I'm sure you probably know already, but I have to tell you anyway, the park is HUGE!
To visit Yellowstone you definitely need a plan, and yes, you do need a map of the park as well, something that you receive, together with a newsletter, once you enter the park (and you pay the $25 fee, unless you have a Golden Age Pass).
I laid out a plan to try to see as many things as possible in a day, and it worked, exception made for a few spots that were just too crowded at the wrong time, and therefore got skipped.
We decided to leave Old Faithfull and the whole main geysers area for last, comparing it to a meal, Old Faithful would certainly be dessert, and so, unless you're a little strange, dessert goes at the end of your meal.
The first spot we decided to visit was Artist Point, which has in my opinion, the most breathtaking views of the park.
These are two views of the Lower Falls, that you can find, together with Upper Falls, at the Artist Point Area:
The second one with "The Italian Across America" getting his souvenir picture:
One thing that really surprised me about the park today was the lack of visitors. I mean, don't get me wrong, the park was crowded, but not as much as I thought it was going to be on Sunday July 6th. This was something I read on one of my travel guides, so I was certainly, pleasantly surprised about the lack of bumper to bumper action inside the park.
After visitin Artist Point, we went back in the car and drove another 20 miles to the Norris Geyser Basin, where, if you're lucky enough (almost like winning the lottery) you might be able to witness the "Steamboat Geyser" erupting boiling water at 300 to 400 feet up in the air.
This is a view of Cistern Spring, right next door to Steamboat, that usually empties out when the geyser is ready to "erupt". The last time it did happen was May 23rd 2005!
One other thing I should mention for those of you who have never been here, is that visitors, especially in the geysers areas, can only walk in designated paths (for obvious reasons) that have been made out of wood. There are signs everywhere reminding the visitors to the park about the danger of walking off path, like this one for example:
Our next stop was the White Dome Geyser, that I really enjoyed because of the resemblance to the way a geyser should have to look like in my mind (I know, sometimes I can be weird!):
Yellowstone is also famous for its thriving wildlife, bisons, grizzly bears, elks, moose, deers, etc. and there are signs everywhere that capture the visitors' attention on the risks of approaching these wild animals.
We haven't been very lucky today, as the only animal we saw inside the boundaries of Yellowstone was the bison. Yes, right, NO bears, nothing! We saw a deer once we got out of the park, but that's another story.
As I said, we left the best for last, Old Faithful.
Like as I always am, we arrived at the spot, exactly five minutes after the show was over, which means we had to wait another 62 minutes for the next "show". We decided to take a walk and visit the inside of the "Old Faithful Inn" which is famous for its huge fireplace inside the lobby. The place was really beautiful, we grabbed something to eat inside (first line of the day, not too bad), and went outside where we waited on some benches for the next show to begin.
This is a shot of me with Old Faithful in the background waiting for it to show us what it's really capable of doing:
And here's the Old Faithful in action, not too bad for an old geyser! :-)
Before leaving Yellowstone, we had an unexpected, but very pleasant surprise, we crosse the Continental Divide, and here's a picture to confirm it:
After we left the park, the fun and the beautiful scenery certainly do not end, as you enter the Rockefeller Memorial Highway first, and then the beautiful and scenic Grand Teton National Park.
The mountains are really hard to describe here on paper, one has to be there where I was this evening to fully understand what I'm talking about.
Here is another breathtaking views of the Tetons, and Jackson Lake:
We're now in Jackson, WY, another touristy place that was very convenient for us as a place in between what we wanted to do today, and what we're planning on doing tomorrow.
Time to call it a day, and what a beautiful day.
Good night everybody,
Nico
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