I've saved my favorite part of Yellowstone for last. Wait, did I already name a favorite part? Well, this has to tie with it, at least! :) I was awestruck by how many beautiful, pristine forests and vast meadows there were in Yellowstone, and best of all the views from high on the mountains. I think I was just surprised at how much wilderness there was, and the beauty of it. I knew we'd love the thermal features. But I wasn't expecting the views!
The valleys around the Madison River as you drive in from the west are really beautiful. I love that wide, slow-moving river with the trees crowding both sides!
And of course above the Yellowstone River, even after you move past the deepest part of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, is lovely too.
We saw some wildlife: lots of buffalo herds, which was great. There were even babies!
And this family of elk, among others.
But once we got up high into the mountains, I think that was my favorite part. This bridge along the cliff is so cool! We read about how much trouble they had engineering something strong enough. It's been rebuilt several times.
Amazing. It looks like these mountains go on forever!
As we got up high in the mountains, the fields of wildflowers kept getting more and more spectacular. I was conscious of the fact that my fellow travelers were probably getting tired of my exclamations about them, but I just couldn't stop. Finally Sam suggested I get out and take the pictures I was longing to take, and I happily took the opportunity! (Thanks for waiting in the car for me while I gamboled through the meadows, family!)
A lot of the flowers were ones we see here in our Utah Mountains too—lupine, sticky geranium, paintbrush, arrowleaf balsamroot—but the terrain was different, and the concentrations of flowers. There were some meadows up high that were just covered completely with the yellow balsamroot, which I have never seen in such profusion before.
Eek! That bridge! But, oh, those wildflowers. Stunning.
ReplyDeleteOh the views! I recall nothing about the views from when I was young. Did I not know to appreciate landscape? Probably not. I keep pointing it out to my kids here in GA and telling them to enjoy it but sensing they don't quite get it!! And I want to force them to get it! :)
ReplyDeleteAlso: baby buffalo!
So glad it was a good trip -- even with Teddy screaming and unhelpful advice from strangers, etc. It reminds me that this current adventure -- despite Summer's meltdowns and Anders nearly dying of starvation (and loudly and persistently letting us know) each time we leave the house, it will still be the happy parts we will most remember and that will have made it all worth it.
So true! I remember my mom saying to me so many times when I was young and complaining about being bored, "Just look out the window and enjoy the scenery!" And I remember thinking, "How on EARTH could that keep me from being bored?" And yet now it's all I want to do, and I say the same thing to my kids! And I wonder how anyone could EVER be bored, with such beauty to look at! :) Haha. I guess it serves me right.
DeleteIt really is always the good parts you remember. I've noticed it again and again. There always are so many little annoyances and whining and, oh the dying of starvation! Yes! But the beauty lingers more in the memory. And even the screaming and whining takes on a sort of a funny, whimsical cast. :)
I think I love your usage of vocabulary as much as the beautiful descriptions and pictures! :) I never knew about the word "gamboled" before. The main thing my husband and oldest daughter remember from Yellowstone was the sulphur smells - yet I was amazed by the variety and beauty as well.
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