Yellowstone. July, 2016

Jørn, his 7 year-old son Simon, and I visited Yellowstone, the world’s first national park, last week for an amazing week of camping.  I’ve never camped in grizzly bear and wolf country before, but armed with pepper-spray, and an understanding that all creatures just need a rub on the belly to calm down, we drove out to some of nature’s most fantastic scenery.

Lower Falls

Yellowstone has more geothermal activity (geysers, volcanic acid pools, etc) than the rest of the entire world combined.  Encompassing 2.2 million acres (9,000 square km), Yellowstone is one of the world’s most beautiful worst kept secrets as it attracts around 50,000 people per day during peak season.

Since we had an intrepid little one in tow, we were focused on the highlights you could access within 5 miles of a parking lot such as the Old Faithful Geyser, waterfalls, and fields where hundreds of buffalo and elk roamed open meadows.  I’ve always wanted to see a wild buffalo in person, and it was a dream come true to have a so many of them walk by us just a few feet away.

The Prismatic Spring

Given the enormity of the park (it covers about 10% of the entire state of Wyoming) it is impossible to visit all the must-see destinations in one visit.  It is amazing there, but unless you go back country, it is by no means intimate.  However, sitting in a traffic jam caused by a herd of majestic buffalo taking their time crossing the road, we all decided the crowds were totally worth it to be able to see vistas and species unique to our small blue marble.

All the while, Simon was obsessed with watching Disney movies on the minivan DVD.  I have now heard Zootopia about 25 times without ever seeing a scene.  If you are on a trivia team and need someone with a command of Officer Hops, and the struggles a female rabbit has joining the interspecies police force, I’m your man!

The Grand Tetons