Yellowstone was established as a National Park in 1872. The Parks name reflects the gold colour of the dramatic cliffs lining the Yellow Rock River. The Park also has the largest concentration of geothermal features on the planet and is a about the size of Wales.
We set off early in two cars to stay a head of the Sunday rush and with the hope of catching sight of some interesting wildlife. At our very first stop to photograph some bubbling pools we came face to face with a very large Bison who fortunately was more interested in ruminating than being aggressive towards us.
The steam, gushing geysers and wonderfully coloured mineral deposits combined with the excitement of catching sight of the wildlife kept us amused all day. We saw herds of Elk, which often stop traffic as they wonder across the road. The late thaw gave the Yellowstone Grand Canyon a spectacular waterfall, which a few brave souls clamber down a couple of hundred feet to get close to.
The Sunday hordes gradually overwhelmed us and we went back to the hotel to escape. The Old Faithful Inn is quite a strange looking hotel, its interior looking like some mythical Norse home of the gods. A towering open space held aloft by thousands of interlocked pine beams disappearing into the dark roof space. The hotel also has a few restored 1930’s tour buses, which lend a “retro” look to the outside.
As we gathered to exchange tales of the day we found that one of our party, George Tollworthy, had had a close encounter with a large bear and his vivid description of hearing its claws rapping on the tarmac gave us all goose pimples.
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