More Thrilling Yellowstone Delights: A Guided Tour of Fort Yellowstone, Eye-to-Eye with Gigantic Bison and Elk, A Stunning Sunset and Drinks at a Pub in Jackson

Saturday, August 17, 2024

More Thrilling Yellowstone Delights: A Guided Tour of Fort Yellowstone, Eye-to-Eye with Gigantic Bison and Elk, A Stunning Sunset and Drinks at a Pub in Jackson

Today was probably our most thrilling day in Yellowstone National Park as we enjoyed wildlife sightings galore and managed to shoot them on camera—still and video—to our heart’s delight. But to begin in our motel…

We awoke at the Traveler’s Lodge in Madison, Montana, munched on croissants and had motel coffee (from the lobby) before we checked out and began the long drive back into Yellowstone National Park. Again, I have to make clear that Madison is the nearest western town outside the Park and yet it is a good two hours away from the Park’s entrance and even further away from its attractions. This explains why there is a lot of (rather boring) driving to be done in Yellowstone where all you pass are long ribbons of asphalt road ahead lined by pine trees on both sides.

Driving North Past Norris Towards Mammoth Hot Springs:

Our aim today was to cover the northernmost reaches of the Park—this explains why we had to do so much driving. Past Norris, we encountered Sheepeater’s Cliff where we stopped to stretch our legs and take in the unusual basalt formations of rock that formed a steep cliff in front of us. It was at this point that we caught a glimpse of another creature that is common in these parts—a pika. This animal belongs to the rodent family but he looks rather cute as he resembles a rabbit rather than a rat. It has cute round ears and rather than a snout, a nose that twitches, somewhat like a rabbit. We enjoyed its nest-building antics for a while before we returned to our car and drove on.

A little while later, we arrived at Mammoth Hot Springs Terraces. These are so-called because the calcite rocks which are plentiful in this area were formed in layers over millions of years. We could see the hot springs smoking as we parked our car and walked towards the clearly-demarcated walkway. However, the climb to the top that would afford panoramic views of the smoking ‘sulphur pots’ and ‘mud pools’ was so long and so strenuous that we decided to pass on it and take pictures only at the base. Here too, we could smell the sulphurous fumes and my sulphur-allergy was well and truly activated at these spots (in fact, throughout the Park).

Guided Tour of Fort Yellowstone:

Driving still further north, we arrived at the Albright Visitors Center where we stopped to use rest rooms and to find out about a guided tour of Fort Yellowstone which is in this location. There is a very nice exhibit in the Center that details the history of Yellowstone and its establishment as a National Park in 1872 We discovered that a guided tour, given by a US Park Ranger, was about to start in 15 minutes. We decided to join it and saw ourselves in a pack of about fifteen other folks.

The Ranger was very good and as he walked us around the premises, comprises of army barracks, headquarters, store houses and, at the very end, a little church, he told us about the history of the military in this spot. The military set up camp there for the first time to maintain law and order in the area. The biggest danger, then as now, was poaching and the illegal shooting of wildlife and the transportation of their skins and pelts had to be regulated by law. Hence, the origin of the presence of the army. We learned a lot of interesting facts about military life, living with wildlife and the changing seasons and the training and duties of field officers. The tour lasted about 40 minutes and gave us a composite idea of the role and contribution of the US military in this area. Since we were very close to the northern exit of the Park, we decided to drive further northwards and get to Gardiner, another small town. However, it was a disappointment as Boiling River which lies en route is no longer open to visitors as it has ‘disappeared’ in a recent storm. So we exited the Park and then made a U-turn and came right back into it!

This time we drove south and then eastwards along the Blacktail Plateau where we had our first major sightings of large herds of American Buffalo (bison). We stopped to take in the heartening sight (as did many other visitors) and then drove towards the junction of Tower-Roosevelt. Once there, we followed signs east for the Lamar Valley which is supposed to offer some of the best wildlife sightings in the Park.

And we were not disappointed. For the next couple of hours, the further east we drove, the more animals we saw. On this single morning, in addition to dozens of bison, we saw a large herd of pronghorn (also known as antelope). And as our car was driving slowly along, I saw a bobcat! This is a rather rare sighting, I am told, as they usually stay up in the mountains. Sadly, as the car was moving, I could not take a picture and Llew (who was behind the wheel) did not see it at all. Still further west, we saw loads of elk drinking water from a stream that lay glowing golden in the sunshine. It was all very very exciting indeed. This was what we had come to Yellowstone to see. Sadly, there was not a moose in sight and I would leave the Park without fulfilling my favorite aspiration.

Lunch in Cooke City:

A very long drive eastwards, out of the Park, took us to the city that is called Cooke City. It would make a good place for lunch, we thought, as we drove for what seemed like hundreds of miles to get there. This is a typical frontier town and resembles, in every way, Madison and, later in our trip, places like Deadwood, that we would see. In general, these towns, just like you see in Western movies, have a single Main Street with shops and restaurants lining it on both sides. In the good old days of the Wild West, you would have had horses left outside the entrances. Today, there are motor vehicles and we ran into a group of bikers who were traveling across the country and enjoy taking their vehicles into the uppermost reaches of the woods where they told us, they often come across wolves!

We found a place called ‘The Prospector’s Pub’ where we settled down to have a meal. It had an old-world charm about it and in its limited menu offerings, we found a cheese steak hoagie that we shared with a side salad. It made for a very filling meal with fries. After our lunch, we used the facilities and began our long drive back into the Park.

