Road Trip Part IV

Entering Yellowstone at the North Gate

After Montana we headed south to Yellowstone National Park. I was eagerly anticipating the four days we had planned for Yellowstone: I had never been and the images that I have seen since I was a young kid made it seem like a very special place. Additionally, the month before our trip the August cover story for National Geographic was on Yellowstone and it's slumbering supervolcano that lies beneath, a sure sign that our road trip was destined for some cool experiences!

The Montana side of things in Gardiner... just as beautiful in the park

Right off the bat when you enter Mammoth Hot Springs you come across tons of elk. Very cool and very strange. I'll admit that being an Alaskan kid you become accustomed to being around a fair amount of moose and their tendencies to be casual towards humans and our habitat, but this is out of the ordinary. I was flabbergasted at how indifferent the elk were towards humans in Mammoth. A perk to this time of year is that it is rutting season and rightly so we spotted a feisty buck and his beautiful rack. But, what actually made it fascinating was not that the buck and his expectantly aggressive nature but rather the stupid tourists that were trying to get close so they could get a great photo. In some demented way I wish we stuck around to surely see that buck chase after some way-too-close touron.

Typical Yellowstone sighting: wildlife being wild and stupid tourists not too far away with their cameras thinking it's a good idea

It's amazing what great photos you can get from the car when an animal steps in front of you (okay, well minus the fact that she's crossing the street and there is a building and vehicles behind her)

Someone is letting us know who's boss...

After our first encounter with the domesticated animals in Mammoth we headed towards the northeast corner of Yellowstone, where it is the most mountainous and least touron packed. We were unable to secure a campsite in the park (be an early bird if you want to grasp a site at one of the good campgrounds!) so we headed out towards Cooke City for the evening. It is absolutely stunning out this way and our campsite was great so it was totally worth it. But alas, if you go be prepared for weather! I have no doubt that no matter what season it is this particular area gets a lot of precipitation. The canyon perfectly funnels everything in. We had multiple lightening storms overhead and I found myself scrambling several times for what I'm not so sure, if the lightning was going to hit me my running somehwhere was going to be too little too late. Fabulous nonetheless!

Driving in the northeast part of Yellowstone, headed towards Icebox Canyon

Camping just outside of the park near Cooke City in Icebox Canyon, we completely understood the reason why this canyon is named Icebox after only camping for one night

Cody using his master boy scout skills getting the campfire lit, I would completely feel safe in the middle of nowhere with this guy. Between his own learned wilderness knowledge and his intense fascination with shows like Surviorman, he's a man of many skills.

Cooking on the fire is very fulfilling: it's fun to think of dishes that are going to be satisfying and delicious. Plus, it's a time for me to eat hot dogs and feel really, really good about it.