow, blazing sun and back to pouring rain…all within 4 hours. Luckily when we got to the Canyon, the sun came out. We were treated to one of the most incredible displays of natural power and beauty, I’ve ever seen.

We reluctantly tore ourselves away when the rain started up again. We drove back to Rhoda, marveling at everything we witnessed.

We’re planning a day with geysers, wolves and grizzlies tomorrow. Stay tuned for the next blog from Yellowstone tomorrow night.