Maybe We Should Be More Scared of Bears
There is something unmistakeable about the allure of the West. After our trip to Grand Teton National Park earlier in 2023, I was giddy to be returning to Wyoming. From the moment we landed at the airport, my soul felt like it was at home. If past lives exist, surely I was a pioneer woman in the Rocky Mountains. Something about the rich colors, the cragged peaks, the snow caps and whispering meadows, they all just invoke peace in the deepest parts of my being. One thing was certain, I was glad to be back out West.
Featured photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/qoLiZcU24Unmjtt29
September 2nd, 2023- Yellowstone Day 1
Out of the 33 plane rides we've been on, Bozeman's airport is my favorite. I decided that as soon as I stepped out of the plane. Thick wooden beams angled up above an earth-toned carpet. Taxidermied wildlife stood in the wide hallways like silent, hairy sentries. A large seating area featured floor-to-ceiling windows looking out to a rugged mountain range. It was spacious, relatively quiet, and unrushed. Everyone seemed in remarkable good spirits, a rarity for any airport. How I wished all airports could be like this one!
Bozeman’s Walmart was equally notable. Like the airport, it had thick wooden beams forming rustic awnings over each entrance. The same mountain range painted the sky behind the Walmart. Rows upon rows of pickup trucks filled the parking spots. It's a place that feels old-fashioned and modern all at once. It was intriguing.
Yellowstone lies a few hours south of Bozeman, but we didn’t mind the sightseeing. Time seemed to fly as the miles whizzed past my window. Before we knew it, we were rolling up to the north entrance of Yellowstone National Park. In true Wyoming fashion, the colors were unbelievably vibrant. Despite the thick clouds rolling over the sun, the grass was a bright yellow-green coating the soft hills. Blue mountains stood out against a deeper blue sky. The iconic Roosevelt Arch, constructed of grey-brown stones, stood proudly in the middle of it all. The arch was created to mark the first historical entrance into the park. There are now four or five ways to get into the park, but this one is the most unique. A road passes under the arch, so like so many generations before us, we drove under the worn stones. It felt symbolic, a ritualistic entry into the oldest park in America.
The road into Yellowstone is narrow, snaking between hills of meadow and rock. We were blessed to not encounter the oft-warned-about traffic jams as we entered the park, but we could certainly see how they’d be possible. Only one wrong turn in an oversized camper and a single driver could block the entire road!
The geological features on the western side of Yellowstone are nothing short of incredible. As soon as we set foot on the boardwalks, the entire landscape around us was sputtering, gurgling, bubbling, trickling, and oozing. Yellowstone is a feast for the senses! At Mammoth Hot Springs, crystal white mounds form natural terraces where centuries of minerals have been deposited. Reminiscent of colorful margaritas, vivid hot springs with crystalline rims spot the landscape. One spring was emerald green with a rust-colored edge. Another was turquoise blue surrounded by pure white. Our feet thumped on the wooden boardwalks. Sulfur steam filled our nostrils. Small streams trickled over the white terraces while bubbles of mud burst sloppily in boiling “pots” of wet dirt. It was all so bizarre I could hardly comprehend what I was seeing! I could hardly believe the smell either. For any of our readers that may be considering a trip to Yellowstone, let this be a warning to you. Sulfur really stinks!
It’s remarkable to realize that the entire park is the result of a supervolcano lurking beneath the rolling hills and stately mountains. Thin patches in the Earth’s crust allow the magma to creep closer to the surface, forming spots where mud boils and steaming water bursts from the ground. I was reading that the surface of the massive volcanic crater (the “caldera”) actually “breathes” as the levels of magma rise and fall beneath the surface. In other words, Yellowstone is in constant imperceptible motion! One of our stops was a short walk along a river to cliffs of obsidian rock. Native Americans used to harvest the obsidian from these cliffs to make tools. These tools could then be traded for other resources. The Yellowstone obsidian traveled quite a long way on trade routes, even as far as Ohio! I took a long look at those cliffs, recalling the times I’d looked for arrowheads in freshly-tilled farm fields as a kid. Did I ever find one made from Yellowstone obsidian? The world is truly a small place sometimes.
