The frigid morning air surrounded me. Tightening my sleeping bag, I peered out the open half-moon window of the tent. The surrounding valley was highlighted in dark blue shadows, the sun still far below the horizon. The snorts and blows of the massive beasts surrounded us.
Last night they were snoring, further away. They were awake now, and moving closer. Perhaps hundreds of bison roamed, it was still too dark for me to see.
I stayed up late to photograph the Milky Way. My husband and three-year-old were already sleeping as I drifted off to the eerie howling of wolves, a reminder of the raw nature encompassing us.
That was only four hours ago. Last night, the August sun was setting as we drove a rented campervan through the beautiful mountains on the northeast side of Yellowstone.
We rented a campsite at Canyon Village, but never stayed there. It was too late when I finished photographing to attempt a drive back through the mountains, along the hairpin turns and winding dark road. We had to stay in the pull-off at Lamar Valley for the night.
I was afraid of the wolves, of the bison, and especially of the grizzly bears. It made it quite hard to stand outside that night, and my photos did not come out very clear. I would need to find another spot, another night to get the pictures. I am new to the camera, and still learning.
Another car pulls into the small parking area. I unzip my sleeping bag and immediately wish I stayed in a bit longer. I am drawn to the sounds of the bison; the sun is now just below the mountains, and we can see them out the windshield right in front of us. They are everywhere.
This may be the first herd of animals I have ever seen in my life. Huge bulls grazed alongside young males, one ripped out a small tree when his got his horns stuck, and then had a tree stuck to his horns. A mother feeding her calf in the middle of the road held up the line of early morning traffic that came to see these beasts, leaving us alone with the buffalo and one other couple parked next to us for quite a long time.
We made coffee, opened the doors, and took videos and photos from afar. When they came near the campervan, we shut the doors right away and waited for them to pass. The couple next to us got out of their car and went too close, startling a group of the buffalo. The noise of their hooves stomping the ground synced with the vibration of the herd turning to flee. Our little one slept soundly still.
Finally, after almost an hour, the calf was finished and moved out of the road. The sun had fully risen, and the cars now started to come, but the buffalo had mostly moved on into the valley, away from the road. What was thousands of bison in every direction just one hour ago, were now just several dozen. Driving away to start our next adventure through Yellowstone, we truly realized the gift we were given from nature that morning.
Yellowstone is a caldera, a sunken super-volcano, but some of the first non-native people to explore the area never even saw any of the geothermal features. Driving both the loops of Yellowstone, and the road to Lamar Valley, we covered as much of the park as we could without going into the backcountry, and there was so much more to this National Park than volcanos and mud pots.
Dark blue and aqua rivers flowed over waterfalls into the sandy-toned canyons, verdant valleys stretched their grasses across the land. Mountains reached up into the blue skies, as the reflections of fluffy white clouds floated in the streams. Lakes were so large their waves could be seen crashing the shores.
In between all that elegance, volcanic activity thrived with multi-colored hot springs, boiling pools of water, steaming hot earth alongside the roads, erupting geysers and the intricate nature-carved textures of the travertine terraces, which in the early morning quiet allowed us to listen to the fountains of water rippling and flowing down the gorgeous structures of the Mammoth Hot Springs.
One morning, we hiked several miles to the Fairy Falls, and witnessed along the way the mid-day colors of the Grand Prismatic Hot Springs from the overlook. Once we passed the thermal areas, we let our daughter hike several miles on her own through the forest. It is her favorite memory of the entire trip. Her first real hike.
One evening we stayed at the Grant Village Campground, walking a mile and a half each way to dinner at the lodge with a beautiful view of Yellowstone Lake. We did not know the restaurant was quite so far away from the campgrounds and the walk turned out to be just another memory to add to our adventure, complete with a real-life roadblock (the bridge on the lake path was washed-away).
Staying that night at the lively and not-so-private Grant Campground, with music playing, bacon cooking, smokey fires burning, and neighboring tents, vans and RVs at just an arm’s length away, we missed the quiet and lonely Lamar Valley of the night before.
One of our neighbors had rented the same van as we did, and we talked to him a bit, told him about our experience waking up in the valley, now more than a two-hour drive north from us. Just before 4 a.m., I was happy to hear them packing up, heading to Lamar Valley to try to get a small glimpse of what we had experienced with the buffalo.
We drove out of Yellowstone early and headed south to the Grand Teton National Park. The first night we arrived in Wyoming we stayed at Colter Bay, a five-hour drive from the Salt Lake Airport. We had also reserved our final two nights there. It had water and electric hook-ups for the campervan, wonderful and warm showers that cost only a handful of dollars (for as long as we wanted, when there early), laundry, a neat shopping area, a small grocery store that had a bit of everything including fresh fruit, a marina with rental boats and there were two restaurants, as expected underwhelming and overpriced, all of this was walkable from the RV park.
We took advantage of the miles of hiking trails around and rented a canoe for a two-hour tour of Jackson Lake. This was not an easy feat, and required a great deal of physical strength and endurance as the current was strong and the waves relentless.
We enjoyed a pasta dinner in our van one night, it was the best dinner we had and will cook more for ourselves next time. The centerpiece of this area was the beach at Jackson Lake’s Colter Bay, the most beautiful lake view I have ever seen. The Grand Tetons cut sharp peaks into the sky across the lake, pine trees line the shores, smooth and colorful river rocks form the ground. We enjoyed two afternoons with our camp chairs at the beach, about a seven-minute walk from our campsite. While watching the sun set, we knew where the Milky Way would rise and set–almost right over the mountains–and we had our next photo spot.
The last night we were there, we headed down to the beach once the sun fell deep below the horizon. My husband carried our three-year-old in a hiking backpack, I carried the photo equipment. The fear of grizzly bears haunting our every footstep. Walking to the end of the RV park, we found several cut-throughs and made our way through a dark wooded path down to the lake. When we got there, a few groups of people were set up on the beach to see a meteor shower, easing our fear of being alone outside, and adding shooting stars to the dark mountain skies. I set up the equipment, my husband and daughter sat at the picnic table.
The only thing our little one said was how beautiful the stars were. She stayed quiet otherwise and told me later how much she enjoyed being able to see the stars visit. I told her that we cannot see the stars from where we live near the city, but they are always there.
I find so much happiness in sharing these experiences with my family, witnessing the beauty of the Earth, cultivating adventures that bring us closer together, and learning about each place we visit. I am so grateful for these times with my husband, we work well together, even when I have crazy ideas like canoeing across a super windy lake or taking pictures in the middle of the night.
We stayed outside for an hour photographing the stunning sky light up with clouds of galaxy dust and comet streaks in a magical show from the universe.
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