With only a day to spend in Yellowstone, I decided to focus on the part of the park I’d missed on my June trip, the geysers. When I was there in June it was so crowded that I decided to focus on the Grand Tetons instead. Originally I’d planned on returning through the park on this trip, but the haze in the park and the smoke-filled skies in Montana and Idaho have changed those plans, and I’ll probably go back through Utah instead.
I didn’t count on the high number of retirees in the park, though. I’m not sure it was any less crowded than it was in June. It was so crowded that I refused to visit the most famous geyser of all, Old Faithful, and focused on the side trips where buses and RV’s were banned. For me, it was a good trade-off.
It has been over 30 years since my first visit to Yellowstone, and I’d forgotten how magical they seem as you first approach them. No wonder the Indians considered these sacred grounds; it would be sacrilegious to think otherwise.
A closer look,however, makes it clear why the Indians were also awed by this land. It shouldn’t take warning signs to make visitors realize the dangers here, the dead trees greeting you as you approach the geysers should tell you danger lies here.
The areas surrounding the geysers may appear bleak from a distance,
but some pools have a strangely silent beauty
while others have a more dynamic beauty.
