DAY 11: Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming #fiveexplore #roadtripusa2020 #travellingwithkids

Day 11 – July 27th

Dinosaurs, unicorns, rainbows, and mermaids.

We emerged into the world like a newborn bison calf, stumbling in the early morning sunshine. Single digit temperatures, warm jumpers, shoes, socks, and four shivering girls. We had, HAD, to beat the West Yellowstone queue to get into the park.

Today we explored the lower part of the Yellowstone road system (which forms a figure 8). We crossed quickly to Canyon village. The rivers shimmered an incandescent deep blue. The colour will stay imprinted on my brain, running like veins between geysers, trees, grass, and mountains. In the village we found the Upper Falls leading into the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.

We started at Tom’s Trail Point. Sarah had read a blog which promised rainbows in the waterfall between 9 and 10am, when the sun is at the right angle. And we had promised Alaina she would see rainbows (and therefore unicorns). Putting aside a frantic incident outside a closed restroom, we peered over the edge and as promised a rainbow painted itself across the spray.

We then drove further to a place called ‘Artist’s Point’. A bit of a pretentious name I thought to myself. As we entered the viewing platform a panoramic view of the Upper Falls and Grand Canyon enveloped around us. But no rainbow. Then moments later the spray started to turn purple, then blue, then tinges of orange and yellow appeared. A waterfall and a rainbow. Enough to inspire any artist. Alaina was happy but wondered when the unicorns were going to turn up. We also drove to a platform at the top of the waterfall and marveled at the water powering past us into nowhere.

We meandered across Yellowstone and arrived at Mud Volcano; a grey, sludge filled cauldron of volcanic liquid. At the corner of the walkway was Dragon's Mouth Spring. Smoke blurts out at regular intervals from a small cave where grumbling dragon sounds can be heard. Alaina thought this was fascinating but wanted the dragon to stay in his cave.

At the other end of the walkway was Black Dragon Spring. I told Alaina the large bubbles were the top of the dragon’s head, but he was too shy to come out.

As the day warmed a swirl on the surface of the water rapidly turned into a whirling dust devil blowing through the trees. I had read about this phenomenon but thought they only hit small towns in the middle of Kansas. A mixture of dust and hot water blew across us and disappeared within seconds.

As we returned to the parking lot a large Bison suddenly stumbled out from behind the rest rooms. It reminded me of a drunk waking up and not sure where they were. The large beast swayed uncertainly between cars. Large signs warned tourists to not go within 25 metres but instead they took photos from a few feet away. At this point, I drove out of the car park happy to miss the denouement.

Continuing the magical theme, we ventured around Yellowstone Lake to West Thumb Geyser. On the way we saw multiple herds of Bison and paused regularly in the snail-like Yellowstone traffic.

At West Thumb, a scattering of different geysers and hot springs merged into the lake shoreline. The geysers are sometimes referred to as paint pots with red and yellow liquids spilling from the edges. We located Mermaid Lake. The turquoise coloured water was crystal clear and bottomless. Rather than ticking off animals she had seen, Alaina was completing a list of magical creatures far more interesting. Talking of which, a large Elk suddenly wondered in front of us searching for better grazing ground.

The creeping afternoon heat meant the children were keen to get back to the hotel. Lyra was starting to experiment with her range of groans. But we still had a couple of greatest hits to finish with. First was Old Faithful. Like Mount Rushmore large swathes of car parks and multiple tourist outlets felt incongruous with the natural surroundings. We got lucky and gathered round a packed amphitheatre to see the imminent 3:02pm explosion of Old Faithful. This is one of only six geysers that rangers currently predict. Multiple tourists jostled for position. A prime camera spot took precedence over the threat of a global pandemic. What struck me here (and at Mount Rushmore) was we seemed to be the only British people. Indeed, most visitors seemed to be from North or Latin America. A true sign of the siloed times we were living in.

Right on schedule Old Faithful propelled water and gas into the sky creating a mesmerizing white spray. Moments later it subsided. We skillfully side swerved the tourist shops and got back into the car for our final stop.

The crowds of cars thronged and we miraculously parked to make the walk up to Midway Geyser Basin (one of the largest in the world). Alaina got bored waiting to park and decided to draw unicorns all over her legs.

Finally, we saw Yellowstone’s jewel in the crown – Grand Prismatic Spring, measuring over sixty metres across. The Spring is surrounded by a multitude of vivid colours glowing like a corona. It can only be fully appreciated from an elevated viewpoint (or space). The nearest viewpoint involved a long climb that two parents with three young children could only dream of attempting. We found solace in witnessing this wondrous sight and began to make our exit from Yellowstone.

On the way out we quickly diverted around Firehole Lake Drive, where our car was showered in hot springs by another eruption at the roadside. We snuck one more stop in by driving twenty miles west into Idaho to tick off another state. Pausing at a layby and taking photos counts as a state visit in my book.

At last we gave the children a break from driving, viewpoints, and walks. We swam in a deserted pool at the hotel and wandered over to the Firehole BBQ for a takeout dinner. The family devoured brisket, ribs, buffalo sausage and pulled pork like a pack of hungry wolves. When in Rome…

In addition to this daily blog, you can check out our Instagram feed for more photos and short posts documenting our 2020 road trip @fiveexplore