Brittany Two weeks before we set off for our National Park road trip there was a devastating flood in Yellowstone. I watched in horror as Park Rangers updated videos on Instagram and TikTok showing the damage the flood was causing. Roads were completely washed away, visitors were evacuated from the park and the entire park was closed for days for the safety of the public and those who work in the park. While I was safely in the comfort of my home, others homes were literally being swept down rivers. My heart ached for the people who lived near the park and were facing such an act of nature. Selfishly, I was wondering how this was going to affect my vacation. After looking at our reservations, we determined that we would lose our money that we had used to make reservations if we cancelled. Thus, we decided that our trip was still on, despite whatever circumstances we faced when in the park (if we could even get in the park). The NPS worked tirelessly to restore roads and open back up safely. I was amazed at how quickly they were able to reopen the park for visitors. They decided that since the North entrances were closed, as well as several other parts of the northern part of the park, that they would open on an alternating plate system. This meant that we were at the mercy of our rental car license plate. If your plate number ended in an even number you could enter the park on an even date, same for odd number plates and dates. We had planned for four days in the park, so regardless of which number we had, we would have two full days in Yellowstone. We requested a plate in an odd number when we reserved our rental car. This would ensure that we were in the park on my birthday.
As we traveled away from Grand Teton to Yellowstone, we were continously met with beautiful views of the Tetons. We were also lucky enough to spot a crowd stopped on the side of the road in Grand Teton National Park that had spotted a black bear. We also stopped and were able to view the bear through our binoculars.
Since we left very early in the morning to take advantage of our limited days in Yellowstone, we made it to the park quite early. There was hardly a wait, but our license plate was definitely checked as we went through the park entrance where our park pass was reviewed. Side note: if you plan to visit several parks in one visit or one year, purchase an America the Beautiful Park Pass. It is a little more pricey than a day or multiple day pass but it covered all of our park entrances and was more than worth it.
I was SUPER pumped for Yellowstone. It fascinates me that there is land in my country that bubbles, and sizzles, and has hot water shooting up out of the ground. My goal for Yellowstone was to see the amazing thermal features, Bill’s was to see the animals. Our first glimpse of the park offered views of all of the thermal features, and I was thrilled!
Both of our goals were fulfilled within an hour of entering the park. The thermal features are absolutely indescribably amazing. We also spotted elk as well as bison after our first stop viewing the pools and springs. We stopped at a Ranger Station where Bill talked with a ranger about the best place to view animals in the park. She shared about a bear with two (older) cubs that had been in the same general area for a while and told us the best way to see them. As she suggested, we stopped in the area that she told us about where a lot of cars had pulled into a pull out area. We grabbed our binoculars and got out to talk to a few people there. They had spotted them “on the other side of that big hill”. There was also a truck with two park rangers staring intently at that big hill. When they pulled out, we followed behind them. We finally spotted the bears! The rangers blocked off the road with cones to allow the bears to safely cross. They obviously know these bears and their patterns very well. Unfortunately, I do not have the best photos as I was just using my phone and not a professional camera or zoom lens. We were also trying to follow park rules and stay well away from the bears. I would definitely recommend buying or bringing binoculars, we were able to get a good view through ours.
There were three bears but I only captured two in my pictures.
We continued on to various geyser, basins, and hot springs checking out each area and walking around the boardwalks and trails to view every single feature. I did feel a bit rushed, but also didn’t want to miss anything in our short time period that we had. We went to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and Artist’s Point.
I wanted a picture at the Continental Divide sign, so we traveled to where one would be. So cool to think that a drop of rain that lands there could end up in the Pacific Ocean whereas another one could make its way to the Gulf of Mexico!
We ended our very long day by driving past Grand Prismatic Spring. At that point we had spent over twelve hours in the park and were absolutely beat! We planned to stop by there first thing during our next day in the park.
Whew! What a whirlwind it was! Obviously, we did not originally plan to pack in so much into our Yellowstone trip, but the flood did throw a wrench into our plans. We saw a whole lot in our first day however we did not get to spend as much time as we wanted in some of the sections. We stayed in the small town of West Yellowstone, but don’t think we just rested on our non-Yellowstone Park days. There was lots to do, and we did as much as we could. Stay tuned for next time, as we Goforth and Explore West Yellowstone, the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center and recap our final day in Yellowstone National Park!