Further down the road, we noticed a cluster of cars pulled over to the side. Like dutiful tourists, we pulled over to see what the hubbub was about. Peering through tall grass and dark pines, I was delighted to see our first bison of the park. But wait, what was that clump of red at her feet? A calf! I could scarcely believe our luck. Our first evening in Yellowstone and here’s a baby bison, right by the road! After a few moments, the fuzzy red baby sturdily rose to its feet and meandered around the grass. Its fur stood on end as if it had bed head. It sure was cute. A quick motion caught my eye in the grass behind the bison pair. I swung my camera around and zoomed in. Gray fur and a brushy tail slunk across my camera viewfinder. It was a coyote! It circled the bison warily, keeping its eye on the calf. We were watching a nature documentary unfold before our eyes. Surely the coyote wouldn’t attack the calf. Would it?
Mama bison was certainly not letting that happen. She noticed the coyote nearly as quickly as I did. I swear I watched her eyes narrow and her sharp horns gleam. This mama was ready for a fight! I’ve always seen tons of bumper stickers for “mama bear,” but maybe somebody should make a “mama bison” sticker! Meekly, the coyote crept away, leaving the calf unharmed.
I would have been content to watch the nature documentary all night, but a park ranger pulled up just a few moments later. She got out of her truck, put her hands on her hips, and surveyed the cluster of parked cars and people walking around with their cameras. She shook her head, and then yelled at all of us, “You aren’t allowed to park here! It’s time to move on!” Not wanting to get in trouble on our first day in the park, we quickly obliged!
Housing in Yellowstone is notoriously expensive, so we had booked an Airbnb in Ashton, Idaho for that night’s stay. It wasn’t just any old Airbnb, though. We had booked ourselves a night in a covered wagon! I was pretty excited to fulfill my Little House on the Prairie dreams. After a few hours of driving, however, I found myself more tired than exhilarated. It was long after dark by the time Google Maps took us to our destination. When the GPS said, “You have arrived,” we looked at each other with exhausted confusion. Where were we? It was dark. Really dark. A gravel driveway stretched out in front of us. To our right was a wide river, to the left was a steep bank. No covered wagon was in sight. Baffled, we decided the driveway was our best option. Tyler maneuvered our rental car down the bumpy path for at least a half mile. No luck. Were we ever going to get to our covered wagon… and to bed? Tyler decided to turn around. He found a spot in the driveway that was slightly wider -barely. He pulled forward, then backed up, cut the wheel, and went forward again. It was hard maneuvering. The river was behind us, the shrubby bank was in front of us. Moving more than a few feet in either direction was a dead end. Thankfully, Tyler is an excellent driver and got it sorted out.
Our suitcases bumped and jostled in the back as we went back down the gravel path. We strained our eyes through the thick darkness, trying to see anything promising past our headlights. Finally, I caught a glimpse of white canvas high on the bank above us. Success!
There were five covered wagons in a loose cluster around a gravel lot. We clicked on our phone flashlights and circled to each one, finally locating Wagon 3 in the very back. It was next to a hill, a detail that immediately made me nervous. Were there grizzly bears in Idaho? I pictured a massive bear strolling down the hill to our little wagon, sniffing out the Poptarts in our suitcase, and slicing open the canvas with one sharp claw. I suggested leaving the snacks in the car, just in case. “Yeah, but what if the bears break into the rental car? They’d destroy it,” Tyler pointed out.
I couldn’t argue this logic, although it did nothing to alleviate my worries. Fuzzy-headed with sleepiness, I finally decided that all bear behavior was out of my control, and thus, I might as well not lose sleep over it. So to bed we went.
For the record, Ashton does have grizzly bears. In fact, we learned later that there was a man killed by a grizzly bear in Ashton earlier that week. We’ve since decided that we will not be staying in a covered wagon anymore- at least not in bear country! I am continually grateful that God protected us that night. We had a beautiful day, and God allowed it to stay that way. It was the start of a wonderful, eventful trip.
Hiking trails and places of interest:
Roosevelt Arch
Mammoth Hot Springs boardwalk
Obsidian Cliff
Norris Geyser Basin
Gibbon Falls
The Buffalo Bar (really neat restaurant in West Yellowstone!)
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