I am finally ready to write about the next few days of our trip. We are back home and work is crazy…I’ve been teaching about 22 hours a week and adding more. I’m also taking advantage of a variety of online seminars and workshops to improve and inspire my teaching (since, that’s all there is here. Hopefully someday there will be live performances again but it should be known that the live music and live theater business is currently dead and numerous family members and friends are completely out of work and scrambling to make ends meet.)

So, part 1 here. We drove from St Louis to Yellowstone National Park. I was not under the impression that Yellowstone would be less busy than in normal years, because I knew that visitation was slightly UP but I also knew there wouldn’t be large tour buses of tourists and I knew that it was easy to avoid people if you avoided certain areas at certain times…plus the park is outdoors.

We spent the night camping at Buffalo Bill State Park (normally in my head I substitute “bison” for “buffalo” but don’t do that in this case.) We left and headed west to Yellowstone National Park, only about 1 hour away.

The trick to a park like Yellowstone is to be eager to stop and get out of the car. Along the drive there are numerous small pull offs and each one is there for a reason.  It’s easy to want to just sit in the car, but if you get out and look at the sign and admire the scenery (or take pictures) you’ll really get a lot more enjoyment out of it.

Before officially entering the park we had to stop for a bathroom break (have I mentioned how often I have to stop? I never think of it until I can’t just go, like on road trips…also it’s important to hydrate when at high altitudes, which Yellowstone is.)

Our general plan for this first day was to get to our campsite at Madison Campground by late afternoon. We were entering the park at about 11 am, and decided we would do a short hike at Storm Point on our way. This was a hike we’d done the previous year, but it was both easy and really beautiful so we thought it would be a nice “stretch your legs” hike. It was! Even though we made a few mistakes at the beginning…we decided to do the loop hike the opposite direction from the previous year, but we didn’t realize maybe the hike had been slightly rerouted due to a creek crossing and the reverse direction we took wasn’t actually the official trail and we had to do a little bushwhacking to find our way(this is a bit of foreshadowing….this turned out to be an error we made again later). Not very smart! It was also a bit buggy, which wasn’t my favorite, but hey, still better than Missouri, right? The views at the farthest point of the trail, Storm Point, are really gorgeous. You can see Lake Yellowstone and all of the mountains around. We also got to walk down to a little beach by the Lake, which led to Louie asking my favorite question of the vacation: while gesturing at a medium-sized group of ducks he asked, “why are there ducks here?”.

You can see some “thermal features” along the water there. You might think that all of the geysers and such are well labeled and in popular areas such as Old Faithful, but there are thermal features all over, and I love being on a hike, hearing something gurgling and saying “aha, a thermal feature!” Or seeing some “evidence of thermal activity”, another favorite.

This was the little beach area where Louie questioned the existence of the ducks.

We ate our picnic lunch along the way as well, but I think we didn’t enjoy this hike as well as last year because there were a lot of people on it. Normally that wouldn’t bother me, because a lot for a Yellowstone hike means maybe you see 20 to 30 people, but in these COVID times that seems like a lot!

We headed on our way then, just stopping at little things along the way to Madison Campground.

This was Beryl Springs, which is one of the hottest springs in the park. It’s a little pull off, but you see the steam before you park.

We checked into Madison Campground, our home for the next four nights. We hadn’t stayed here before. I had reserved a small tent site, and let me tell you, emphasis on small. Normally I have poo-pooed people who complain about National Park Campgrounds being jammed in too close together. That was my mistake. This site was outrageous. We were basically next to neighbors on both sides, just crammed in the middle of two campsites, with no sense of privacy (not even the pretend privacy of a campground). This was, other than the location being in Yellowstone, possibly the worst campsite I have ever had. For the record (again, the record), you don’t get to pick your campsite at Yellowstone. I’m not sure how they are assigned, but I definitely got unlucky. I have been lucky many times in the past though so I guess it evens out.

In any case, as we pulled up to our site, it started raining. We thought, let’s get the tent down before the ground gets wet. Which in theory might work, and we did it, we put the tent up in record time, but then it started pouring rain, even tiny hail, and it was a horrible storm and of course the ground was wet anyway. That always makes dinner difficult, so we though, hey we are only 30 minutes from West Yellowstone, let’s go there. So we did, but in these COVID times, you can’t just go get food. It was cold, rainy, and nothing appealed and it all just seemed too difficult. The only drive-through, McDonalds, was backed up a block down the street, so we decided to go back to the campground and eat in the car. We drank beers in the car (we decided with the keys out of the ignition there was no one who could argue we were intending to drive) and had hummus and pita chips.

