Yellowstone National Park 

I am sure it would not shock you if I told you that Yellowstone is probably one of the most beautiful places on the face of the earth. If I could figure out a way to afford to live right outside the gate, I'd do it in a heartbeat. Maybe when I retire from the Sheriff's Department......

I had always wanted to see Yellowstone, after all, it was the first National Park anywhere, in the world, and it is one of the most spectacular. There are so many geothermal sites and activities to see that even though I stayed for four days, I still didn't see everything. Sooooo, I am planning a trip back and this time, I'm taking the kids.....

This trip was not JUST a Yellowstone Park trip. The park was the pinnacle of my trip, but there were a LOT of other activities along the way there and back that I have also included pictures of. The trip was in the summer of 1999 and I took 17 days while the kids were visiting their mom for summer visitation. I drove through New Mexico, to Colorado, where I went to Royal Gorge and Pikes Peak. I then drove through Wyoming to Montana to see the Little Big Horn Battlefield Park. After spending a day there and a night on the Sioux Indian Reservation, I headed back to Wyoming and spent a day and a night in Cody Wyoming, and that is a really neat little town. 

The next day I drove into Yellowstone National Park for the first time and it is something that I will never forget. From the moment I passed through the east entrance from Cody, I just felt different. I had finally made it to a park I'd admired from afar all my life. Many times in life we build up expectations that the real experience can rarely live up to, but Yellowstone exceeded my expectations, which were very, very high.

Since I was solo, and flying by the seat of my pants (no timetable, just a desire to go and see), I had no reservations for a place to stay in the park. The campgrounds were full and I had hoped to tent camp for a few days (it's only $12.00 a day). Since there were no spaces at that point I went to the Old Faithful Inn and checked to see if there were any other places I could stay for the night. Fortunately, there was a vacancy in the Canyon area where they have cabins. I stayed in the cabin that night and it was quite pleasant. The Canyon area is a great area to start in if it is your first time to the park. 

This is me almost at the peak of Mt. Washburn. There is a fire watch tower at the top that is manned by the Park Service, or the Forestry Service, I forget, thus the road I'm standing in. There were two fellas coming down the mountain as I was going up and they asked me to take their picture for them, so they were kind enough to do the same for me. 

This is one of the shots I took while hiking the north rim of the Canyon. It was quite a hike, longer than any I'd done for quite some time. It was worth every step though. After staying the first night in the cabin, I was able to secure a camping site down by the Yellowstone Lake. I then spent three additional nights in my tent. It was June, nearly July, but it was COLD when I first got up in the mornings....

The Mammoth Springs area is in the north end of the park. The old U. S. Army buildings are there and the military cemetery is located up there. The hotel there is pretty nice, but the food was a bit pricey. Lots of mule deer up there as well. 

This was called Sour Lake, and no, I didn't test to see if the name fit. I was on one of the hiking trails and came across it. There were numerous spots where you could see bubbles coming out of the mud up into the lake from the geothermal activity that seemed to be everywhere... I did put my hand into the water to find that it was VERY hot... not enough to burn, but too hot to bath in.

There is a Ranger Cabin Museum over on the west side that houses a collection of photos and other paraphernalia that shows the history of the rangers in Yellowstone. It was a lot more interesting than it sounds....

This was a site I came across just driving on the west loop road..... It seemed that no matter where you looked, or where you went, there were spectacular views everywhere....

Morning Glory Hot Spring, what more needs to be said? The gold color is actually a form of bacteria that thrives in the super hot waters of these hot springs. There are scientists who are studying these types of bacteria at these sites and they have found quite a few that show promise in the creation of medicines and treatments for human ailments.

Buffalo at hot springs one cold morning...

This is a shot of Hayden Valley. It is absolutely beautiful here. For perspective, just remember that the stream in the upper part, is a river... and the little brown dots in the middle of the photo are buffalo.... for real. I made a point of getting up one morning before sunrise and coming to this location. I sat on this rise and ate my breakfast while the sun came up and it was a glorious sight. I got it on video tape, but I've been unsuccessful so far in transferring those tapes to pics...The pictures on this page are scanned 35mm photos I took at the time, I was then un-digital.

More Photos of Yellowstone

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(you should be hearing "Scarborough Fair" right now)