Yellowstone National Park

From the Grand Tetons, we entered Yellowstone National Park through the South Entrance. On the way to our campsite in Fishing Bridge, we came up close and personal with our first park wildlife - elk. They were resting under pine trees, peacefully, and Mary Lou got within a few years of them, before the rangers came to remind everyone of the 25 yard mandatory distance to be kept between all wildlife. Except for bears - 100 yards.

Kyle had, much to the appreciation of Mary Lou and Nicole, made all the reservations for this Jackson/Teton/Yellowstone leg of the trip. And what a fantastic job he did. Fishing bridge had full hook-ups, a huge general store, and was in the heart of Grizzly country. We hadn't even reached our campsite before we came upon a traffic jam at the Fishing Bridge junction. Two rangers were trying to keep the traffic moving, but also understanding of all the people that had pulled over. We pulled off the road, and joined the throng to see our first Grizzly Bear. Out in the field, framed by pine trees, the lake, and snow-capped mountains behind, we watched the grizzly forage for roots in the soil. When he exited, stage right, into the woods, everyone jumped in to their cars to see if they could intersect him around the bend, but we carried on to our campsite.

After a quick lunch and map study session at the Lake Lodge, we took a drive around the Eastern side of the park. We saw our first herd of bison, complete with baby bison. We wondered at what baby bison were called (calves), while we watched the massive beasts lumber through the fields. They were far away, but we sat and watched, not knowing that we would be inundated with bison throughout our stay.

Kyle asked, "Anyone interested in seeing the Mud Volcano?" "Hell yeah!" We could smell the mud volcano before we saw it. Before we even got out of the car, the sulfur smell filled our nostrils and made us all say 'ewww'. By the end of our stay, we sought out that sulfur smell, knowing that it would lead us to any number of remarkable geothermal events.

Mud Volcano was exactly that. A steaming cauldron of mud bubbling out from a collapsed hillside. The clay mud edges were dried into artistic cracked tiles, and the deep path of bison tracks showed that, even with the boardwalks to keep the people off, the area was still a favorite for wildlife.

The Mud Volcano area was filled with lots of geothermal events. Walking on the boardwalk over the steaming, hydrogen sulfide rivers felt like walking through the 'bog of eternal stench', from our favorite movie, Labyrinth. We "oohed and ached", but nothing compared to our reaction when we reached "The Dragon's Mouth".

From a small, dark cavern cut into the hillside, a tremendous roar emanated from its bowels and monstrous gusts of steam spewing straight up into the air. You could only imagine what the first intrepid explorers thought when they came upon this cavern. It looked and sounded exactly as if a dragon had been awakened and was growling his dismay at the intrusion. Even now, understanding the science of the cave, you could almost be certain the science was wrong, and that there was a dragon in there. It was too awesome to be of the 'real' world.

If all of Yellowstone was going to be as amazing as this first day, we were in for quite an adventure.


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