"Established in 1872, Yellowstone National Park is America's first national park. Located in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, it is home to a large variety of wildlife including grizzly bears, wolves, bison, and elk. Preserved within Yellowstone National Park are Old Faithful and a collection of the world's most extraordinary geysers and hot springs, and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone." National Park Service website.
Our first day in the park - and we get to see some wildlife up close and personal. The rangers were returning herds of bison to the park after they had wandered out over the winter. As a result they were meandering down the main thoroughfare into the west park entrance.
It was good to get some positive reinforcement for this journey because today, we’ve had some of the crappiest weather to date.
We’ve had snow showers, incredible winds (to the point where we thought we might actually have to vacate the trailer), and wind chills.
Mighty cold making lunch and dinner on the camp stove so we absconded to the little town of West Yellowstone for bbq and a local brew, Headstrong Pale Ale produced by Big Hole, Montana brewers (couldn't find the website), and that lightened the mood.
We also checked out the History of Yellowstone museum which captures some of the transportation routes into the park over the years including the Union Pacific railroad, the local station of which now houses the museum. There were also videos on the the earthquake in 1959 and the fires of 1988 (we're starring in the video of the spring of 2011!)
So tomorrow we will head back into the park ( our campground is about 6 k away) for the day checking out the Old Faithful geyser along with ranger talks at that Visitor Center. The weather is NOT looking hopeful but Saturday is forecasted to be sunny and 70 degrees - hurray.
Keep the faith - you are having an amazing adventure! Grateful not to be travelling in a covered wagon no doubt!
ReplyDeleteBrenda