I love the smell of sulphur in the morning

6.00am, the clock tower inn, Billings, Montana. Rise and shine and get ready for a new day... No!

6.07am, the clock tower inn, Billings, Montana. Get Up or someone’s going to get hurt!!!.... Having had a brief few moments to gather his thoughts and assess the situation Chris decided that now would be a good time to get up. For today was the eagerly awaited ‘Yellowstone Day’

6.30am, at the front desk we met the (by now) famous Sheila, boarded the truck and set off to get some breakfast.About an hour down the road we arrived at Red Lodge, a small town formerly centred around the mining industry (as with most places out here). Here we halted and consumed a delicious and, by now, standard meal of bagels and pancakes. Breakfast eaten we left Red Lodge with our sights set on Yellowstone; little did we know the adventures that awaited us before we would even get there. Our Route took us through the Beartooth mountain range and it was here that we left the State of Montana and entered the State of Wyoming.


We passed through a long deep valley surrounded by high mountains carved by glaciers tens of thousands of years before and crossed over numerous rivers and creeks including Rock Creek, so called because of its very rocky bed which causes the very shallow creek to appear very fast flowing.

We now began to ascend the mountains which had surrounded us climbing higher and higher as the temperature dropped lower and lower. Stopping part way up to look out over the valley we came across a very brave little squirrel who was nibbling his nuts on a very small branch over a several hundred foot drop, (an impressive feat for any man) even though it was beautifully warm in the sun the wind pulled the temperature still lower so we retreated to the car and moved on up.

We passed Beartooth peak, from which the mountain range gets its name.

And a little further on we came to the highest point of elevation. And by god it was cold as indicated by the several feet deep snow banks either side of the road. Nevertheless we, tough little Brits, stuck it out in our shorts and long sleeve shirts.
















As we descended down Beartooth pass en route to Cooke city (the north east entrance to Yellowstone national park), not only did the temperature increase but the scenery got more and more stunning. Firstly we Sheila told us to look back as we rounded one corner and there was a stunning waterfall a little further down was the hidden gem, very few people notice this waterfall as they are concentrating on the mountain range ahead. Wow it was fantastic as the picture below shows what you can’t grasp is the sheer force of the water which was incredible.

So not long after we arrive at Cooke city collected a few snacks and headed for the dream....by this point we were ecstatic, our excitement was increased further when the ranger at the entrance to Yellowstone said the has been a bear sighting some 15 mile up the road....could it be??!!

So we headed for the bear sighting however we were not going to neglect the features which preceded it, the first of which is???? This is the first evidence of the volcanic activity that make Yellowstone famous.

We eventually arrived at the spot where the bear sighting was believed to be, lots of cars and people....but no bear, obviously a hungry bear as the carcass it was meant to be scavenging off had disappeared also!! With still a good 2/3rd of the park to explore we were not too disheartened. It was not long until Chris noticed on our left movement, at first we thought buffalo, but then on closer inspection this was no buffalo, a young

black bear was making his/her way down the mountain side to the river. Unfazed by the numbers of people now following his/her every move she strolled down to the river bed under the road bridge and off in the trees....OMG we saw a bear...so rare these days.

As we continued on our journey overjoyed at our recent sighting our luck kept coming, next a small group of antelope and then an amazing sight. A buffalo herd had set up camp right next to the road, a number of bulls, calves and cows were resting and grazing within 5ft of us.

We moved off further into the park until we came to Yellowstone River. Standing high above the valley as the river flowed below us we began to understand why Yellowstone is claimed to be one of the greatest national parks in the world. Tumbling away from the river were Tower Falls another incredible waterfall quite narrow and incredibly high, from our vantage point we couldn’t even see the bottom.

Further along the road we noticed some commotion up ahead we pulled into one of the few parking spaces left and went to investigate... up on the hill maybe 100 yards away was a Grizzly Bear, these days an unbelievably rare site in the park. She was moving quite quickly, no doubt made nervous by the sizeable crowd that was gathering not far away from her, just climbing back into the car I noticed something further, though it moved too quickly to photograph it... mamma bear had two little cubs, perhaps another reason she wasn’t hanging around to be photographed.

Luck has truly been on our side with regards to wildlife, even more so further on we found two handsome Elk males lying n the grass right beside the roads, much less wary of the human company than the bears they were perfectly comfortable with the cameras and people .

Invigorated and freshened by these sightings we arrived at artists point, so called because of its stunning views of Yellowstone River, tumbling over the Yellowstone Falls and through a valley coloured by the sulphur to give Yellowstone park its name.

We were by this time approaching the centre of the park. And the park was becoming all the more volcanic, the smell of sulphur hung in the air giving everything and unpleasant eggy smell (at least I hope it was the sulphur...) a small bubbling volcanic spring beside the road worked away spouting boiling water which drained into the river, it was just so incredible to think that this water was coming up from deep inside the earth, heated by the warmth of the earth’s core...wow! But this was only a little spring we still had so much more to see.

