Yellowstone National Park: 'Tourist' versus 'Hiker'

Morning Glory Pool

Welcome to Yellowstone!

We received quite the grand entrance upon our arrival into the park, where a herd of bison (small by bison standards) forded the river and made their way across the road en-route to greener pastures. It took us back to Africa watching the wildlife approach you from the safety of your vehicle, but bison seem a little less intimidating than lions, but still it was a welcoming we hadn't expected.

For mine, when you decide to head into one of America's National Parks it is shrewd of you to plan your trip. There are a number of books out there one can either buy, or if you're tight like us, the internet will always provide a downloadable copy! With that in mind, the first thing I would recommend is to head into one of the visitor centres, or ranger stations, and have those plans completely changed. This would appear to make the initial planning redundant but we have found that if you have an idea of what you want to see, and can ask the right questions, the well informed can help you get the most out of what you had in mind.

With that we believe there are two ways to see Yellowstone: either as a 'tourist' or a 'hiker'. The 'tourist' rarely leaves the comfort of their vehicle, whilst the 'hiker' gets out into the park and stretches their legs, so to speak. Now both have their merits, and I would suggest dabbling in both if you have the time and energy.

As mentioned the 'tourist' way to see Yellowstone is to hardly step out of your vehicle – if you have an RV well kudos to ya! The park is set up such that anyone can get something out of it. The most you would have to walk would be a mile, on well maintained paths or boardwalks. And if you really want to lash out and max out the 'tourist' experience you can stay at the plethora of hotels available near most of the main attractions.

This may seem like a waste of time for such a renowned park as Yellowstone, but we firmly believe being a 'tourist' in Yellowstone you still experience what is unique to such a magnificent park – the geysers!

One of the must sees from the 'tourist' side of things is the Norris Geyser Basin. The Back Basin leaves a little to be desired, especially if you have already wandered through Porcelain Basin. With Black Growler Steam Vent poring out more noise and steam than an old locomotive, you really do get the feeling that you are within the caldera of an extremely old volcano. Throw in the colours of Whirligig Geyser, Colloidal Pool and Porcelain Springs and the basin experience is complete.

Porcelain Basin

Next up in the tour of basins would be Midway Basin – we stopped in for sunset and were not disappointed. The highlight of Midway Basin would be the Grand Prismatic Spring. Capture this at sunset and it took me back to 'stair cases to the moon' back in Broome.

Grand Prismatic Spring

And one's 'tourist' trip of the Geyser Basins of Yellowstone would not be complete without a stop off at the world famous Old Faithful Geyser, a lesser but more frequented and known part of Upper Geyser Basins. Old Faithful puts on a show every hour and a half, almost like clock work. And the 'tourists' flock to him in their droves. But Upper Geyser Basin has far more to offer than a 5 minute show every 90 minutes, but you may need to delve into the darker realms of the 'hiker' to get the most out if it.

Nic and the local chipmunk taking in Old Faithful's show

A short walk up the hill provides a grand over look of the Upper Basin, as well as an up close experience with some of the lesser known geysers. But the money is the walk around the Upper Basin Boardwalk. A round trip of near on 3 miles gets you up close and personal with the likes of Morning Glory Pool (the one on all the post cards, which funnily enough we almost skipped), Castle Geyser, and our personal favourite, Grotto Geyser. Take your time and spend an afternoon chasing the eruptions, or just casually stroll amongst them.

Grotto and Castle Geysers - highlights of the Upper Basin

West Thumb Geyser Basin is unique in its own rights. Set on the shores of Yellowstone Lake, the hissing, steaming geysers set against the turquoise blue of the lake and the rugged mountains in the distance is something you will probably only set eyes upon in Yellowstone. Some of the geysers are even within the lake itself, with stories of locals fishing off the aptly named 'Fishing Cone', dunking their catch straight into the boiling waters of the geyser cone and eating it then and there – one would say you can't get any fresher than that!

West Thumb Geyser Basin

Mammoth Hot Springs is a little different to the rest of the parks thermally themed attractions, with less geysers and more terraced structures with an underground a network of fractures and fissures that allow hot water from the underground to reach the surface, creating some amazing features, all clouded in a steamy stench of sulfur. Palette Spring and Minerva Terrace are the two highlights.

Palette Spring

Next up on the highlights reel of the 'tourist' would be the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone – not to be confused with 'the' Grand Canyon but you would be surprised at how many people wondered that very thought.

For us, if you were pushed for time (and you'd have to be pushed if you didn't drive to all the points) you could get away with just sightseeing from the scenic North Rim Drive. Lookout Point and Grand View give a far better view of the Lower Falls than the inaptly named Inspiration Point (in fairness I believe Inspiration Point used to be far more 'inspirational' in years past when the canyon walls jutted further out into the middle than any other part of the canyon. But the frequent earthquakes of the region has brought the viewing point back in line with the rest of the walls and as such the 'inspiration' as crumbled away with each earthquake) but if you really want to see the Upper Falls up close you need to head over to the South Rim Drive and hike in on Uncle Tom's Trail. Artist Point also provides a panoramic view of the canyon and Lower Falls, but all very similar to what you get from the north.

