Yellowstone

Ahhh....Yellowstone.

Smell the pine, breathe deep (but not too deep) of the sulfur, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. Walk through the forests and along the alpine lakes, stroll amongst the herds of occasionally hostile buffalo. Gaze upon the geothermal wonders, taking care to avoid the "thin crust" that lurks in innocent looking meadows, barely covering scalding, poisonous waters. Cook your meals on open fires, smelling the fresh wood smoke. Just take care to clean up immediately, lest grizzlies and black bears pay you a visit.

This place is crazy. Beautiful and wild.

We arrived here yesterday, after having spent the night in Sheridan, Wyoming, home of overpriced motels and little else. We spent twenty five dollars that night to sleep in our tent on a patch of grass next to a dumpster. Luckily, the showers were hot and the wi-fi was fast, providing us with both cleanliness and the chance to provide all of you with a glimpse of our adventures.

The drive from Sheridan to Yellowstone was beautiful. We passed through miles and miles of ranches, watching cattle graze feet from our speeding vehicle as we ascended six thousand feet (up to 9000 feet above sea level) in less than an hour. The air grew thin, and the views beautiful.

At one point in our drive, we came upon a man sitting beside a trailer on the side of the road. A sign beside his trailer offered free samples of buffalo jerky, and as is apparently customary out here, free restrooms. We immediately responded to the challenge. After an earlier jerky incident at a Wyoming gas station where a request for a recommendation elicited - literally - a steely silence and a turned cheek, we slowly approached the man and carefully said hello:

Us: Hello!
Jerky Man: Hello!
Us: We heard you got some free jerky here.
Jerky Man: I sure do! Wait! Check this out! (At this point the man pointed to his pant leg, indicating the bumblebee resting there, clinging to the denim fabric.) He's been sitting here for about ten minutes. I just figured he'd stay until he felt like leaving. (Speaking to the bee) Isn't that right, little buddy?
So, which jerky do you want to try? We've got all these kinds, three different animals--buffalo, elk and beef.
Us: Well, we'll try all of them.
Jerky Man: Well, I would do the same, seems like a good idea.

We tried the varieties of jerky, moving down the row of hanging samples. We reached the end, impressed, but not exactly inspired by this man's jerky. We listened to the man talk some more with his bumblebee friend.

Jerky Man: You're a cute little guy, aren't you? Oh yes you are....
Us: So, uh, how much do these bags of jerky cost?
Jerky Man: Seven, Seven, Eight, Eight, Nine, Ten, Ten, Eleven...

He reached the end of his price list. We were "sticker shocked", to say the least. In our most diplomatic tones, we explained our lack of economic resources, watching his face grow increasingly crest-fallen as we spoke...and then we got the hell out of the place.

We moved on, rising in altitude and then coming back down, curving our way down the mountain. We reached the bottom, still very high in altitude now, and sped along the road toward Yellowstone, making a short stop in the cowboy/backcountry-dude town of Cody, Wyoming (home of Buffalo Bill) for a haircut and a quick search for the butane canisters necessary to continue using our new stove. Failing on the butane front, we left Cody, and by 4 PM had reached Yellowstone.

It is hard to explain the immensity of this park. At 3,472 square miles, Yellowstone is one of the biggest (and is the oldest) National Park in the world. The Park is packed with examples of extreme geothermal activity, and steam rises from the ground in the least expected of places. The sulfurs and steams create colorful abstract expressionist works against the canvas of rock and salt deposits. Interestingly, we learned from a garralous Harley rider at a lookout point and confirmed during yet another educational video, the Park is actually the remnants of a huge active volcano. Granted, the volcano has not erupted in thousands of years, but it theoretically could, and would likely lead to the death of much of the Earth's ecosystem. This possibility has also lead to the creation of at least one terribly cheesy novel being sold at the gift shop.











The numerous bubbling springs and jagged mountains give life to the fact that these hills are younger than their Eastern cousins. The landscape is constantly pockmarked with fire-scorched fields of trees, with new growth coming up beneath them. The earth is literally alive out here as it bubbles, burps, and constantly regenerates.

Of course, we watched the obligatory Old Faithful spouting, which was impressive in the sheer quantity of boiling water and onlookers.





The Park is also home to a ridiculous number of animals, many of which we have seen. Driving down the road, one must be careful not to run into any lumbering bison or elk. And while these animals seem sweet and tame, the signs around the park constantly remind us that these bison can weigh 2000 pounds, run 30 miles per hour, and sometimes get very pissed off.

Most of our time here has been spent driving around the "Grand Loop" (or as the French say, "La Grande Loop") of the Park, stopping at all sorts of bubbling things, seeing nice views and gawking at wildlife with some of the other visitors (approximately 30,000 per day in the summer season). We have camped both nights and cooked some delicious dinners, making sure to change our clothes before sleeping to avoid mauling by bear. The days have been very warm, but the nights have been surprisingly and terribly cold--below freezing in fact.



Today we are leaving the Park, moving North to pass through Livingston, Montana, before heading to Bozeman, and finally up to Glacier National Park, which promises to be absolutely frigid but fantastically beautiful as well. After the cold weather of the last few days, we just hope we won't have to spend the night in the car with the heat on.

More soon.