we woke the next morning [ last wednesday ] & drove straight up through to yellowstone national park [ grand teton & yellowstone are connected ]. we were looking forward to seeing old faithful erupt [ it happens every 126 minutes ], we were hoping to witness a bison traffic jam [ we've seen so many photos on insta ] & we were hoping to spot a grizzly [ we know, not likely, but hey, we can dream ].
well, we did manage to see old faithful erupt. in fact, we arrived at the site three minutes before the eruption [ what timing! ], after twenty minutes driving around the parking lot [ trying not to get sucked into a frustration fuelled argument ] to find a spot. & when we finally walked up to the site there were, i don't know, five hundred people, some sitting on bleachers, waiting for the big moment. & then the big moment came. & we looked at each other. was this it?! was this the eruption we'd been dreaming of?! & it was. & we couldn't believe it. i'm not sure what we'd expected exactly, but it wasn't that. it wasn't standing in a crowd of hundreds to see steam & water sputter out of a hole in the ground. don't get me wrong, the science behind this geyser is pretty incredible. & the hot springs, cool af, but, man did we feel deflated afterward.
ok, so, next on the list, witness a bison traffic jam.
we did a little research & found there was a specific area in the park that the bison congregate. so we headed there. & we found ourselves in a line of cars that stretched out of sight. at first we thought it was just traffic [ ? ]. then we thought it might be an accident [ ? ] & then, as we reached a bend in the road we saw it. yes. it was a bison traffic jam & it had been holding us hostage in our vehicle for an hour. by the time we got there [ sweaty, legs cramping, hungry. no, not really, but it sounds more dramatic ], we were still holding on to our excitement & enthusiasm [ surprisingly! ]. we marvelled over the sheer size & number of bison trying to cross the road. & we marvelled over one in particular that was just four feet from the side of the road. we could see it in detail & it was... interesting. & we felt lucky to be able to see such detail [ the photo doesn't do this amazing animal any justice ].
we turned around [ we were not interested in getting through the crowd of bison, turning around & waiting in traffic for another hour ] & made our way to where we were most likely to see a grizzly. of course we didn't see one [ we didn't really expect to ] but the scenery itself was worth the drive.
on the way out of the park we made one last stop of mammoth hot springs. again, it was crowded [ though not as crowded as the other sites as it was about 4 o'clock by this point ] so we walked up, admired it & made our way back to the van.
while yellowstone is a beautiful park & the features it preserves are fasinating, there were just so many people that we didn't find the experience enjoyable. so, instead of finding a campsite [ which i'm sure we wouldn't have been able to do anyway ], we made our way out of the park. it felt more like a theme park than a national park. everyone was driving up to a feature, parking [ the parking was full at virtually every feature so cars lined the roads surrounding them for miles, causing traffic ], walking the boardwalk, taking photos, hopping back into their cars. there was no hiking out to the sites, you simply arrived there, with everyone else. at the same time. & that just didn't appeal to us.
so, we pressed on. we made our way a little closer to canada. we made our way to glacier national park.
well, we did manage to see old faithful erupt. in fact, we arrived at the site three minutes before the eruption [ what timing! ], after twenty minutes driving around the parking lot [ trying not to get sucked into a frustration fuelled argument ] to find a spot. & when we finally walked up to the site there were, i don't know, five hundred people, some sitting on bleachers, waiting for the big moment. & then the big moment came. & we looked at each other. was this it?! was this the eruption we'd been dreaming of?! & it was. & we couldn't believe it. i'm not sure what we'd expected exactly, but it wasn't that. it wasn't standing in a crowd of hundreds to see steam & water sputter out of a hole in the ground. don't get me wrong, the science behind this geyser is pretty incredible. & the hot springs, cool af, but, man did we feel deflated afterward.
ok, so, next on the list, witness a bison traffic jam.
we did a little research & found there was a specific area in the park that the bison congregate. so we headed there. & we found ourselves in a line of cars that stretched out of sight. at first we thought it was just traffic [ ? ]. then we thought it might be an accident [ ? ] & then, as we reached a bend in the road we saw it. yes. it was a bison traffic jam & it had been holding us hostage in our vehicle for an hour. by the time we got there [ sweaty, legs cramping, hungry. no, not really, but it sounds more dramatic ], we were still holding on to our excitement & enthusiasm [ surprisingly! ]. we marvelled over the sheer size & number of bison trying to cross the road. & we marvelled over one in particular that was just four feet from the side of the road. we could see it in detail & it was... interesting. & we felt lucky to be able to see such detail [ the photo doesn't do this amazing animal any justice ].
we turned around [ we were not interested in getting through the crowd of bison, turning around & waiting in traffic for another hour ] & made our way to where we were most likely to see a grizzly. of course we didn't see one [ we didn't really expect to ] but the scenery itself was worth the drive.
on the way out of the park we made one last stop of mammoth hot springs. again, it was crowded [ though not as crowded as the other sites as it was about 4 o'clock by this point ] so we walked up, admired it & made our way back to the van.
while yellowstone is a beautiful park & the features it preserves are fasinating, there were just so many people that we didn't find the experience enjoyable. so, instead of finding a campsite [ which i'm sure we wouldn't have been able to do anyway ], we made our way out of the park. it felt more like a theme park than a national park. everyone was driving up to a feature, parking [ the parking was full at virtually every feature so cars lined the roads surrounding them for miles, causing traffic ], walking the boardwalk, taking photos, hopping back into their cars. there was no hiking out to the sites, you simply arrived there, with everyone else. at the same time. & that just didn't appeal to us.
so, we pressed on. we made our way a little closer to canada. we made our way to glacier national park.
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