Monday, August 31, 2009

How do you tell a moose from an elk?



Getting an early start, we are in the park by 8AM. YD has been terrific in getting up and going early when we need to. Within the first 20 min we stop by a stream where several large moose/elk, with huge racks of antlers are finishing up a morning drink. We are headed to see the Yellowstone Canyon and the 2 sets of waterfalls associated with it.

Since the direct route there is closed, we have to take long way around, adding about an hr and half to the trip, each way. But, what a trip it is. After the first wildlife sighting we are side-tracked by several spectacular sights. The geothermal activity is incredible. In addition to Old Faithful, there are multiple other geysers, and we learned about fumaroles, mudpots, and hotsprings. The stench of the hydrogen sulfide is both unpleasant and amazing. We finally make it to the canyon/falls area at about noon. We immediately head out on a trail that will take us down to the bottom of the lower falls. YD teaches me about the flora growing along the trail, and the view of the canyon and falls is breathtaking; however, to way to the bottom on the trail that we have chosen, consists of a set of very steep stairs made out of open steel meshwork. After the first 3 or 4 sets YD can go no further. Her agoraphobia has gotten the best of her. A trail, or a boardwalk, or anything that was solid would have been fine, this is not going to work. We head back up and instead take the trail along the rim from the lower to the upper falls, still a spectacular hike.

By the time we get back to the car it is about 2. We have 5PM dinner reservations (the only time I could get when I booked it about 3 or 4 weeks ago!) back at the Old Faithful Inn, a National Landmark. With the road closure, it could be a 2hr+ drive. It’s clear we’re not going to make it up to the Mammoth Hot Springs, yet another 45 min in the opposite direction. We make a couple more stops, at the cascade and the Obsidian mountain, and turn around at about 3:20 to head back for dinner. Perfect timing, as we pull into the parking lot of the Inn exactly at 5PM, just as the Old Faithful geyser erupts in the background, as if to welcome us. Since we didn’t want to eat in our sweaty hiking clothes, we change into our dinner attire in the parking lot, without anyone being the wiser, and are the best dressed patrons in the place (not just my opinion, we were told that by all of the staff members we encountered. No one dresses for dinner).

On the way out of the park, a 30 mile drive, we pass several bison, have to stop for a deer and her 2 fawns crossing the road, and then come across a huge elk/moose and his women lazing in a field by a stream. Despite being dressed for dinner, we have to pull over and get out to watch, along with several other cars of people. We get out of our car at the same time as a family with 2 small children. The daughter, about 5 years old, shyly says to me “I like your dress,” as her brother, about 7 or 8 comments, in a very thick southern accent “You come to Yellowstone and wear a dress?!?!” It was very funny.
As the sun set, after having spent a full 12 hr day in the park, we reluctantly said goodbye to Yellowstone as we prepare for to hit the road on the way to California

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