More Wildlife Sightings:

It was from this point on, that we had some of the most exciting wildlife sightings of the trip. The Lamar Valley Plateau is simply covered with bison and literally hundreds of them roam freely here. Oftentimes, they venture out on to the roads and it is here that they come within a few feet of people in their vehicles. It was here that we stopped our car as bison had taken over the road and one of them ambled aimlessly all over the place like a drunkard who did not know where he was heading. Eventually, he came right in front of our stationary car and then moved towards the driver’s side. I was so dumbfounded that I did not have the presence of mind to use my camera to take a picture when the animal was literally eye-to-eye with Llew, not even six inches away from Llew’s eye, as he skirted the side of our car and then ambled away, just as aimlessly. It was an unforgettable experience and the closest encounter we would have with wildlife during our trip.

Our Drive Southwards:

South of the Lamar Valley, we continued our drive. We’d had our fill of wildlife and were keen to return to Grand Tetons National Park before it got too dark. Hence, we decided to begin the long drive homewards. Along the way, we stopped at Tower Falls, so-called because the river falls down from an impressive height over granite rock into the valley below—albeit in the distance—forming a wonderful canyon. It was at this point that we had another unexpected wildlife sighting. A few folks were using their binoculars to look across the river and there, they pointed, was an osprey’s nest, with the mother and her two chicks clearly visible in it. It was another unexpected encounter with bird life in the Park.

Just a little later, we stopped to take in a rather wondrous sight. Peering over a ridge, we caught out first glimpse of the amazing Canyon that is referred to as “the Grand Canyon of The Yellowstone”. For those of us who have seen the real Grand Canyon of Colorado, the feeling is a little bit like one has on first seeing the canyon—it is breathtaking! However, we knew that we did not have enough time or daylight to be able to do justice to Yellowstone’s Grand Canyon today. Hence, we decided to postpone that pleasure for tomorrow when, at the very start of the day, we’d be fresh enough to really enjoy it.

As we drove further south, we stopped at one more point—to see Suphuric Cauldron, which, as its name suggests, is a bubbling pot of sulphuric liquid whose milky waters were highly odiferous. We would, no doubt, have many more such sightings, had we stopped at all those attractions marked along the way.

A Truly Stunning Sunset:

Instead, we pressed on downwards. As twilight was swiftly falling, I took the wheel. We drove straight on and, in about two hours, we left Yellowstone behind us and were arriving at the entrance of the Grand Tetons National Park once again. We began to feel very familiar with this terrain as we had driven through or by these points, it several times in the past few days.

While Llew simply wanted to get back home (it was about 7.00 pm, by this time), I suggested to him that we drive, once again, to the Town of Jackson. I needed to buy a few more gifts and souvenirs that we had not purchased on first encountering the town, a couple of days ago. Llew agreed and, with me still driving, we went further south.

was at this point while driving through the vast flat plains of the Park that we had one of the most stirring sunsets I have ever seen in my life. Massive clouds had amassed behind the Tetons on the left side of us and were billowing in huge, fluffy apricot folds that left me breathless. In fact, the rays of the sun were setting gently in the West; but it was on the Eastern horizon that all the magic seemed to be happening. I had to pull over at a lay-by so that I could safely take pictures as I was afraid I would not be able to commit so spectacular a sunset to memory And I am glad I did—as I now have a stack of photographs that still allow me to marvel at the changing skies that completely gripped us that evening.

In Jackson—Another Night on the Town:

In about an hour, we were skirting Jackson. We were not sure exactly where to go, but we decided to head towards the Central Square to park our car and walk about. Alas, at nearly 9.00 pm, with many smaller bars already shutting down for the night, it was hard to find parking. We had to drive around towards the smaller bylanes to find a spot in a free public parking lot. Once there, we walked about ten minutes towards the Central Square.

While the shops were still doing business, we bought some souvenirs: Christmas ornament, T-shirts, etc. and with these buys done, we began to look for a place to eat dinner. However, every spot either had a long wait list or was closing down. Finally, we found that the Roadhouse Brewing Company, a pub on the top floor of one of the buildings on the Square was open and still doing business. When we arrived upstairs, however, the waitress informed us that they were no longer seating people for dinner. We asked if we could have a quick drink at the bar and the bartender agreed to serve us just one drink only. We were grateful for little mercies, as we had driven a long way to get there and it would be a disappointment, had we been turned away.

Hence, without wasting any time, Llew ordered a glass of red wine, I had a half pint of cider that was very good and very refreshing. Within half an hour, with almost everyone having left the place, we paid up and made our way downstairs. It was still buzzing on the Central Square, but only youngsters were around. Families, children and the elderly had found their way home, a long time ago. Within ten minutes, we were back in the parking lot and in our car. And about half an hour later, with me driving, we arrived back at our mountain cabin.

As we had done every evening, we used wifi to pick up our messages (as there is very little connectivity in the Parks), ate a make-shift dinner of soup and leftover Dornan’s pizza of a couple of days ago, had our showers and then settled down to bed

Amazing Radio Station:

Before I end this installment on our travels, I have to say how much easier and shorter the long drives in the two Parks felt with our radio tuned on to a station that we found purely by chance. This was JTNX-105, a local station that played Songs from the 70s and 80s. As Llew and I knew every single track the DJs spun, we often sang along or exclaimed at how long it had been since we had heard a particular number. It often got us talking about musical artists such as Karen Carpenter or James Taylor and it kept conversation going as well as lightened the miles. Had it not been for that amazing radio station, there is no way those long drives would have been half as pleasurable.

Later, and now that we are back, we are trying to find the radio station; but it clearly has only a very small bandwidth. We are simply unable to pick it up. A true loss to us indeed. This is why we are doubly pleased that we made the most of it while we had easy access to it. If you are ever in this region and love Oldies music, I’d like to suggest that you give this radio station a go. It will add great joy to your exploration.

Until tomorrow, cheerio…