Looking to our left a little further on down the road we saw steam rising from the trees; this could have been a fire, but the lacking smell of burning wood and instead the ever pungent egg smell identified the culprit as a sulphur field which soon emerged. An amazing sight to see steam rising from apparently nowhere purely a vent of the pressure from the earth’s core!! At slight drive down the road was our next stop aptly names artists paint-pots

which gets its name for the variety of colours and in the mineral pools and the mud volcanoes!!

As we continued further in the Caldera (the giant volcanic crater that takes up at least half the 1’300’000 acres of the park) hot springs were spotted and mineral pools with flowing bacteria streams were becoming more and more obvious, we were soon to reach the most famous of hot springs.

Our evening dinner stop was to be Old Faithful inn, Kate was willing to neglect food to watch the impending eruption of old faithful.... mongo like food and candy...but mongo also like old faithful !!!! But a hungry Christopher made her realise maybe we should eat. Old Faithful inn was so stunning it is hard describe the beauty and care that had gone into the design...we will have to go there (mum and dad...you hearing this!!) again, the outside doesn’t do the interior justice the fireplace was lit and the lightest part of the interior barely photographed so we were unable to take pictures!! We have a postcard though! We couldn’t eat at old faithful inn as the next available reservation was 10pm we were recommended the Snow lodge....Luckily for both Chris and I the steak burger was still available and so a burger and fries it was....OMG gorgeous I have never had a burger so beautiful it was in a word...DIVINE!!! We had preceded this meal with some buffalo wings....very good and new taste for Christopher and me we were continuing the theme...when in America...!!! Although you can get the anywhere it’s not the same really!!!

Anyway after dinner....shop time!! On arriving back in old faithful inn Kate prayed that the next predicted eruption was no more than 1 hour away...she could stall proceedings at least for that long!!!! Next predicted eruption of old faithful will be at 7.45pm....watch check 7.10pm....yes!!! So a few more umms and ahhs in the shop than was actually necessary meant we might as well stay to watch old faithful...I was a determined bunny! So we sat on the benches at 7.35pm....will old Faithful hold up his part of the deal...2mins later the steam died down and a shoot of water erupted 6ft or so...was he early...no just a tease!! 10 mins later the same and then nothing; suddenly at 7.55pm the same but followed immediately with the 20ft eruption...old faithful can erupt for anything between 1 ½ - 5 mins...today 4mins 32 sec...Impressive. A stunning sight, and to think that these eruptions are the cause of pressure under the earth’s crust the same reoccurring phenomena happening roughly every 90mins without fail despite numerous movements of the earth’s crust over the years puts into perspective the true wonder of this national park.

So the ‘show’ came to an end and we embarked on the next leg...to west thumb and Yellowstone Lake. On route we crossed the continental divide (twice) dropping 131 ft in the process!!! The continental divide is the point in America where water falling on the left will eventually flow to the pacific and water on the right will flow to the Atlantic...amazing though the water poured at this point actually just stayed there!!!!! We continued on a further five mile to the south west are of Yellowstone lake know as west thumb (getting its name from the area of the lake looks like a thumb!!

Getting late as it was (nearly 8:30pm by now) there was hardly anyone at the ‘thumb’, an area of hot mineral pools and mud-pots right on the edge of Yellowstone Lake, the sun was going down behind the high mountains creating some incredible colours in the sky. With the absence of humans proving a factor, two doe elk had come out and were grazing amongst the pools not very bothered by the few people who were there. As we walked along the decking around the various pools and pots it was wonderful, in the low temperatures to be bathed in the steam from the pools, just the ticket, the only downside being that when the wind changed, taking the steam away from you, it felt even colder.

It was here where I was informed of a common misgiving held by many people worldwide. Many people foolishly believe that these hot mineral pools are where the first life emerged billions of years ago, as single celled organisms that would eventually evolve into animals and subsequently humans... fools; in reality (according to our guide) perhaps 10,000 years ago God himself created us humans in his image and therefore Darwin and all those other extollers of the evolution ‘myth’ were wrong... who knew!!!!!

Yellowstone was becoming just gorgeous in the light, the crystal clear water looking so inviting, despite the cold. As we made our way back to the car to begin the journey home we spotted that the elk had multiplied, the two females had obviously felt that the area was safe and had now been joined by three little Bambi’s all of whom were now grazing at the centre of the pools, completing an incredible day with an awesome sight.

A four hour journey lay ahead of us back to Billings, Montana but we had time just to stop once more and take in the ending day on the shores of Yellowstone Lake.

Goodnight world... see you tomorrow.

The experiences of Mongo and The Boy
Written and experienced by Kate ‘time-waster’ Davies
And
Chris ‘the unbeliever’ Davies.