The next morning we got up early. Luckily the rain had stopped by the time we went to sleep so it wasn’t too wet around…it was time to hit the trails and the Grand Loop Road again. We decided to start “easy” with a short hike up to Monument Geyser Basin—2 miles RT which seems easy, but it was very steep! I was definitely feeling the altitude and huffing and puffing but at least it wasn’t too long. The hike was lovely, with conifers all around and lots of rocks. Monument Geyser Basin has some dormant geysers but lots of huffing and puffing from them, with cone geysers, some mudpots and plenty of gurgling and steam. All in a private setting, no boardwalks or fences, just a few branches blocking off where is likely safe to walk and common sense (that you don’t get close to geysers because the ground around them can be very thin).

We enjoyed a little snack while watching the action. We probably only saw about 3 or 4 other small groups of hikers on this hike.

The hike DOWN was much easier, and soon we were back at the car. We decided to continue heading north and just do stops along the way, so that’s what we did. I have a book called “Yellowstone Treasures” by Janet Chappelle which tells you every pull off and what there is there, so that was quite useful on this trip.

Chocolate Pots—unmarked pulloff with some cool brown thermal features.

Frying Pan Spring. This has a boardwalk to it. I was entertained by passing a woman holding a large bag of Bugles for her trip to the Spring. To be clear: these springs tend to stink, and aren’t the sort of thing you want to snack while watching, but to each their own.

This was the kiosk at the pulloff for Obsidian Cliffs, which is the oldest of its kind in the park. It was built in the National Park Service Rustic style, also called “Parkitecture.”

We decided to go all the way to Mammoth Hot Springs and do another hike there, the Beaver Ponds Hike. It was busy when we got there around 2:30, but we found parking eventually (just be willing to walk more!). We masked up and headed for our trail head. The hike was a 5 mile loop and had some elevation at the beginning but wasn’t too bad throughout, according to the information I had.

The view of Mammoth Hot Springs as we were going by.

We climbed a bit and ran into a couple of teenagers coming back towards us asking about the trail…they had lost it further up and wondered if we knew. We did not, but said we thought we were on the right trail and that was that. A bit later we saw what we thought they might have done wrong (there was a turnout one way to an overlook, the other way to continue the trail) but weren’t sure how they could have missed it. In any case we followed along, enjoying the hike, and even saw a few coyotes (I think?) at one point (which we realized were hunting a marmot…which yes, it’s the circle of life but I don’t enjoy watching animals try to kill other animals.)

If you look closely you can see the coyote. Louie probably has better pictures from his DSLR.

We got to the Beaver Ponds (two of them, I think? ) and kind of followed around.

Suddenly we found ourselves on a trail that seemed less traveled and started to worry we had taken a wrong turn. It didn’t seem super wrong, just a little wrong, so we kept going, and found ourselves going up this steep trail on the side of the trail that was just covered with animal poop (elk, likely) and that’s when we thought, this doesn’t seem right. I had a picture of the map and we looked at it, but it didn’t help. I started panicking. I think I may have started saying, oh my god we are lost in Yellowstone and we are going to die out here and nobody knows where we are and was really starting to have a panic attack. We should have turned around, but we thought we could find the trail. I thought I didn’t even have a topographic map and it was just frankly,  really terrifying. I knew if we headed east we would eventually hit the Old Gardiner Road but I didn’t know how far that would be nor if it would be easy to get to, but that was all I could think…

Louie stayed calm and tried to get me calm, and we were on a sort of trail, because there were footprints here and there, but we just couldn’t get going the right way. Finally he got some cell services and could see our location on the maps, and he was able to see where the trail was compared to where we were! Unfortunately, it was up a very steep hill, which had a variety of ways up but they all seemed to be absolutely terrifying (to me) paths made by the elk. I kept having to stop and was really on the verge of absolutely full on panic, but after some harrowing minutes (maybe even an hour, I don’t even know, I couldn’t think straight) we made it up this horrible hill and over the ridge and then finally back on the trail.

Here’s the thing you should know: before the trip I downloaded two apps on my phone, and both had the complete trail system of the park on them, one with the trails marked, one with topographical maps. Both of them show your location in real time on the map, and neither require cell service, only GPS. But in my panic, I didn’t think of trying them out. I also didn’t think of using the GyPSy app we had been using, which ALSO knows our location, and incidentally, has trail maps on it. So I had my phone, with nearly full service, but didn’t have the calm mind to use it to try to help ourselves. Louie did want to sit down and just regroup but I just couldn’t do it.

I will tell you, I was never so happy to be back on a trail. I don’t know why I got so absolutely panicked but it turned out okay and I definitely overreacted. I think it was because the pandemic has just left me so constantly stressed that I didn’t have anything left.

We were both incredibly happy when the town and the Hot Springs were in view!

We passed by (carefully) some elk in town (this is super normal, it is weird if you DON’T see elk in the town of Mammoth. And then decided to take a look at the Upper Loop Drive. There was a place where normally you can drive through but for some reason was closed to cars, so we decided to walk it instead. After that we visited Canary Spring, one of our favorites from the previous year (we stayed a night in Mammoth). It’s an amazing spring going down over the terraces. We did notice some parts that had been active the previous year weren’t this year, but I can’t believe that apparently now Canary Spring has gone dormant! Although I think it was a bit drier from my pictures, it was still really amazing. (They say the only constant in Yellowstone is change, and that one spring will go dormant but another will start up again).

