Concluding the Summer of 2007: The Legendary Yellowstone

The main focus of my family’s summer 2007 road trip was to explore the country’s very first national park: Yellowstone. Established as a park in 1872, Yellowstone is well know for its abundance of diverse wildlife and geothermal features, like the Old Faithful Geyser (Wikipedia). I spent over a week camping in Yellowstone with my family, so we were able to explore much of this wondrous park.

Yellowstone National Park: Where the buffalo roam.

Driving in to the park for the first time, we were greeted by a large heard of buffalo. These beasts were absolutely fascinating, and would walk alongside our car when it was parked on the side of the road. Having never seen buffalo before, I knew we were in for an exciting adventure!

We saw different types of animals everywhere we went: deer, moose, black bears, grizzly bears, elks, wolves and many more. This land was truly diverse, and we never knew what we were going to discover next.

Old Faithful, a massive geyser that consistently erupts every 35 to 120 minutes.

The Old Faithful geyser was truly an amazing sight. Erupting every 35 to 120 minutes, it is one of the most predictable geographical features on earth. Eruptions can shoot 3,700 to 8,400 gallons of boiling water to a height of 106 to 185 feet in the air. I have never seen anything quite like it.

The roaring Yellowstone River.

The Yellowstone River is actually a tributary of the Missouri River. It rolls over the Upper and Lower Yellowstone Falls, and actually connects with Yellowstone Lake. I noticed boiling water from many hot springs flow into the river as well, making the tributary a connector for many of the various bodies of water in the park.

The beautiful and powerful Lower Yellowstone Falls.

Observing the Upper and Lower Yellowstone Falls was incredible. The falls are massive and stunning; they were certainly one of my favorite hiking destinations. Considering past travel experiences, I would say experiencing the Lower Falls (pictured above) felt like a mix between the Grand Canyon and Niagara Falls.

Yellowstone is covered with intriguing (but extremely dangerous) hot springs.

Lastly, I was awed by the crystal clear, abundantly colorful and, of course, extremely dangerous Yellowstone hot springs. These hot springs are caused by the Yellowstone Caldera, a super-volcano beneath the park.

The diversity of Yellowstone was fantastic; we were able to explore a new area of the park every single day. I would without a doubt recommend visiting this park. It is an amazing experience, and I certainly hope to return one day!