We made it yesterday from Glacier National Park to Yellowstone in one day. A few views leaving Glacier.
I had to quickly snap the next two picture to prove to Arlie that we really did pass through Arlee, Montana (an unincorporated community in MT). Of course they didn’t spell it correctly. LOL
We planned to stay at a rest area last night, but that didn’t work out, so we called Yellowstone RV Park in Gardiner, MT to see if they could accommodate us one night earlier. They could! Glad that we both enjoy driving. The drive itself was absolutely beautiful, but traveling about 440 miles, stopping once for fuel and once to stock up on groceries, made for a long 11-hour day. BONUS though is that today, August 30, 2023, is now a FULL day to explore! I LOVE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK!!
Yellowstone RV Park is a great location to conveniently explore the northern part of Yellowstone National Park. It is clean, quiet and well managed. We have full hooks with 50amp service. The park overlooks the Yellowstone River and is only about 6 miles from Mammoth Hot Springs. Gardiner is a fun little town bordering the National Park.
YELLOWSTONE BECAME the FIRST National Park!
Even though there were previous expeditions to Yellowstone, it was the Hayden Expedition that went with the intention of documenting the unique features and beauty that needed protection from human desecration. The group included several scientists, painters Thomas Moran and Henry W. Elliot, and photographer William Henry Jackson. The expedition was successful. The photographs and paintings inspired support from Congress, and on March 1, 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant signed the Yellowstone National Park Protection Law establishing it as the first National Park! (Grant never came to Yellowstone in person.) Below are two of Thomas Moran’s paintings of Yellowstone.
Congress thought the park could be managed by unpaid park “superintendents”. Being unpaid, these early superintendents succumbed to being paid off by poachers and crooks so they could continue to pillage the park resources. Soon the Department of the Interior allowed the U.S. Army to manage it for thirty years beginning in 1888. President Woodrow Wilson signed the National Park Service Organic Act in 1916, which created the National Park Service that continues today.
The Roosevelt Arch prominently marks the north entrance to YNP. President Theodore Roosevelt was present for the cornerstone dedication while visiting the park for two weeks, but he never saw the finished result that included his quote. President Roosevelt loved nature and was known for being a conservationist. Roosevelt did the most for expanding our National Park Service by establishing 5 additional national parks and 150 national forests, so it is easy to see why many mistakenly credit him with creating YNP. Roosevelt wasn’t President in 1862. In fact, Teddy Roosevelt was only born in 1858!
We eagerly set out to Mammoth Hot Springs. We saw female elk (cows) almost immediately! We stopped in at the Visitor Center.
The hot springs area constantly changes throughout the years. While some large areas of the terraces seemed dryer and dormant from what I recall years ago, it still was amazing to see and appreciate these phenomenons.
“You are looking at a world of heat-loving microorganisms called ‘thermophiles.’ Billions of them live, die, and are buried at Mammoth Hot Springs.”
“Heated deep underground, water rises through buried limestone, then deposits the mineral calcite above ground. The calcite hardens becoming travertine. As hot spring water flows, trees, grasses, thermophiles, and even the boardwalk are entombed!”
“Yellowstone’s hot springs are among Earth’s most extreme environments. Yet life survives and thrives in conditions that would be lethal to humans. Scientists studying hot spring habitats are learning about life’s limits on earth, What they learn here may also aid the search for life on other planets.”
Three young deer came into the area to feed.
2022 Flood Impact Felt:
We were planning to go to the Boiling River. It was going to be cool to get into a hot spring river, but a ranger informed us that the flood of 2022 took it out. It is just rock bed. How sad! Firehole River is also a no-go to access for a quick swim/dip due to the same flooding of 2022.
Beautiful scenery!
We continued on the upper loop.
We started on the North Rim of the Yellowstone “Grand Canyon”. We stopped at the view areas of the Lower Falls, the Upper Falls, Inspiration Point and Artist’s Point, which were all along the loop. What incredible views of nature!
We started to head down the trail to the observation deck located near the edge of the falls. The trail looked to be a significant decline all the way down, and of course a steep incline coming back. We didn’t need to push to do this today. We’ll definitely do that on another day!
How can the tree(s) be so green standing on such an incline with their roots so high out of the ground!?!
I’m amazed when I see someone documenting their travels by journaling on the spot and include drawings or as this lady was doing- watercolors of what she is experiencing at Artist’s Point (appropriately named) on the south rim. So talented.
It was getting too late in the day for some pictures. Luckily, we have a week to enjoy this park! We head back towards our campground in Gardiner.
Coming back through Mammoth to go home several female elk were in the center area grazing and relaxing. A ranger is always out when elk are on the grounds to make sure people keep far enough away and don’t startle or harass any of them.
Then we saw our first pronghorn deer which I’ve always known as pronghorn antelope. At first we just saw a few, then we saw more as we continued round the curve.
Gardiner had elk enjoying its little park area as we came by, and one gal rested at the RV park entrance!
It was a GREAT first day in Yellowstone. Tomorrow we hope to see more animals!
We’re taking Simon to Yellowstone this summer!
Highly recommend reading Timothy Egan’s “The Big Burn” for the the fascinating history of Teddy Roosevelt’s battle with the lumber and railway barons over establishing national forests.