As a teenager I vehemently protest any attempts whatsoever to get me out of bed before 11:00 A.M., I consider this a longstanding tradition that I have upheld since the age of ten. My parents are the type who always took trips to National Parks rather than Disney World or say, Universal. While I have not always appreciated these trips, one that I have never second guessed is the trip my family and I took to Yellowstone National Park. My vehement protests were rudely neglected when my family and I would wake up at 4:00 A.M. to go look for wildlife, including the rarely spotted wolf packs that inhabit the National Park.
â–º QUARTER FINALIST 2012 TEEN TRAVEL WRITING SCHOLARSHIP
While we had previously traveled to Yellowstone National Park, my family had participated in what might be considered the more "touristy" aspects of the park and therefore felt we had to return to experience the more intimate aspects of the park. On our first trip we had learned that during the early years of the park, visitors would tour the park by way of stagecoach and in order to accommodate these visitors, a number of hotels were erected at relatively regular distances along the main trail. My family and I decided to re-enact this pilgrimage of sorts. We traveled from Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel to Lake Yellowstone Hotel. The views from the first hotel alone were enough to captivate any visitor. Deer roamed the lawns of Mammoth Springs and a rather large Bison met us at the entrance of Lake Yellowstone Hotel. The mountains surrounding me, which were obviously inanimate objects, were so immense that I felt intimidated by them. Something that I have learned from visiting National Parks is that the nature preserved in them is so much bigger than any human, or anything a human could ever make because they have stood not only the test of time, but also are thoroughly authentic, being created by Mother Nature.
Our adventures proceeded on to the Canyon Lodge and the Old Faithful Inn, while I also briefly stayed at the Roosevelt Lodge Cabins. I found Canyon Lodge rather uninteresting…perhaps it was due to the 13 hour hike I had recently completed. To me it looked as if it had been taken out of the Las Vegas strip in the 70s. I much preferred the Old Faithful Inn and the Roosevelt Lodge Cabins. Talk about intimidating, when I entered the Old Faithful Inn I had to stop for a moment and look up at the over 50 ft. beams that lined the ceiling and the rest of the solely wood structure. Its amazing to consider that craftsmanship and architecture of this sort was done with the technology and tools of the early 20th century. I was lucky to stay in a room that looked directly out onto the famous geyser named Old Faithful for its consistent, timely, eruption. I mean how man places do you find holes in the ground that blow water 120 feet in the air!
It is hard to describe all the nature that I saw as we would drive from lodge to lodge. I saw everything from black bears to wolf packs, and bison roamed everywhere. I received the scare of a lifetime when trying to take a picture of a bison, at first I thought I was accidently zooming in with the camera, but much to my surprise the bison was charging straight for me! I have never run so fast in my life as I did at that moment. The mountains such as El Capitan (named for the way it looks like a man with a cap on) appeared to touch the sky, and waterfalls were immense and appeared to continue on forever. Some waterfalls created rainbows as they fell. Sage plants lined the ground everywhere and bison, although once endangered, roam in herds. There were antelope and deer with full racks.
I doubt that I will ever be able to experience quite like Yellowstone. The natural world that I was exposed to there, and the deep history that it seemed to contain in its rolling hills is truly one of a kind. I have such fond memories of the people I met and the places I stayed at this park. It was this trip that taught me that I was not missing anything by visiting National Parks instead of Theme Parks. I have some advice for anyone who takes the same trip: stay as long as you can and visit as many of the original lodges as possible! It makes for the best, most scenic, and most educational stay. I hope to return to Yellowstone National Park in the near future.
Dear Reader: This page may contain affiliate links which may earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. Our independent journalism is not influenced by any advertiser or commercial initiative unless it is clearly marked as sponsored content. As travel products change, please be sure to reconfirm all details and stay up to date with current events to ensure a safe and successful trip.
1 Reply to “Immersion in Nature – Yellowstone National Park!”
Comment on this article
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
ok it was funny not like a formal article
Very informative blog.Much thanks again. Much obliged.
Wow, great article.Thanks Again. Great.
I’m extremely pleased to find this web site. I wanted to thank you for your time just for this fantastic read!! I definitely enjoyed every part of it and I have you saved to fav to check out new stuff in your website.
Really interesting post!
Thanks for sharing the article with the information we are actually looking for.
Well, I tend to be a very critical person with a critical bent of mind who always comments on others post emphasizing on the missed-out points. However, your writer seems to have done a great job as there’s nothing much that I can think of saying. It is an amazing write-up that is extremely useful for your concerned target audience. I’m definitely going to share this on Twitter.
Enjoyed looking at this, very good stuff, thanks.
Great info. Lucky me I found your blog by chance (stumbleupon).
I have bookmarked it for later!
Some truly great posts on this site, regards for contribution.
Very great post. I just stumbled upon your weblog and wished to say that I’ve truly loved browsing your weblog posts. After all I will be subscribing to your rss feed and I am hoping you write once more soon!
Pretty! This was a really wonderful post. Thank you for your provided information.
Wonderful blog! I found it while surfing around on Yahoo News.
Do you have any tips on how to get listed in Yahoo News?
I’ve been trying for a while but I never seem to get there!
Thank you
Rent a professional limousine service in Dubai with safety equipments
I believe you have observed some very interesting points, thanks for the post.
I pay a visit everyday some sites and websites to read content,
but this website gives quality based articles.
very useful topic
And very important
This is great,
I hope to do something like this
very useful topic
And very important
Please Fwd to author:
Your wallet has been found at IC Ranger station JTNP
Good day! Would you mind if I share your blog with my zynga group?
There’s a lot of people that I think would really appreciate your content.
Please let me know. Thank you
Heya i’m for the first time here. I came across this board and I find
It truly helpful & it helped me out a lot. I’m hoping to offer
one thing back and aid others such as you helped me.
Excuse for that I interfere … To me this situation is familiar. Let’s discuss. Write here or in PM.
This excellent phrase is necessary just by the way
I join. It was and with me. We can communicate on this theme. Here or in PM.
So many amazing selections! I wasn’t familiar with many of them. We just did Grapevine last week, which never disappoints. Christmas capital of Texas. ??????
Is it alright to reference some of this on my page if I include a backlink to
this site?
Thanks , I’ve recently been looking for information about this topic for a long time and yours is the best I have discovered so far. But, what concerning the bottom line? Are you certain about the source?
Thank you for your post.Really thank you! Cool.
wonderful blog !! love reading your post.
Greetings from Colorado! I’m bored to tears at
work so I decided to check out your site on my iphone during lunch break.
I love the info you present here and can’t wait to take a look when I get home.
I’m shocked at how fast your blog loaded on my cell phone ..
I’m not even using WIFI, just 3G .. Anyhow, great site!
Every weekend i used to pay a visit this web page, because i wish for enjoyment, for the reason that this this
site conations genuinely pleasant funny material too.
Eco-therapy or nature therapy, sometimes comprehensively called family-centred nature therapy or outdoor therapy entails using the environment of nature and its various elements to become involved in the autism therapy process for persons on the spectrum.
We love your offering these details for folks hoping to get more information about topics like this. Your blog page was well-written and well investigated, that is certainly considerably liked. I am generally seeking for new sites to follow and browse on a regular basis.
Thank you so much for sharing this blog with us. Really Informative blog.