The (Mis)Adventures of Yellowstone

Struggling to breathe, can't get enough oxygen, what's going on??  Oh, it's okay.  It's just adjusting to life at 8,000 feet!  I'm not even trying to exert myself, just climb up that ramp, and I'm huffing and puffing like I can't get my lungs filled with that precious O2. But enough about that!  Let's get on with tales from my adventures in Wyoming.

Sun peeking through the steam at Midway

Tuesday starts off with us venturing from the Tetons to Yellowstone.  A much longer drive than I anticipated.  Once you get to the northern edge of the Tetons, it seems like the drive to the entrance of Yellowstone is always just out of reach.  The temperature kept dropping as did the rain drops as we drove north.  The radio stations dwindled to just one....102.9 which plays an unknown style of music and cell service drops to "No Service".  That's my phone's way of telling me, "I ain't even trying anymore.  No use searching."  By the time we reach anything in Yellowstone, it's around 1 pm.  Grant Village is closed and we have to drive all the way down to the marina to find a bathroom.  Once that first mission is accomplished (and one that will allow me to fulfill all the rest of our missions) we head to Old Faithful.  Along the way we encounter our first bison.  Old Faithful erupted a mere 20 minutes after we arrived (average time between eruptions is 91 minutes).  It's almost anti-climatic but still, it's a "must-see".  We walk a couple mile loop around the rest of the geysers and read up on how they are formed and what's going on under the surface.  I realize that we are on the continental divide as my breaths don't seem to be bringing in much air as we climb the 1/2 mile to Solitary Geyser.  We take it slow and easy and I find that breathing through my mouth gives me just a little bit more air!  After taking in the sites of the Old Faithful Inn and the gift shop, it's off to Midway Geyser Basin which was so beautiful despite it's "ferociousness".  Under the boardwalk was a fragile thin surface filled with the little bacteria and micro organisms that fed off the hot water erupting from the geyser basins.  Steam everywhere.  The sun trying to break out from the steam and clouds.  I turn to my left and what do I see?  A FULL rainbow.  Never have I seen so full a rainbow that was so bright and clear as it entered the ground.  I turn on my camera trying to somehow capture the brightness when a SECOND FULL rainbow appears.  I can't help but smile.  I almost tear up.  God-thank you for that sight.  It already looked like You were trying to come out from the clouds as the sun tried to fight through the steam.  Then You show me your promise as clear as day.  Awesome, wonderful, breathtaking.

Norris Geyser Basin

By the time we investigated a canyon, another falls, and encountered two female elk, it's time to find a place to sleep.  We go to the Madison campground and pitch our tents under the big Wyoming sky.  It's only 8 pm and the temperature is falling fast.  I won't sugarcoat this...it was one of the more miserable nights I've ever had due to the cold.  Even in my three bottom layers and four upper layers PLUS a sleeping bag rated to 20 degrees, I was shivering.  I think I needed more padding between me and the ground.  My calves were so tight the next day due to the constant fetal position I was sleeping in to stay warm (although my sleeping bag made bringing my legs up to the rest of my body pretty difficult). I started off fine but I woke up a few hours later to find myself pretty cold.  I woke up every 2 hours (I know I dreamed) and by 5 am I needed to go the bathroom (I looked out for any signs of bears before I ventured out) and it started raining once I was back in my tent.  I contemplated going to the car for that had to be a little warmer, didn't it?  Well, I braved it out in the cold and was "awake" (was I really asleep?) by 7:30.  Still raining so we got ready and took down the tents in a cold, cold rain.  Oh no, a very low tire.  Where do we go?  Rangers don't have air compressors by the way.  A kind gentlemen pumped up the tire for us and we headed off to West Yellowstone, Montana to get that leak fixed.  Still cold.  Still raining.  Two hours later we are finally back on the main loop of Yellowstone off to Norris Basin.  This basin's springs are much more acidic than the alkaline ones found at Old Faithful (although those ones smelled too).  The sulpher smell is strong and the landscape of  Yellowstone changes into a barren wasteland.   Not barren but not like any other place we'd seen at Yellowstone.  And finally I begin to feel warm and the sun pokes its head out, for like an hour....or less.  After Norris it's up to Mammoth Springs.  Home of more springs and geysers and the old Army fort.  We eat a quick lunch and map out the rest of our drive.  Hark!  More Buffalo!

Bison

Now we begin our trek from the northern edge of the park to the eastern side.  Along the way we encounter more rain (surprise), a bison blocking the road (two of them in fact), and some beautiful falls.

Panoramic View of Falls Canyon

 Our ultimate destination is Canyon Falls, the home of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.  It took us a few hours to get there making all our little stops along the way to get out of the car to take pictures.  But it was well worth it.  We hiked down to the lower falls (and hiked back up the switchbacks.....yikes...yet I saw several "older" married couples making that trek, they just stopped to rest and I was proud of them) and I took video of the falls there.  The noise was deafening!  Then we hiked the northern rim only to find that the end of the trail had been washed out.  So we hiked BACK to the middle and hiked the OTHER way of the north rim only to stumble across the Grand Canyon.  Well worth the hike!  Gorgeous.  Beautiful.  Magnificent.

Grand Canyon

Lower Falls of the Canyon

Now it's on to find dry warm lodging.  On the way out of the park we encounter a herd of elk....

and a moose taking a swim.....

and saw Yellowstone Lake which is 20 miles by 14 miles....largest high altitude lake in North America (no pictures yet).  We drove the east entrance all the way to the bustling building of Pahaska, WY.  No kidding, the town shuts down next week.  This "town" consists of one building with a restaurant, gift shop, bar, and service station and several "teepee" huts behind it.  No frills lodging (no TV!) but a slow wireless, an actual bed, a warm shower, fulfilling food, and dry clothes are all it takes to make me happy.  Good night world.  (FYI-2-3" of snow are expected tomorrow)

Now if you have been thoroughly entertained and now want some "deeper" reading, read on.  Otherwise, just exit out.

Something that has struck me in seeing these geysers and springs and such is that all of this was made because of sin.  Why you ask?  The earth was never in such tumult in the Garden of Eden.  Everything was at harmony.  Canyons, mountains, geysers, springs, volcanic creations......all a result of a world no longer perfect.  And we find these creations to be so awe-inspiring and captivating when it's actually the result of destruction, a world in conflict, of pressure needing an outlet (Old Faithful).  Many of the sights we've seen recently are also the result of patience.  Water, fire, wind, pressure didn't do all of this in a day, a year, or even a decade.  Over the thousands of years that this earth has been rotating around the sun, these systems have been at work.  Rarely forcing it (sometimes yes in the case of floods, volcanic eruptions, etc) but letting the river flow and make a new creation.  Isn't that how we should be?  Not forcing the issue, pushing the river, or trying to take matters into our own hands but rather letting God work through us, in His time, in His way and just think about the creation He'll make in us.  It takes pressure to create beauty and sometimes He'll allow some pressure in our life to create something much more beautiful.  Next time you see a picture of a crater, a canyon, or even Old Faithful, remember a few things.  First, all came as the result of sin entering the world but yet, a beautiful creation can still be made.  Secondly, it didn't happen overnight and God's work in you won't take overnight but He'll keep working on you till the day you die.  And third, what an awesome God we serve!  He created a world so awesome and beautiful not for us to worship it, but to point us to its Creator.  Wow, just wow.