Chapter Thirty-Nine
Lena Holds Back a Glacier
May 27, 2009—Prune Creek to Yellowstone: When we woke it was COLD! I've got a great North Face sleeping bag, but it's only a three-season bag, so I had to use the maximum warmth configuration—totally closed up except for a tiny peephole. This really is an amazing sleeping bag. I've had it since 1992 and it still looks brand new. It packs down to the size of a football.
But as I was saying, it was icy cold, with frost on the grass and car. Lena had the great idea of not screwing around with fires and warm jackets, but just jumping in the car and finding a warm restaurant. Luckily the Arrowhead Lodge was only a few miles away, and was open at 6:30 AM. This was a great place that caters to snowmobilers in the winter.
The 64-year-old waitress here lives in Florida, and every year she chooses a different national park, then gets a waitressing job there for the summer.
The temperature was more livable after breakfast, and we cleaned out the trunk, got things reorganized, and set sail for Yellowstone. Our course took us over the top of the Rockies, and there was plenty of snow at the 9,430-foot pass.
I had expected continuous mountains from here to Yellowstone, but instead there is a wide low plain between the Bighorn Mountains and the Rockies.
The drive into Yellowstone was much further than we had expected, but the scenery was spectacular. Our first wild animal encounter was with a buffalo, followed by a distant grizzly bear. We came upon a herd of cars pulled over to the side of the road, with a crowd looking through binoculars. Most of the people were unaware of what they were looking for, but eventually I got someone to tell me that to the right of that patch of snow, no the other patch, near that ridge by the dark greenery is a grizzly with two cubs. Finally, I could make out three brown dots with the binoculars. Kind of exciting, kind of not. It mostly made me want to get a bear costume and frolic around at great distances while the tourists wet their pants. Then I could move closer and do line dancing. I'll do this next time—I wonder if it’s against the law.
My last time through this park (1968), people fed the bears, which resulted in bears walking along the rows of stopped cars, putting their paws on windows and getting handouts. That was dramatic, but the new system is probably better for all concerned.
We got to the campground at 4:30 to discover that it might be full. After much searching, we snagged one of the last sites. The sites are packed pretty closely here, and we were surrounded by other tents and RVs, but we were glad to be able to stop driving. Watching the other campers is always amusing. Our next door neighbor set out dinner for his family. When he turned his back, a raven swooped down and flew off with an entire stick of butter. That is one raven in whose bottom you do not want to be stuck (see the Killer Tornado chapter)!
Actually, this had been a long day, and we were starting to think more about how nice it would be to get home again. Lena apparently has a strong allergic reaction to high-altitude pines, and the Claritin wasn't cutting it. This was my problem as well as hers because Lena's default sneeze is what I call a "scream sneeze." My knee was a bit sore also. Lena, who would be dictator tomorrow (we take turns), announced that we would probably get the hell out of Dodge.
But we had a job to do, so after a great dinner of something or other, probably hot dogs and beans, we went on a hike to the Norris thermal area.
Most of Yellowstone is in the crater of an active volcano (last eruption 634,000 years ago, but it is an active volcano—it says so at the visitor center). About a half mile into the hike, we started encountering more and more fallen trees so there was a lot of climbing, crawling, and detours. Because of the big Yellowstone fire in 1988 the place is swarming with tall dead trees and new trees 6-10 feet high. The dead ones fall all over the place. We finally arrived at the geyser field, and got a good show.
We walked back to the campsite along the road, and fell into bed around 9 PM. There was still a lot of noise in the campground at this hour, but our earplugs filtered it out, and we slept through until 7:30 AM the next morning.
Wait until you see what 2,000 pound creature greeted us right in the campsite when we woke up. Don't miss it. I know that the "camped in the crater of an active volcano" wasn't quite as exciting as what you expected, but this one will live up to its billing.