Seconds With Steff

Today was… a lot. Good, but a lot. When you plan and plan and plan, and then everything goes sideways, it can be hard — even when it turns out great.

First, the alarm in our room sounded well before we had planned to wake… rude. I guess the people before us wanted to wake up at 4:00. Then I asked for one plate from the breakfast buffet because I asked if there were pancakes, and they said yes — pancakes and French toast. But it was not “and,” it was “or,” and today, it was French toast. So $30 later, Hunter had the most expensive to-go buffet in recorded history.

With that, we started toward Yellowstone under a forecast of light rain from 11:00 to 1:00.

We were at the welcome sign within two miles of the ranch and then cruised right to the first Continental Divide within the park.

West Thumb Geyser Basin was our official launch point. It was a brisk 50°, which — after 109° in Moab — felt like we’d been dropped into a different season. But we had pants and hoodies, so onward.

As we were leaving the area, we spotted two elk just on the edge of the parking lot. Elk! Parking lot elk! We were off to a good start.

Then we were off to make our way to Old Faithful… when suddenly, the empty road became a line of cars as a bear wobbled from one side of the road to the other. We tracked the little one into the woods as far as we could, but it was hard to get pictures through the trees. Still — bear!

Our next stop should have been another Continental Divide, but it was never coming — and Lake Yellowstone was on my right. Wait. Ughhhhhhh. I made a right out of West Thumb Basin instead of a left. But if I hadn’t gone the wrong way, we never would have seen the bear. So… YAY! A bear…but I lost like 45 minutes…but A BEAR!!!! With our course corrected, we hit two more Continental Divides, Kepler Falls, and finally arrived at Old Faithful. Without knowing what I was doing, I parked at the entrance for the registration desk of the new Old Faithful Lodge. Hello! When Hunter and I walked in, we were greeted with the timing for the next eruption — in seven minutes.

So if we hadn’t gone the wrong way, we never would’ve seen the bear, and who knows how early we would’ve been for the next eruption. I’m not lost… I’m exploring.

With the rain now coming steadily down, we stood under cover and within those seven minutes, Old Faithful erupted. And as my mother once told me: it was fine. Nothing to write home about. Completely fine.

So Hunter and I went back into The Old Faithful Lodge because I really wanted to see it. Disney Imagineers based the Wilderness Lodge on it, and it is just stunning. Hunter also walked right up to the receptionist at the check-in counter and asked her if she could fix the Wi-Fi. Bold move.

Then we decided to walk the Upper Geyser Basin…

This boardwalk actually brought us behind Old Faithful, and since it was only 12 more minutes until the next eruption, and my ever-so-patient child — please read the sarcasm in that — waited with me. And wow! This one did not disappoint. It just kept going and going and going. It was amazing, beautiful, and dramatic. I think maybe because we were on the backside, we were able to see more of the water. Not sure, but I got some great pictures. And because it kept going for so long, it occurred to me to put Hunter in front of it — and I got some really great shots of him. I only told him to take a pic… he was all about the hands!

But again, the rain was coming down, so we went back to the lodge and bought an umbrella. I am now the proud owner of a Grand Prismatic Spring Yellowstone umbrella.

We proceeded to stop at Black Sand Basin, which was great — because Biscuit Basin, our next stop, was closed.

Then we went to Grand Prismatic Spring, and I had forgotten that we were actually going to stop at Fairy Falls, which we did, to take the trail to the upper viewing platform. All the guides make it sound like a secret. I promise you, it’s not a secret — there’s an actual viewing platform. And between you and me, they need to cut down some trees so you can actually see it better. There was one family there taking every photo known to mankind, and finally someone let me go ahead so I could snap a few pictures and leave…and there was a break on the rain!

We did stop at the actual Grand Prismatic Spring turnout, but you could barely see it… got other springs instead.

From there, we went to the Fountain Paint Pots.

While driving to our next stop, we randomly came across a herd of buffalo on the side of a pasture. We stopped for some photos with a bunch of other people. Buffalo paparazzi.

Then we completed Firehole Canyon Road.

We made a quick stop at Gibbon Falls.

On our way to the next stop, we were confronted by a buffalo leading the opposite side of the road’s traffic. He got very close to our car. Hunter said, “He’s so big.” Yes, Hunter. Yes, he is.

No sooner did we leave the bison than did we come across two great horned owls sitting in a tree on the side of the road causing a massive backup going the opposite direction. I pulled all the way off to take my shots.

Then came the Artist Paint Pots.

We immediately dropped down through Hayden Valley to go to dinner at Yellowstone Lake (is it wrong that I had a bison burger?) — so that we could drive back up through Hayden Valley during dusk, where we saw a ton of bison, but only really cared about this picture.

We checked into our room, and after 14 hours of nonstop movement, we have finally, finally, finally stopped for the day.

We’re going to try to find some wolves tomorrow morning. Fingers crossed.

Unreliable Summary: Bear, elk, and bison.