Everywhere I turned in Yellowstone, I was met with something incredible.

SATURDAY:
I drove up through Teton and headed towards Bridge Bay for 2 nights to camp in the campground. It's really nice to just stay put for a few nights in the same place. Once I set up the tent, I headed to West Thumb to see some geysers, mud pots, hot spots, hot springs, etc. It was so fascinating to see the different colors made by different bacteria. Is it weird that I really wanted to touch the water?? Sometimes it's this crystal blue, its REALLY tempting. And the mud pots make a really cool sound when they bubble. I loved it. I drove on over to Old Faithful and waited forever to see it erupt. I brought my book and also walked around to the other geysers. One of them erupts every 20 hours, and it erupted while I was there! It was HUGE! And SO strange to see boiling hot water come out of the ground like that.

I've been really impressed by how many different kinds of sights there are to see at Yellowstone. There are the fascinating geological features, the beautiful animals, a GRAND CANYON with a BEAUTIFUL river running through it, valleys, huge mountain peaks, scrubby bushes, huge pine trees, etc. Each section of the park is a totally new experience.

After Old Faithful, I went up to Hayden Valley to check out some animals, which I didn't see much of. So, I decided to wake up at dawn the next day for some animal watching. I actually did it, too.

SUNDAY:
I woke up at dawn at Bridge Bay and headed to Hayden Valley to see what was waking up around that time. I saw a LOT of bison but nothing else. But I did get an incredible view. I bundled up and made coffee and oatmeal while I had my binoculars out. It was wonderful. I made my way towards the Grand Canyon which was perfectly timed as the sun was just peaking around and made the rocks shine. I took my time, meandering through a visitor's center and learning about the volcanic activity of Yellowstone. Then I drove to Norris geyser basin which was the best part of the day. There are just puffs of steam coming out of holes from the earth! And huge bubbling pools of water. With boiling streams forming valleys. And all of the rocks are a white color because of the minerals. I walked around the boardwalk and talked with other people whenever anything cool was happening. I made a quick PBJ and sriracha sandwich and headed towards Grand Prismatic Spring. I hiked on the Fairy Falls trail to get a big overlook of the spring and it was beautiful. A bit too crowded, but still beautiful.

Afterwards, I headed towards Bridge Bay and stopped at Yellowstone Lake on my way to read my book and enjoy some sunshine. I opened my book to John Muir's essay on Yellowstone National Park and it was perfect. "However orderly your excursions or aimless, again and again amid the calmest, stillest scenery you will be brought to a standstill hushed and awe-stricken before phenomena wholly new to you," (John Muir). This was exactly what I was finding. I really decided to get into the adventure and start doing a bit of aimless wandering, rather than planned and scheduled. Once I started this, I was able to really enjoy the scenery, plants, and animals. I became less fearful of bears (STILL VERY CAREFUL, MOM) and started checking stuff out off the regular path.

I swam in Yellowstone Lake and was trying to nap at this point but couldn't find a quiet spot without people showing up. I found that people in Yellowstone were less likely to talk with me because they were foreign. I heard SO many different languages and was really in the minority as an American. I had no idea that Yellowstone was such a destination around the world, but after seeing the vastly different areas of the park, I can see why.

As I got back to my campsite, I made friends with my neighbors as a few bison were wandering through our space. It really felt like we were living in the woods, amongst the animals. My neighbors, Margie and Marcus, invited me over for a beer and a campfire. We talked about their sailing experiences and what we were all doing out here. They have grown children my age and decided 10 years ago to start sailing around the world. They're originally from outside of London and sailed across the Atlantic to Brazil and everywhere. They landed in Florida this spring and decided to go on a cross-country trip on land during hurricane season. They cracked me up because they're doing my entire route in about 2 months, spending 1 day in each place. I couldn't imagine doing it that quickly, but they seemed to be getting a lot out of it! They handed me a business card and let me know that I can follow them if I ever wanted to check out the sea. They also mentioned that a couple sailing classes and a flight to South America could get me on a boat towards Easter Island, which is where I've always wanted to go. Hmmm....

MONDAY:
I woke up in Bridge Bay and slowly made my way towards Mammoth Hot Springs in the park. I LOVED this section of the park. My maps don't have topography in them (note to self...) and so whenever I hit mountains, it's always a pleasant surprise! These mountains were huge and beautiful and rocky! Mammoth was set in a very arid space, with these terraced hot springs towering over the "town". I headed towards Boiling River, right near my campsite, and walked a mile in towards these hot springs. Boiling River is literally boiling water flowing into the freezing Gardiner River. It swirls around when it meets and you get to lay in the warm and cold river. It was the BEST! Once again, a LOT of people who didn't speak English, but we had the same reactions to the river. I heard a lot of different words for HOT and COLD, and then when you found a spot that was just right, there was a lot of laughing and smiling. I spent my day here, getting out to read my book and then hopping back in when the sun got too hot. I decided to head towards Lamar Valley for one last check for animals. I got a LOT of bison and a bear, but no wolves! There was a grizzly chowing down on a bison carcass which was REALLY cool to see. Later, I went back to Boiling River for another dip and then back to the campsite where I found elks wandering through my site. A little scary, but we worked together to get what we needed done. I had to pack up and they had to eat, so we watched each other out of the corner of our eyes and went about our business.

I have found that Yellowstone is a bit of the nerdy older brother to Grand Teton. It's full of cool science and geology. It's the oldest national park, compared to the young mountains of the Teton range. It had a lot of older people as the trails weren't very strenuous and yielded really cool overlooks for not much work. Grand Teton, on the other hand, was younger and cooler. The hikes were tough and beautiful, the landscape was mountainous and lakes. The people were mountain bikers, hikers, long distance bikers, etc. It was wonderful to experience both kinds of parks and their people, side by side.