Yellowstone In a Day

We started with a hearty American breakfast at O'Rourkes in the middle of Driggs.

Buffalo lounging along the road in Yellwstone Park

When we left Driggs we headed north on route 33, and then continued north on route 32.  On 32 the road began a slow climb, after about 700 of elevation we began to see snow stakes along the highway, so there must be significant snowfall at the highest elevations.  There were even some gates along the road that are probably used to closed the road when drifting snow makes them impassable.  The landscape was open prairie with a mix of wheat, grazing land and small patches of woodland.

We connected with route 20 in Ashton Idaho.  After leaving town, we saw a crop dusting plane spraying a field along the road, flying real low with steeply banked turns...looks real dangerous.  The skies were very hazy again today as we traveled toward the town of West Yellowstone, and the park entrance.  There was construction on Route 20, with sections of one way traffic again.  We also saw large areas of replanted lodge pole pine before entrance, interspersed with high desert vegetation and large cattle ranches.  We also began seeing evidence of the devastating forest fires that hit the park in 1988.  Most of the park was covered by regrowth that sprung up after that fire.

Old Faithful

On the way in we stopped at the Madison Information Station.  The park rangers were real helpful with the geyser schedule, and pointed out some of the geysers we should try to see, and the approximate schedules for that day. We arrived at Old Faithful about 10 minutes before the expected eruption.  Parking looked to be a real problem, so Glenn dropped off the family and drove to a spot.  He got real lucky and was able to park and run to view it along with quite a large crowd.  Due to the dry summer, it was not as spectacular as it would be with a high water table.  For more information see Geothermal areas of Yellowstone

We then visited many other hot springs and geysers, in that area. Microorganisms that thrive in the hot water affect that light that hits the water and creates a beautiful spectrum of colors.  We just missed Daisy and Riverside, but got to see Castle from a distance and quite a few other smaller geysers and spouts.  Later we drove back to Paint Pots, where thermal activity causes bubbling mud and lots of other oddities.  In all these areas there is a strong smell of sulpher.

Smaller geyser/spout

There are only a few other places in the world with these types of hydro thermal features, and Yellowstone has the largest number and highest concentration of any place in the world.  In fact it has 60% of the worlds geysers.

We stopped at the Continental Divide to take a picture.  Another family from Iowa pulled up, so we offered to take a picture with their camera.  After making small talk, one of them wanted to know what the Continental Divide actually was.  Geography literacy is really lacking.

Hot pool with characteristic color spectrum

We continued east to Yellowtone Lake, and then south on 89, and exited the south entrance toYellowstone.  We entered Grand Tetons National Park.  In one of the large meadows we saw a herd of about 20 buffalo, and joked about needing to see some deer and antelope on the range.  A couple of miles later we saw two antelope (pronghorn?) along the road.  We also passed a large elk preserve along the road.

On the great divide

On the way back to our lodging at Driggs, we drove through the town of Jackson Hole.  It looked like a good town to visit on the next day.  To return to Idaho, we had to climb over the Teton Pass on 22.  It was very long and steep, probably averaging about 10 %.

After returning to Driggs, we had dinner at Teton Thai .  It was very good food cooked by Thai staff, and we highly recommend it if you ever happen to visit the Teton region in Idaho.