Wyoming | Robert Humrickhouse

I’m not going to pretend that I can write anything new or insightful about the first national park in the world. Since 1872 it has drawn people from all over the world to view its magnificence, wonder, mystery; to stand on some of the earths thinnest crust, and be awestruck of the wilderness changing before your eyes every day .

On our drive to Mammoth Hot Springs we stopped for a short while at Moose Falls on Crawfish Creek, a sort of primer for what’s to come.

Lunchtime came just as we were approaching Old Faithful, so why not stop?

Next door, the Old Faithful Inn, built over the winter of 1903-1904, came close to destruction during the great fire of 1988.

We made it to Mammoth and checked into the hotel. Thank God there wasn’t a toddler riding a tricycle toward twins at the end of our hall.

We wanted to walk the ground of Fort Yellowstone but were thwarted by a herd of possessive elk (notice the playground) and several park rangers enthralled with their authority.

We made it back to the hotel without being arrested at close of day.

The next morning, the hot springs just across the street showed themselves in the morning sun.

Today’s schedule was a day long bus tour, “Yellowstone in a Day” . It ended at ten hours but if you want to know as much as possible you have to put in the time. As Wayne described Kevin, our guide, “It was like having a friend in the seat next to you.” He was passionate about Yellowstone and eager to share his 40 years of park knowledge. No we didn’t ride in that dandy bus, we had a van.

Our first stop was the Norris Geyser Basin. A geothermal wonderland.

The “mic drop” of the day was Yellowstone Canyon and the Lower Falls.

For our second full day we headed to Lamar Valley for the vistas and wildlife. Both were impressive. We ate lunch on the rock in the river

Along our drive we came upon Lamar Buffalo Ranch created in 1907 to preserve one of the last free-roaming bison herds in the United States. It is now the Yellowstone Forever Institute, an educational camp for young kids and teens. While there we met the very pleasant Ranger John and his wife. John is a retiree trying to convince the powers that be to develop a program for retirees to donate a month of their time to volunteer at Yellowstone. We’ll take it! Especially if it comes with that ranger cabin.

On our drive back we stopped at Calcite Springs and hiked the north rim trail.

What would a Yellowstone post be without a bison picture. This guy decided to nest on the side of the road. We stayed in the car.

We benefited, we enjoyed.

Yesterday we set off from Cody in much clearer skies even though the Fishhawk Fire had grown to 10,000 acres. Due to a senior moment thinking that I had a 3:00 PM conference call we climbed through Yellowstone pedal to the metal without taking in many sights along the way. We did stop at Lewis Falls.

as always, click image to enlarge

We arrived in time for a nice walk to Lunch Tree Hill where John D. Rockefeller, JR, was coaxed by the first head of the National Park Service, Horace Albright, in an effort to reel in Rockefeller’s support for the parks. It paid off, handsomely.

The walk was splendid with some of the Quaking Aspen already announcing fall’s arrival.

Walking to the dining room for a sunset dinner, we realized the squirrels had started without us.

The view from our table.

I had beef tenderloin over grilled asparagus sitting atop a Yukon mash with shallots and bacon. A huckleberry reduction was the perfect foil.

This morning we woke to cloudy skies but took a delightful boat trip up to the face of Mount Moran. Sans foothills to mute their strength, the Tetons are not bashful of their power. Gradually as you close in they engulf your entire field of vision and you are face on with the insurmountable force still building them today.

Lucky us, we were looking at a Bald Eagle nest when one of them took flight. Luckier still, I was able to catch it mid-sky.

It started raining a little when we returned and after lunch, a thunderstorm was approaching so back to the lodge we headed where I sat under the porch roof to take the conference call which I swear I had done yesterday.

The storm cleared and we took a walk around the grounds starting at the corral. We talked with the horses and met Rose, Tilly the dog, and the wrangler for the season. Rose is a rescue horse. She was headed for slaughter when a good soul swooped in and rescued her. She just had surgery on her ankle and you can see she still is underweight but doing well. She likes treats.