Traveling with Blue Cat: Yellowstone National Park

While camping at the Grand Teton National Park last summer Blue Cat also took a trip to the Yellowstone National Park. Without having to pack up and change campsites he and his friends some some amazing sights (and sites) in a very active geothermal area.

This will be a short post – just a brief description of some of the more spectacular things Blue Cat saw on his adventure – comment below if you’d like more details.

Old Faithful

Any trip to Yellowstone has to include viewing an eruption of the Old Faithful geyser. Located in the south of the park, Old Faithful is one of only six geysers in the park that the rangers predict, so it’s easy to plan around seeing the most famous geyser in the world (in Blue Cat’s mind) do its thing. There’s a nice visitor’s center that explains all about geysers, a count-down clock to the next eruption, and some really accessible viewing areas.

solitary Geyser

Not quite as spectacular, but Blue Cat’s favorite geyser in the park, is the Solitary Geyser. It’s a 20 minute hike north of Old Faithful, but you can get very close and see a low-volume eruption about every 20 minutes.

Black Dragon’s Caldron

Black Dragon’s Caldron is a steaming, bubbling mud pot in Yellowstone’s Back Basin, known for its dark, acidic waters and sulfurous fumes. It formed suddenly in 1948, blasting trees with mud as geothermal activity shifted. Today, it remains an eerie, churning reminder of the park’s dynamic volcanic forces. And Blue Cat thinks it looks like the mouth of a big black dragon.

Wildlife

Blue Cat saw a lot of wildlife at the park. The park rangers were very firm that you should stay at least 100 feet from any buffalo – hard to do when there’s one standing on the edge of the Old Faithful parking lot…

Not a statue – that’s a live buffalo almost in the parking lot

Yes – that’s brown bear (actually in Grand Tetons National Park, but Blue Cat thinks he was just lost

Yellowstone’s Grand Canyon

Yellowstone’s Grand Canyon is a 20-mile-long chasm carved by the Yellowstone River, featuring dramatic cliffs and vibrant hues of yellow, red, and orange. It has two waterfalls, Lower and Upper Falls (because one is lower than the other). Blue Cat liked that you could hike near to the falls themselves and could view them from down the river. Very refreshing after all the geysers, mud pots and hot springs in other parts of the park.

The Upper (behind the trees) and Lower Falls from a distance

At the End

Blue Cat and his friends also got to eat at some great restaurants, drive some very interesting roads, and hang out with a bunch of nice people they will never meet again. Three days in the Park really wasn’t enough time to see everything, and Blue Cat decided a lot of times to forgo the camera and just experience the Park.

Blue Cat hopes you get to visit Yellowstone and enjoy it in person. Leave him a comment if you’d like to know more or share your experiences in the Park. Happy travels!