Part 3: Glacier National Park to Yellowstone National Park
Follow along on our adventure as we head to Yellowstone and meet up with geysers, wildlife and a stranger.
Day 10: Many Glacier Hotel, Glacier National Park to Old Faithful Inn, Yellowstone National Park
Drive time: 11 hours, 41 minutes; 609 miles
Next stop: American's first National Park: Yellowstone. We left early from Many Glaciers knowing we had a long trip ahead of us. Most of the morning we followed along the east bank of Flathead Lake, a beautiful scenic drive. We travelled to the mining town of Butte, skirted the Big Hole Valley, then around Helena, over to Bozeman before turning south at the Gallatin Gateway to Yellowstone.
On the way, Ed drove, and I read to him from our travel books. I was particularly struck by a passage that talked about Yellowstone's policy on fighting wildfires. In the 1970s, the Park decided to allow wildfires caused by lightening to burn under controlled conditions. It was dusk and drizzling when we finally turned into the Park. I was heartbroken to see that the Park was covered in what looked like dozens of smoldering fires.
But all I was seeing were the steaming geysers and boiling mud pots! I was so relieved and a little chagrined by my naivety. We checked in the Old Faithful Inn and settled into the last two seats at the bar for a beer and burger. It had been a long day and we were delighted to be where we were.
Day 11: Old Faithful Inn, Yellowstone National Park to Canyon Village Lodge, Yellowstone.
Drive time: 1 hour, 21 minutes; 42 miles
Early the next morning we walked out of the Inn door and over to Old Faithful. The geyser erupts about every 91 minutes and sure enough, right on time, we saw it blow: spouting 3,700-8,400 gallons of hot water at heights of 106 to 184 feet. It really was pretty impressive.
After breakfast at the Inn we hiked around Upper Geyser Basin, the largest concentration of geysers anywhere in the world.
We had originally planned to camp for the next two nights, but because we arrived so late the evening before, we didn't want to rush off to try to find an available camp site. Fortunately, we were able to get a room reservation at Canyon Village, in the northern part of the park and closer to the campgrounds that we needed to get to early the following morning. So we made our way through the park, pulling over often to see the wildlife in the Hayden Valley: birds, bears, buffalo, sheep, wolves and coyotes.
After checking into the hotel, we headed back out to hike the South Rim of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone -- one of the most spectacular hikes of my life!
Day 12: Canyon Village Lodge, Yellowstone to Slough Creek Campground, Yellowstone
Drive time: 1 hour; 30 miles
The race was on. Most campsites are first come, first served so we had to get up and get going in hopes of finding one. We drove up to Slough Creek and back about 5 miles off the road to the wilderness campground. No fancy showers; no flushable toilets, but plenty of fabulous views along the creek. We lucked into one of the prettiest sites and after the standard bear warning from the campground host, set up our tent before heading up the creek -- Ed with his fly rod and me with a book. Ed caught one trout. How big? Big enough to take the hook.
By early afternoon, all the sites were taken. As we began to fix our dinner, a young guy appeared on the hill above our site and called down to ask if he could share our table. He spoke with an European accent -- a young man traveling around a foreign country. All I could think of was Jack in Germany last year. Ed and I looked at each other and then both encouraged him to come on down. Turns out, Mario was originally from Berlin and had been working for a German engineering company in Portland for the last couple of years. He was headed back to Germany by year end and decided it was time for him to see some of the States. He was traveling by himself, sleeping in his car as he was afraid of being eaten by a bear, which by now did not seem preposterous to us.
We shared a beer with him and he shared a white chocolate candy bar with us. He was nice company and we wished him well when he took off in the morning. He left us a scape of paper with his name and email address on it. We promised we would look him up if we made it to Berlin next year.
To be continued. Stay tuned....
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