Becks and the Cities

If you know me, then you know how much I enjoy being outside taking pictures of nature. It should come as no surprise that one of my bucket list items is to visit all 63 of the National Parks in the United States. This week, I was able to cross off two more- The Grand Tetons and Yellowstone!

Yellowstone National Park, established in 1872, is famous for being the world’s first national park and remains one of the most popular national parks in the US. The park was created on a volcanic hot spot and is a beautiful place to visit (even with the eggy smell- but more on that later!).

Yellowstone has always been a bucket list destination for me, since it’s full of incredible views and amazing wildlife. On June 13, 2022 (just over a month before our trip), an unprecedented flood devastated the park. Luckily, the north loop reopened on July 2, so we were able to access around 93% of the roads, which was such a blessing! While I would have liked to drive through Lamar Valley (popular spot frequented by wildlife), we were able to see several animals in other parts of the park (guess I need to make a trip back!).

Now that I’m home, I wanted to sit down and share my top five favorite experiences I had when visiting the park!

1.) Drive through Hayden Valley

Hayden Valley was one of my favorite places to drive through when visiting the park. It’s one of the best areas in Yellowstone to spot some of its incredible wildlife. This valley is located just north of Yellowstone Lake and is frequented by elk, bison, and bears. There are two popular hiking trails in the area: Hayden Valley Trail (13.6-miles) and the Mary Mountain Trail (20-miles).

We were stuck in a traffic (a.k.a a bison) jam each time we drove through the area. The first time was due to a heard of 100+ bison conveniently moving from one side of the street to the other side. The second time a bison calf FELL ASLEEP in the road. Although we thought we were going to miss our dinner reservation (we didn’t), I wasn’t mad about it.

If you scroll to the bottom, you can see how close the bison were to our car!

2.) Explore the Grand Prismatic Spring

The Grand Prismatic Spring is gorgeous and one of the coolest spots we visited during our time in Yellowstone National Park – a must see in my opinion! We parked in the Midway Geyser Basin lot and made our way over to the 0.8-mile boardwalk that weaves its way around the hot springs.

The spring generates its bright colors through pigmented thermophilic bacteria that reside in its hot waters (~160°F in July). The iconic rainbow hot spring is ~300 feet around and 160 feet deep.

It was fascinating to see bison footprints in the Grand Prismatic Spring. During the harsh winters, Bison will often place themselves in and around hot springs and steam to stay warm during Yellowstone’s brutal winters (which can be -50°F!). But isn’t that toxic? Yupp!- occasionally smaller bison can succumb to the combination of hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide emitted by nearby thermal features.

If you thought the ground level view was cool, then you’ll be happy to know there’s a better view of the Grand Prismatic Spring from an overlook! Since weather conditions were ideal (sunny and mostly cloud-less), we knew the hike would be worthwhile. Although a short distance, we choose to drive to the Fairy Falls parking lot (which is larger), next to the Midway Geyser Basin lot. We decided to save our energy for the hike, since it was already toasty and the walk over wasn’t shaded!

A few articles online state the hike to the overlook is ~0.6-mile. However, our trackers indicated it was closer to 0.8 (not that it matters much). The hike was fairly easy and took about 15 minutes to walk up to the top.

The Fairy Falls portion of the hike is flat and wide, but forks into two paths. We took the left path, which narrows into the uphill portion of the hike for the remaining 0.2-mile.

After reaching the top of the hill, we were greeted with this stunning view of the Grand Prismatic Spring!!

3.) Watch Old Faithful Erupt!

It was so cool to see Old Faithful in person! I had seen pictures and videos in a few ecology classes growing up, but I’ve always wanted to see the real thing. While we lucked out and rolled up seconds before Old Faithful erupted, there is a way to track the geyser’s activity on Yellowstone Park’s website here for a better estimate. Old Faithful erupts every 35 to 120 minutes for about 1 1/2 to 5 minutes, and has a highly predictable eruption pattern (how it got its name!).

Excuse me as I dive into a mini science lesson (it’s cool, I promise). Old Faithful erupts when water held in a subterranean reservoir superheats from the magma-filled volcanic champers below the Earth’s surface. Over time, this generates so much pressure that eventually the water shoots upwards through rhyolite (volcanic rock) tunnels that direct the hot water (~204°F) out.

It is interesting to know that over the years, the intervals between Old Faithful’s eruptions have increased. Back in the 1960s, the average was every 66 minutes, but now it’s about every 91 minutes. There are a few ideas behind why this could be happening: earthquake activity (affects the structure of the water system in the below ground), water table levels, climate change, or human activities (water diversion and construction projects). I hope Old Faithful will be around for generations to come, but at this rate, it might become just a textbook lesson! 😔

4.) Visit Yellowstone’s Grand Canyon!

Yes, you read that right! Yellowstone National Park has its own Grand Canyon! It is another popular place to visit and hike around in the park (which makes sense when you see how amazing the views are!). For hikers, the best spots to view the 20-mile long Canyon include: the Brink of the Lower Falls Trail (0.7-mile) and Red Rock Points Trail (0.7-mile). For quick and wheel-chair accessible stops, check out: Lookout Point and Artist Point.

Fun Fact: the canyon was formed by erosion as Yellowstone River flowed over progressively softer, less resistant rock. The canyon continues to be sculpted by water, wind, and earthquakes.

5.) Drive Along the Yellowstone Lake

The Yellowstone Lake is quite vast, totaling roughly 20-miles long and 14-miles wide. Not only is the lake the largest body of water in Yellowstone, it’s also the largest freshwater lake above 7,000 feet in the entire country. Several visitors go kayaking or boating on the lake, once the lake unfreezes (around June!). This is another great spot to see wildlife, like bald eagles!

Bonus: I had to include more animal pictures!

Reminder: Be mindful when you’re visiting! The animals are very much wild and too many preventable accidents/deaths occur each year!

Honorable Mentions:

Yellowstone is so diverse! One moment you’re hiking in the green mountains and the next you’re walking on a boardwalk around alien-like terrain! We stopped at a few geysers, fumaroles, hot springs and mud pots locations. This is where the egg-y smell comes in! This “skunk-like” odor is from the hydrogen sulfide gas emitted by the mud pots. However, the slightly pungent sulfur smell you’ll encounter is well worth it when viewing the amazing landscape.