Finally we decided we’d better head back to the campground to make dinner. It took over an hour to drive back—we saw a few more elk along the way but nothing too crazy. We made a fire and made dinner and hung out a bit before going to “bed.” Oh, and I think it HAD rained/stormed at the campground but luckily we had a rain free day—the clouds looked menacing on our Mammoth hike but luckily it held off: we had enough challenges there already!

The next day we headed north from the campground again, and just figured we’d make a lot of stops as well and do a hike or two later in the day further along. First we made a quick stop at Terrace Springs and enjoyed being among the first there.

Our next stop was Gibbon Falls. It was a very busy parking area especially for the early hour so we kept our distance.

We did manage to get a selfie with the falls.

Then we decided to hit Artists Paint Pots. It was already a fairly crowded area but we got a space. It wasn’t too crowded other than the parking lot (which is quite small.)

There are a ton of thermal features here and a gorgeous mountain range for the backdrop.

We visited Sheepeater Cliffs (we almost didn’t do this because it seemed to just be a picnic area, but it was awesome.)

We drove past Mammoth then, and decided to leave the park to go into the town of Gardiner to check email and such. (Also Louie hoped to see Elk in the river along the way.) It was very exciting to get LTE service in town (which is only 5 miles from Mammoth).

Terrible picture, but the lions outside of the Post Office are wearing masks, you can see.

Elk near the Roosevelt Arch, which is at the North Entrance.

We got a fruit smoothie in Gardiner at a sort of food truck and walked around a bit. Then we headed back to the park, and on the drive back in we did see a bunch of elk down near the river—it was a hot day and there were dozens of them enjoying the water. I wondered if some of the trails we were accidentally or on purpose following during our hike the day before would have led us to the river?

We watched for awhile and then headed on.

We drove the Blacktail Plateau Drive which was pretty but had no wildlife sightings other than a strange bird. I think it was too hot for the animals, but we figured we’d try it anyway.

We had decided to do the Lost Lake/Petrified Forest Loop Hike. I’d thought we could start from Roosevelt, but it really was closed (COVID) so we started the Petrified Forest instead. This was a 3 mile round trip hike with some elevation. What I didn’t realized was the second half was mostly uphill and ALL in the sun, so it was less pleasant. I also should have had my hiking sticks in places, because I got a bit scared and cranky. The first part of the hike was lovely, by a beautiful lake, down through a wooded forest, into the Roosevelt area, full of cabins, and not much else.

(The lake wasn’t lost at all, very easy to find!)

A few people were around working, and we asked directions to get to the other side of the hike. The area seemed a bit post-apocalyptic with all the buildings being completely abandoned. The next part of the hike was not my favorite and was lots of climbing with not much shade, and it was the heat of the day. I don’t remember Yellowstone being so hot, but this visit it was!

Anyway, we did check a few times to make sure we were still on the trail, using my excellent maps with my GPS, and it was uneventful in that way.

After the hike we had time to visit Lamar Valley briefly and see the bison. There are just hundreds of them, and I always enjoy seeing them.

We thought we might have a 2 1/2 hour drive back home (I think it ended up being about 2) so we had to leave before too long. We did get in a nice bison jam, and at one point a bison was walking down the road right in front of us. We’d heard they can travel up to 35 mph, but this guy was just going about 3 mph…finally he got over into the other lane and Louie though it was safe enough to pass. He wasn’t actually sure about it, and it is a little nerve wracking driving by the bison but the fellow didn’t seem to mind us slowing driving by.

We made very few stops on the way back, but did stop at Apollinaris  Spring. It was a place that you used to be able to drink the spring water and had this amazing stone work around it. Now it’s all overgrown, but it was beautiful in a haunting way. Yellowstone has natural beauty, and also quite a long history (and before it became a park too, you’ll read things about Native Americans living on this land long before, but then you’ll also read about how “nobody lived here” which is…GRRRR.)

Don’t mind Louie being on the edge of my photo.

It was just off the road, not well marked, and we initially didn’t stop because we didn’t see anything there. Another random Yellowstone find that we really enjoyed (and NOBODY was there except us and the mosquitoes).

Then it was dinner time, and campfire time. The good thing about having squeezed into our tiny spot was that it was easy to bring things from the car to the picnic table. And luckily, each night the people right by us were perfectly nice and not too loud (other than one night when were near a snorer, who I was convinced was a bison briefly).

I’ll stop there and you can wait a few weeks (maybe not that long!) for the next installment of our trip! One more night in the Madison area, then a night in West Yellowstone, and then over to Bridge Bay campground. Check out the map of Yellowstone to get a sense.