Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone needs no introduction, just like the Grand Canyon.  It's the first national park in the world, established in 1872.  It is huge - 2.2 million acres, bigger than many countries.  You don't realize how big it is until you are there.

My friend Edward, his wife Diana, and daughter Melanie and I started from Salt Lake City around 10 am in the morning.  Our plan was to drive north into Wyoming, through the Grand Tetons and enter Yellowstone through the south entrance.  Unfortunately, it rained while we were driving and we didn't see much of the Grand Tetons.  It was supposed to be a 6-hour drive, but that's just to enter the park.  By the time we arrived at Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel, on the north end of the park, it was 8 pm, a 4-hour drive from one end to another.

We were fortunate to be able to make reservations at lodges within Yellowstone.  We spent the first 2 nights at Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel and Cabins and the third night at Old Faithful Snow Lodge.  If we had not stay inside the park, our best option would've been to stay in West Yellowstone, a small town just outside the west entrance of the park.  That would've meant wasting 1-2 hours driving to where we wanted to go everyday.

On our first day, we sought advice from the lodging staff on what to do.  Since we were on the north side of the park, we were told that there were some wildlife sightings not far away.  So we spent most of the morning looking for wildlife.  Yellowstone is known for its abundant wildlife.  But, wildlife is wild life.  You have to be at the right place at the right time and be lucky to see them.  One thing that is loud and clear when you enter the park is all the warnings about the wild animals, especially bears. Visitors are advised not to get to close to them.  We heard on the news that a few days before we arrived, a tourist was gored from behind when she stood with her back facing a bison only a few feet away.  We also saw three tourist got so close to the elks to take pictures that a park ranger demanded for their passports so that he could give them tickets.  We were lucky to see quite a few animals.  Below are pictures of them.

Elks near the lodge

Black Bear

Lots of Bisons in the park

A Pronghorn

Bighorn Sheep?

Not many visitors heard of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.  The Yellowstone river flows 20 miles through a beautiful canyon.  You can see the canyon from overlooks near the Canyon Village area.

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

Of course, no visit to Yellowstone is complete without seeing Old Faithful and the many geysers.  As we drove south from Mammoth Hot Springs, there are many places you can stop to see these geysers until you get to the Old Faithful area.  There are so many that it can take almost all day to see all of them.

Mammoth Hot Springs

One of many geysers

Chromatic Pool

Another view of Chromatic Pool

Old Faithful

L-R:  Meng, Melanie, Diana, Edward in front of Old Faithful Inn

As we were leaving the park on the last day, we noticed that the cars in front stopped.  We weren't sure what happened until we got closer.  A herd of bisons decided to take a stroll on the road.  No vehicle moved in case they get provoked.  What an ending to a wonderful visit to Yellowstone.

This bison casually walked next to our car