Tag Archives: Yellowstone National Park

Danger! The Warning Signs of Yellowstone

13 Oct

My week in Yellowstone made me aware of the importance of signs.  Especially the cautionary ones along the paths, in front of some of the park’s wonders and when entering certain area of the Park.  People really need to pay attention to what is around them.  (See blog below.)

Every year people get injured, and many times it is because they do not pay attention to the signs.  Bison injuries are usually the fault of the visitor. Close encounters with wild animals is often a bad decision.  Getting a selfie with a bison is not a good idea.  Stay away from the bison. They do not want you wandering in their way.  A head nudge from a bison could send you flying, if not worse.

Often when we saw wild animals close to the road or nearby, there would be a park ranger also there directing traffic or blocking off the area close to the animals. At Mammoth Falls Terraces, a bull elk and his harem were hanging out on the terraces. So the walkway was closed for our safety and the animals. It might have been great to get better photos, which people with better cameras could. But in reality, we need to stay away from them and respect their space.

Hot Springs are very hot and the land around them is very fragile. Do not walk on areas that specifically say, “do not walk here.”  But every so often someone does.  And unfortunately, they pay the price. Geysers erupt, which is why they are surrounded by fences or barricades. Don’t climb over.

The warning signs are everywhere, and some are very specific!

Be careful when you bring young children and dogs into the park, especially around Old Faithful.  The sign above tells it all.  In 1970, a 9-year-old boy died after he fell into Crested Pool.  Horrifying.  Now there is a permanent sign warning people of the danger. Another sign warns guests specifically not to bring dogs into the basin.  If they get off their leash and run into the off-limits area, they could be killed. But since the sign is there, I think we can assume that some people just do not believe it. And their pet pays the price.

I am posting some of the many signs that we saw along our travels in Yellowstone so people realize that what they are seeing and enjoying must also be respected. I am happy to say that no one in our group took any risks or defied the signs and warnings.  Yellowstone is a beautiful, exciting and awe-inspiring adventure.  Seeing the sights and the animals and birds is exciting. But like any adventure, you have to pay attention to your surroundings and respect the animals and the warnings.

Yellowstone, Yellowstone, and More Yellowstone.

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Amazing Dinosaur Displays In Bozeman, Montana

26 Sep

On our way to Yellowstone, we spent two nights in Bozeman, Montana, home to the Montana State University and the wonderful Museum of the Rockies. We never got to visit the campus of the University, but we did spend a couple of hours examining the exhibits at the museum. 

The Museum basically has three parts: Dinosaurs, Yellowstone Park, and an outdoor farmstead.  We did not tour the outside area because it was closed for the season, and it was cold and raining. But we definitely enjoyed our visit to the inside exhibits, even though two were closed as they were preparing new exhibits for the fall.

The Dinosaur Exhibit hall is spectacular.  The museum has a relationship with the paleontology department of Montana State University.  I believe that many of their dinosaur skeletons and the research and work on them are done by faculty and students from the university.   And you can tell as you walk through the exhibits that they are meant to be interactive and educational. You do not just look at the dinosaur bones, you participate in activities that explain what you are seeing.

See the inner teeth?
T-Rex
Underwater dinosaurs
Baby dinosaurs.

However, what you are seeing is so wonderful that sometimes you just have to look up in awe, especially at the Montana T-Rex that stares at you as you enter one of the rooms. The entire time I was there, I was thinking that I wished I had come here with my son when he was a child. He loved dinosaurs. The only books he wanted to read were about reptiles and dinosaurs.  He would have just loved this museum. 

Two of my favorite displays were the clutches of unopened dinosaur eggs and the sad display of a group of young diplodocus that got stuck in mud eons ago and died.  A section of their tomb is now on display at the museum. 

I loved how they displayed the underwater dinosaurs.  The carpet color changed to blue as did the walls. It made me feel that I was underwater.  My new bit of knowledge there, was that one water dinosaur, Plioplatecarpus peckensis had teeth on the roof of its mouth to clamp down on prey.  Ouch.  The outer teeth were scary enough, without the inner line of teeth ready to dig in.

Unfortunately, we got there just a week after the giant T-Rex, Sue, left. It had been on loan from the Field Museum in Chicago.  But not to worry.  I had visited several times with my family.  However, I did feel sad that we just missed seeing it again.

The next section of the museum also interested us because we were on our way to spend six days in Yellowstone National Park. Reading the displays in the museum and seeing the items from the Park’s early days was a wonderful introduction to what we would be experiencing. I enjoyed seeing an original park ranger uniform and the touring coach that transported people throughout the park during the early 1900s, before there were paved roads and cars.

Tar paper house
Wooden home/gas station! I love the old pump.

And because I love seeing old houses, seeing both a tar paper house and a small wooden house inside the museum, made me more aware of how difficult life was for early settlers in Montana. It is cold there.  I cannot imagine living in these houses without insulation and the modern conveniences. But the other interesting point was that gasoline stations were also the homes of the settlers. It was important for the new automobiles to be able to refuel. It would have been quite a lonely life, but instead they met people traveling to Yellowstone!

This was a great way to start our week-long trip to Montana and Wyoming and the wonderfully weird Yellowstone National Park!

https://museumoftherockies.org/

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Yellowstone Astonishes!

24 Aug

Are there even words to describe Yellowstone National Park?  I am not sure. The words I know seem simplistic and inadequate. 

Old Faithful


The sights to be seen at this gigantic nature preserve are unique.  The vistas are beyond breathtaking. The geysers, hot springs, mineral deposits, steam vents, boiling mud and crystal blue ponds so close together astounds the mind. The waterfalls throughout the park are majestic.  The hot water waterfall sprewing mineral rich waters seems unreal. While the lower falls coming from the Yellowstone River at the edge of the multicolored Grand Csnyon is stunning as the water’s spray glistens in the sunlight. 


As we waited for Old Faithful geyser to erupt, with thousands of others, we could feel the excitement build as tiny jets of swater realeased in the air. I could hear the rumble of the ground. A few minutes before the main eruption began I felt a slight tremble in the ground beneath me. Then behold a stream of atomized water flew in a tower above us!  We saw four other geysers erupt during our day at the park. 

Bison crossing a river.


Then there are the wildlife: bear (we saw the flash of one along the side of a road); bison (we saw three groups totaling over 100 bison, as well as many single bison relaxing in the park); elk (one hiding in the trees); deer (another watching us from the woods); pronghorn deer and a beaver happily swimming. 

Yellowstone River and falls in the Grand Canyon.


I think my favorite was the Lower waterfall on the Yellowstone River that leads into the Grand Canyon. What an impressive site! The colors of the canyons walls are so unusual. 

Now that I know the park is situated above a giant magma field and that a large section of the park is a gigantic caldera, I am even more intrigued by this treasure.  I can see why the first explorers were so insistent that it become a National Park. The first one so proclaimed. 

The Lobby of Old Faithful Lodge


The lodges and the hotels are also memorable.  Old Faithful Lodge with it’s wooden logs and 76 foot ceilings. The Lake Lodge in its bright yellow, recalling the opulent travel of the wealthy in the 19th century.  

We have so much more to see, but not enough time.  We have to come back!!!  Luckily we are now officially seniors and we were  able to purchase a lifetime pass for the parks for only $10.   They soon rise steeply in price. Getting them in Wyoming was an added bonus. 

When I return I plan to spend two nights in the park. There is so much we did not get to see. This taste of Yellowstone has me Yearning for more! To be honest, seeing Yellowstone ALMOST eclipsed the Eclipse! 

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