Colorado was beautiful and sometimes cold and mostly long trousers. Wyoming was 500 miles further North and with Yellowstone National Park at 8000ft it was never going to be Arizona. The weather was not good 6C en route and forecast was even worse… thunderstorms… 1 to 2 feet of snow predicted in the next 24hours… The North West of the US was having its worse winter for over a decade with Yellowstone already receiving double the normal amounts of snow. It averaged at 4ft with over 15ft drifts in many places! We monitored the weather (on the radio) no internet/mobile and even considered not going any further North… we didn’t come to the USA to freeze to death : ) However, we did come to do the National Parks and Yellowstone and the surrounding parks (Grand Teton etc) are some of the best places for viewing animals outside of Alaska (er, no way far too cold!).
We decided to go for it after changing our plans… to ensure we had a hook-up for all the time at Yellowstone. At least that way if we were snowed in we would be warm(ish). Just as well we changed things around as we could not have camped at some forest sites en route, most were still closed due to the high amounts of snow…….. Full of trepidation we just kept going north and everywhere we stopped the old snowshoe jokes kept coming. The locals can smell fear and if you live here then heavy snow must be a bit of a non event.
When we got to Yellowstone it was cold and yes, there was a lot of snow - the most snow we have ever seen but there was little fresh snow. The lakes were frozen but the roads were open (most of them) and it got better not worse. Apart from one day when it snowed all day the days were warm(ish) (15C), the sun shone (sometimes), the snow melted slowly as spring finally arrived and more people appeared.
The Yellowstone animals had already seen the spring clues and were busy coming out of hibernation, migrating to higher pastures and giving birth, nesting etc.One bison mother even decided a lesson in road craft was required for her new calf and took to the highway rather than struggling in the deep snow causing what in Yellowstone constitutes a major traffic jam. Over 7 days we did over 300 miles travelling all over the Park and spent a couple of days staking out promising spot for bears etc...
One of them was the snowy day mentioned earlier… you can see what Jane looked like after 4 hours on bear watch in a very cold RV.The moral of this tale – the US weather forecast may run and be updated continuously 24/7 but is about as accurate as ours back in the UK : )
After 3 days (around 10 hours in total) we didn’t see a single bear. The highlight being a lone wolf who looked more like a large grey dog playing in the snow than one of the world’s most feared predators. Given he was less than 2 miles from our campground maybe we would have formed a slightly different impression if he had turned up after dark… with the rest of the family! We also added moose, elk, bison, a white (winter colour) white tail rabbit and some very exotic ducks to the list of animals we have seen in the US and spent hours watching 3 different pairs of ospreys nesting and fishing.
Some of you have been to Yellowstone and will have definitely seen the hot springs, geysers and other thermal effects. We were not sure what to make of them… boiling water coming out of the ground? They look unworldly with snow and ice everywhere around and some scenes look more like a battle ground with exploding shells and smoke (steam) filling the valley… a war scene… accompanied by the smells of a child’s chemistry set. We joined the other visitors (it’s Yellowstone’s most visited area and relatively busy even when the park is empty) for what is more Disney than wilderness. We too were disappointed by the eagerly anticipated Old Faithful – high yes, but more steam that water spout, but still pure theatre. We were wowed by the Riverside geyser – an arch of very hot water forming an arc across a river - even if we did have to watch it with plastic bags on our heads to avoid a brief shower!
We too scurried for a good vantage point to see the Beehive when it unexpectedly exploded into life shooting boiling water 150ft into the air just as Old Faithful was going off again in the back ground. Man, the earth’s crust is very, very thin here! Yellowstone mixes fire, earth, water and sky like no other place we have ever visited. The Old Faithful basin was a day to remember for no other reason than by the end of it we had walked 11 miles, not bad for a frozen Yellowstone when most of the trails were totally impassable due to very deep snow ... and 'DO NOT ENTER - BEAR ACTIVITY' warning signs : )Sitting in a pull-off overlooking a frozen river waiting for a bear to walk through the forest clearing for hours in freezing conditions – we could make a cup of tea and get lunch etc – you find your mind gets to wandering. Wyoming... Why would you want to live here, well above 8000ft anyway? The alpine scenery is stunning, wild and beautiful… especially all covered in snow but it must quickly become a lonely arctic hell living in many of the small communities. Even if you hunt, fish and shoot etc… OK, this is a late spring but winter starts in Oct and normally lasts until May, 8 months of snow! Then its flooding, landslides, rock falls and clouds of biting insects not to mention the dangerous animals you need to avoid when out for a walk.
Even if you love all this then there is the dormant Yellowstone volcano. It’s ready to blow a hole the size of the M25 that will cover everything for miles with debris and leaving an ash cloud that will affect the whole world’s weather for years to come. This is not meant to sound negative - we loved Yellowstone - but after 7 days we are ready to move on. That’s travelling for you – after a few days the desire to ‘move on’ kicks in and it feels good when you do. It’s difficult to explain what this roaming life style really feels like as the months roll by. For us, unlike many RV’ers [who have a 5th Wheel RV (truck + caravan) and can detach the truck while the caravan stays put], virtually every day we pack-up and secure everything - yes everything - even if we are only going 2 miles.
Wyoming is as far North as we go. Now it’s a quick exit through a tiny bit of Montana into Idaho and then back South… NB we are nowhere near any of the bad weather (storms, tornados) that you may have read about in the central US states. By the time we head back across them (mid June) the weather pattern should be more settled.This blog is understandably all about Yellowstone but we did also dip back into Utah en route from Colorado stopping at Dinosaur National Monument (dinosaur bone fossils), Red Fleet State Park (dinosaur track ways this time) before Buckboard Crossing, Flaming Gorge and Warren Bridge (we had to do this one : ) in the Bridger Teton National Forest continuing through the Grand Teton National Park - where we saw moose… into Yellowstone.
Finally, CONGRATULATIONS to Kate and Mr B’s bookshop, Bath for winning ‘Independent Bookseller of the Year 2011’ Magic!
Take Care – only 3 months left before we see y’all. Have a nice day : )
Jane and Den x
PS Our plan was to leave via the west gate but many of the roads were closed due to heavy snow and low temperatures (-6C and 2-3 inches at the campsite last night) So we were forced to leave Yellowstone back the way we came south, via the Teton NP. A stoke of luck - we saw a wolf just after it had attacked an elk and then within 3 miles we stopped to watch a black bear chasing an elk. All that waiting around in the freezing cold in Yellowstone – it just luck this wildlife watching lark!
