Yellowstone and Tetons

June 3^rd-4^th: We set out from West Yellowstone at 9 am with a qualified guide, Annie, on board with us. We were to tour the lower circle of the park to see the most features of interest.

We saw numerous elks during the tour, and several herds of bison. The mothers have calves with them currently, called ‘red dogs’, same size as cattle calves. The male bison tend to keep to themselves. An occasional bighorn sheep was seen plus a  few small mammals such as pika and a few birds. 

  There are several waterfalls in the park, e.g. Gibbon Falls, and Lower & Upper Falls on the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.

 Our lunch stop was at Canyon Village, where there was an excellent museum and visitor centre explaining the geology of the park. The area is the site of previous huge volcanic eruptions in the last 3 million years. The last, 650,000 years ago formed the caldera that is today the Yellowstone plateau. There is a large magma chamber at depth which causes the ground to uplift, and generates the geothermal features.  Our day was planned around seeing Old Faithful erupt, which occurred around 3.15 (every 90 minutes for about 3-4 minutes). It was well worth seeing.

After that we visited Lower Geyser Basin to see hot springs, mud pools and steam vents.  The weather was cool, with cold winds and the occasional snow flurry. We drove over 100 miles.

Tuesday was an early start but promising with bright sunshine.  We retraced our steps into Yellowstone, turning south to see The Great Prismatic Spring in the Midway Geyser Basin.  On this route we crossed the Continental Divide twice – this is the watershed dividing waters draining into the Pacific Ocean from those draining to the Atlantic – not always as straightforward as you might think! Then we headed some miles south towards Snake River, Jackson Lake and into Grand Teton National Park.

 This is a sight I will never forget. The mountains  (Grand Teton 13,770 feet) have been uplifted and have jagged outlines like the Alps of Europe, with evident features of glaciation. They rise up from Jackson Hole in a straight line for several miles with no foothills, along a fault line marking their eastern margin. The views are mesmerising. Again, there were good facilities for information and for refreshments along the way.

We reached Jackson mid-afternoon. It is a pleasant tourist town, playground of the rich and famous, especially for skiing. After a brief recce, we were off again for a Western-themed evening – a wagon ride to a camp cookout and dinner, followed by musical entertainment. The stars of the show were the horses – two to each of the nine wagons, each carrying about 20 people. It is a family business, well organised, and made for a memorable evening.