The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

Tower Falls is yet another 'tourist' destination, and if you can score a park amidst the myriad of RV's and useless vehicle enthusiasts you’re set for a short walk along the paved walkways to join the masses having a squiz at the falls – impressive enough but nothing to write home about (yet here I am doing just that).

Tower Falls

The ultimate 'tourist' highlight would be something you can do from the comfort of your vehicle, and yes Yellowstone provides such delicacies. At the top of this list would be the animal spotting, and one of the best places for this would be Lamar Valley – if you don't get to see bison here you must have been driving with your eyes shut, and that's a worrying thought. But from the safety of good old Rodge we were able to lay eyes on bison, foxes, deer (yes lots of deer), pronghorns, and a mother black bear and her two cubs – although we did get out of the car for this. Unknown to us, both black and grizzly bears can range from blonde in colour all the way through to brown and black – its their shapes that distinguish them.

Roadside animal spotting

Lastly on the list of 'tourist' activities on offer in Yellowstone would be the Ranger Talks. Now we didn't actually get to one of these as the weather we had for our 3 nights in the park wasn't very conducive to nights around a campfire talking crap, or listen to a ranger talk crap, rather they were usually wet, windy and rather cold. However, we have heard good things about the Ranger programs, and we would like to get involved before our time in the US National Park is up – luckily we still have a number to go.

Now to the other side of Yellowstone – the hiker's guide. Again, this one can be split up into two – those moderate hiker and the extreme – don't really know how extreme hiking can get but we'll go with it.

For us we stuck to the moderate hiker's guide, that is no back country. We were still averaging around the 10-12 mile mark per day but we weren't lugging around 10kg packs. The added bonus of the hiking side to Yellowstone is that you almost feel you have the trails to yourself. This could be because it was still late May/early June but given the throngs of 'tourists' at all the drive-by locations you may even get this feeling in the busiest of months...maybe.

Our favourite hike would have been Storm Point down at Fishing Bridge. It would have to have been the most 'on edge' walk I have done given the surrounding trails were closed to grizzly activity in the area, plus no other bastard was doing it. Throw in a couple of bison blocking off the start of the path, plus one who decided to follow/stalk us for a good couple of hundred meters and we had the adrenaline pumping from the get go. Half way in you get into some pretty thick forest leading to the lake, and your imagination starts playing tricks with what might be lurking behind the next corner. Alas, we didn't come across any bears but it's a strange feeling when you get back to the car – you're glad you made it back in tact, but you're also a little disappointed you didn't get to encounter a grizzly, or black bear for that matter.

Storm Point Hike

Another hike in a similar vein would have been Specimen Ridge – renowned for animal spotting, plus the advice not to go in a particular direction due to a recent bison carcass had us frothing at the mouth – hopefully like some of the predators we might catch a glimpse of. We contemplated heeding this advice and going the long way round, but our curiosity, or some might say stupidity, got the better of us, and armed with a stick we went in search of the carcass. After all, isn't the big game what we were there to see? Luckily, or unluckily, we didn't see anything more ferocious than a yellow bellied marmot sunning himself atop the canyon.

Specimen Ridge Hike

Our most grueling hike was Mount Washburn, but also probably the most rewarding. A 6.2 mile round trip up snow and mud covered paths left the feet a little worse for wear, but the view at the top is unrivaled throughout the park. It is situated virtually in the middle of the park, and the view is uninterrupted for miles in every direction – if only the photos would do it justice!

Mount Washburn Hike

One of the main reasons we wanted to be part of the 'hiker' crowd was not so much to avoid the 'tourists' but one would assume you have more chance of seeing wildlife when you're further than 100m from your car. I guess this was true to a degree, you definitely have more chance but that doesn’t actually guarantee anything. On our hikes we were accustomed to a magnitude of squirrels and chipmunks, but the grand prize went to a badger we pretty much stumbled across. He looked like he had enjoyed a prosperous winter (or fall more likely) and was still working off some of his hibernation coat (don't really know if badgers hibernate but we'll go with it) but he could still move when he wanted to.

A Badger and a marmot - some of the simple pleasures

And now we come to the combination of the 'tourist' and 'hiker'. I would say sitting in your car watching Game of Thrones on your laptop cos your $20 Walmart tent leaks like a sieve in a thunderstorm adequately fits this combination category, and sadly we endured this hardship on more than one occasion – shame on us!

Three days in Yellowstone were the perfect amount for us. We were dog tired at the end of each day, and we weren't granted the best weather, but that's all part of it. Getting out and experiencing the park is more about what you make of it, not what the brochure says. You can hardly set foot outside your car and still come away fulfilled, or you can hike for hours on end and sleep where you fall down – it's your choice and your experience. One that everyone on a western USA road trip should make the time for.