July 11, 2002 – Old Faithful to Gardiner, Montana
Everyone slept in this morning – even me. It felt good after the early morning and late night the day before. We had one last breakfast in the Old Faithful Inn dining room, then packed up and checked out. Before we left we took one last walk around the wonderful old building. We just soaked up the beauty of the place. I think I could stay there all summer and still feel sad to leave.
Our plan was to head straight to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, but Delaney wanted to take one more walk around Geyser Hill – and I’m so glad she did! Aaron didn’t want to walk and I wanted to get going, but Delaney was very persuasive. Chrissy and Aaron stayed on the porch at the Inn and off Delaney and I went. We walked and took some pictures and video here and there, and then came to Beehive Geyser. There was an older couple there. They were from Tennessee but came to Yellowstone every year and were very knowledgeable about the geysers. The gentleman had a notebook and was recording eruption activity. They showed us a small geyser about 10 feet away from Beehive that was spewing a small amount of water. They told us the small geyser activity was an indication that Beehive was about to erupt. We waited right in front of the geyser as a small crowd gathered. Its eruption was the most spectacular thermal feature we saw on the whole trip. Unlike Grand Fountain, which spurts and Old Faithful, which pulsates, Beehive was like a three foot diameter fire hose. It shot water and steam 80-100 feet in the air with a roar like a jet engine. It erupted like this continuously for over 5 minutes. Once it started to die down Delaney and I headed back towards the Inn. As we approached Old Faithful started to erupt so we stopped to watch it one last time. When we finally got back to Chrissy and Aaron we found they had seen both Beehive and Old Faithful from the porch.
Finally we were in the van and on our way. We went counter-clockwise around the southern loop road again, past Sulfur Caldron and Mud Volcano into Hayden Valley. As we drove through the valley we saw hundreds of bison, both off in the distance and right up by the road. We stopped and took pictures several times, including several calves. We stayed in the van but rolled the window down and listened to them munch the grass for a while.
We eventually reached the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River. We went straight to the visitor center to get a detailed map of the area. While in the visitor center we watched a video of bison chasing people, goring them, and throwing one guy into a tree. Aaron was quite impressed.
We had lunch at the lunch counter and grill in the general store. An old-style lunch counter that comes out with several peninsulas and the servers all behind the counter. The same basic layout as the Camelia Grill in New Orleans, only bigger. I read somewhere that it was built in the 1950’s and I don’t think it changed much since then. It was a great place to get lunch.
After lunch we visited Artist Point where we listened to a ranger program. Ranger Kevin talked about how the canyon was formed. A combination of thermal activity softening the rock and a relatively rapid glacier melt caused the erosion. The canyon and Lower Falls were spectacular from this vantage point and we could also see the Broad Fire burning a few miles to the east.
From Artist Point we went to the Upper Falls which are beautiful, but not as spectacular as the Lower Falls. From the Upper Falls Chrissy let me satisfy my desire to hike. Neither she nor the kids wanted to go with me, so I walked a couple of miles to a lookout on the north side of the canyon where they picked me up. Along the way I crossed a little creek with a pretty cascade. Once we were all back together again it was time for our daily ice cream – back to the General Store!
With the all-important ice cream taken care of, we hit the road again for our first foray onto the northern loop of the Yellowstone “figure eight”. We headed counter-clockwise toward Mammoth Hot Springs and our eventual destination of Gardiner, Montana. The drive took us through some very pretty forest that had not been damaged by fire. We only stopped once to see a momma black bear and her cubs. They were quite a distance up a hill, but we could see the mother very well. The cubs mostly stayed hidden in the sage.
When we got to Mammoth Hot Springs there were elk grazing in the median of the road right in the middle of the village. We didn’t stop at Mammoth and went straight through to the famous arch that was dedicated by Theodore Roosevelt and was the original entrance to the park. It is located right on the edge of town. I had this vision of it being in the middle of nowhere, and I guess that’s because the pictures you see look exactly like the ones we took. From outside the park looking in all you see are fields and mountains. But from inside the park looking out the town of Gardiner is right there.
Gardiner has several hotels and restaurants and one street with tourist shops, but it is not a big tourist town like Jackson. We checked into the Comfort Inn and found a pizza place right next door. Once again, walking distance carries a lot of weight in restaurant selection! Good pizza and a good, cold beer. A great end to another great day.
Where Are We Going Now? 