The Trip
My husband and I recently celebrated our first wedding anniversary, so in celebration, we decided we would venture out to the great Yellowstone National Park. We chose to make the long trek (1,000 miles) out there in our 2007 Toyota 4Runner. "Big Bessie”, as we call her, has treated us well in the past, but after a recent mechanic visit, we were alerted to some potential problems that this vehicle may be facing. However, we were determined to get her out there to car camp--mostly because I am afraid of getting eaten by a bear, so tent camping in Grizzly Country isn't on my bucket list. Thus, we began our journey!
Beartooth Pass
On our way out to Yellowstone, we passed some beautiful scenery. Parts of the Badlands, prairies, and plateaus made the drive more interesting, but the highlight of the drive was certainly Beartooth Pass. This is the mountain drive going into the Northeast entrance of the park, and it was absolutely breathtaking. We stopped a couple times to take pictures, and the beautiful mountain flowers caught my eye (see above!) Big Bessie did great and carried us effortlessly through the mountain range.
Lakes and Canyons
One of our favorite sights at Yellowstone was the Grand Canyon (not the Arizona one, the Yellowstone one). Artist Point was jaw-dropping, but we also loved the views from closer to the falls. When you're closer to the falls, you get to see the rainbow the mist creates on sunny days and even get a little mist blown at you from the falls if you're lucky :)
Baby Bison
One night, I had a good feeling and said to my husband that we needed to go on a "sunset animal spotting drive". So we took off from Canyon Campground and headed to Hayden Valley. To our amusement, there was a large herd of bison right along the roadway! This herd had many baby bison (my favorites) and we spent a good hour parked in a pull-off watching the babies play. One baby found a paper bag and picked it up with his mouth! You can see him sniffing the bag in one of the photos above (also, who litters in Yellowstone of all places?)
The Thermals
My husband and I spent a total of 6 days in Yellowstone, so we saw MANY thermal features (there are soooo many!). We were of course amazed at the classic Grand Prismatic Spring and Mammoth Hot Springs, but one of our favorites was the Norris Geyser Basin. The colors, variety of thermal features, and microorganisms were truly amazing.
Wild Animals
I do admit, as much as I LOVE baby bison, bears are truly my favorite animals. We were lucky enough to see a few different bears at the park--one grizzly sow with two cubs, and one black bear. We also were delighted to see many elk, pronghorn, and even a coyote that casually walked right past our car.
However, one of the most amazing experiences with wild animals at Yellowstone was when an osprey flew right along side our car for a long 15 seconds. The photographer in me absolutely freaked out because I knew that between us moving in the car and the motion of him flying, there was little chance I would be able to focus my camera on him. You can imagine how shocked I was that I managed to get THREE sharp images of him (thanks God!)
Bonus: The Hat Tragedy
Okay, guys... if you visit any thermal features at Yellowstone, either don't wear a hat, or make sure it's very secure. There were so many hats in the thermal features that had blown off peoples' heads, and you don't want to walk on thermal features if you would like to not be boiled. But yes, I was the odd person taking photos of the hats as everyone else was taking photos of the thermals.
In Conclusion
Our trip to Yellowstone was amazing. We had so much fun, and enjoyed God's diverse creation. I had a blast capturing photos of so many different animals and landscapes. Seeing the baby bison was absolutely the highlight of the trip for me. It was so special to be able to see how the babies interacted with one another and the adult bison!
All in all, I would 100% recommend car camping in your SUV at Yellowstone National Park--just make sure you bring mosquito netting to put over your windows at night!
Oh, and Big Bessie did her job perfectly. She treated us so well during our trip and had no issues. Have to give it to the good ol' reliable Toyota! :)