Maybe it was the freezing rain. Or the acres of burned forests on my drive in. Or the piles of greasy black gravel mixed in with dirty snow. Maybe I came too early in the season.
I didn’t enjoy Yellowstone.
After an unexpectedly spectacular drive up from Casper, Wyoming to the East Entrance, the sky turned a flat, cold grey and freezing rain made for a blurry view of wet and burned trees. (More than a third of the park has been consumed by forest fires.)
Hardly another car in sight, I passed abandoned road construction, empty tractors, and piles of snowy, greasy gravel.
My panoramic vistas shortened to quick turns, so I made a very slow trek (28 miles) to my RV park.
I like to reserve a site in the park because I love to have a beautiful campsite. But Fishing Bridge is not beautiful- it is really just a crowded parking lot. My perpetual view was of a neighbor repeatedly braving the freezing rain to smoke.
Determined not let the weather get me down, the next morning I put on my parka and made the one hour drive to destination uno, Old Faithful.
I meandered among the boiling, sulfurous geysers, observed the creeping desolation caused by the silica rich minerals, and then ran for cover when it started to hail.
Realizing that I am missing some fundamental point, I consult my park map to see what else is here. More geysers, more hot springs. Boiling mud pots.
Ah, look! A canyon! Waterfalls! That’s my thing!
Next day’s hike, Canyon Falls.
The falls were beautiful. And the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone is breathtaking.
But I think I just don’t do well when I have to share my nature scenes with crowds of strangers.
With more thunderstorms in the forecast, I decide to use my reservation at Glacier National Park.
It was the right decision! Check out this campsite!
.
**
And you are never going to believe this, but while stopped at a gas station about eight miles outside of the park, I am surprised by a knock on my door.
“When I saw that Mini with Texas plates, I knew it was you.”
He fixed my roof!
15 Comments
My experience with the crowds at Yellowstone was very similar. I ended up hiking on less popular trails to avoid the over crowding.
That is so cool, running into a friend like that out on the open road!
I love Glacier! Enjoy!!!
aw, i’m sorry to hear about yellowstone… sounds like a place i may have to skip, as i too am not big into crowds or bad weather and it seems those two are on a teeter-totter there.
great news about your roof – even more so with all the rain you’re running into. three cheers for Jonathan!!!
X2 on Jonathan!!!
Are RVer’s a great bunch or what?
James
I believe Chris & Cherie call that “Nomadic Serendipity”
Having lived in Yellowstone Park for awhile I’m sorry you didn’t see it in its glory. You were there during the transition between winter and spring, which is not a nice time to be there. So go back there someday as it is a pretty amazing place. Any place sucks in the cold rain. And yes, you can easily get away from the crowds. Most people only stay in the touristy areas, the ones that are easy to get to from their vehicles. Wander away from there and there’s nobody but you and nature…
What James said…..SERENDIPITY all the way! It is a small, small world. Hitting Yellowstone this early is always a crap shoot…..and that’s the problem…if you go in the middle of the summer the crowds are mindbending, but if you go before Memorial Day, or after Labor Day the weather can be exactly what you got. Sounds, though, like you are “rolling with the punches” and making the best of your situation.
Regarding the less enjoyable parts of Yellowstone/trip/or anything not good. I look at it this way …
“A bad day where you are right now, is still better than a good day at the office” – me
Good for Jonathan. It rains a lot in the Arctic.
But as I said before, slow down. You are about two weeks ahead of the prime season, and will stay that way if you proceed pell-mell to the north. I would have suggested a slow troll through New Mexico, western Colorado, and Utah, arriving at the Washington state/Canadian border around the first of July.
But all that will still be there when you come back. So will a meander down the Pacific coast in September/October.
What’s your rush? The Canadian Rockies are glorious in July, not so much in June. Unless you are really into grey and wet.
Glacier/Waterton might be a good place to pull over, relax, and read a book. I suggest “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”. It features a kickass heroine. You can relate.
Bob
yeah, we call this part of the year “mud season”. avoiding the holidays is key. my favorite time of year for Yellowstone is September, especially the second half of September. things start to close and get cold at night, but the tourists start to thin out. seeing it with an RV can be difficult because the RVs have to stick to the more “urban” parts of the park (especially if you need hookups), whereas the tent areas are really secluded. if you can, next time get the campsites that are run by the park service and not the private ones. they are cheaper and more rural. but they are also harder to get – first come first served.
Yellowstone is something you need to see multiple times. don’t be discouraged. did you make it to Grand Teton National Park?
Love your new campsite. It looks a bit like mine, other than I have to walk a bit to get to Salmon River.
I have found that knocks on the door are usually a good thing:).
Hi
I popped over from Katie at Rough Life. I enjoyed reading through your posts to when you were in Texas.
I would like to follow your blog…hope that’s okay with you.
We live/work/travel with the carnival here in the Pacific Northwest. You can check out my blog at http://www.ali1257.blogspot.com
We made the decision the end of January/first part of February if you want to read about our most recent travels.
You were there too early in the season. Middle of June is the earliest I would go, and I’d expect at least some wintery weather even then. (I really do mean middle of June, as in, third week.)
At any of the big National Parks, my method of dealing with the crowds is to start before sunrise and consider myself finished by 9 or 10 in the morning. This works out well because I also do photography, and that’s the best time for it.
But give it another chance another time. I think it’s one of the greatest places on earth.
Great video! It really gives you a sense of what the site is like. I’d like to share with you a new (Free) iPhone app that should help with planning future RV/camping trips. We’re quite proud of our app. Which lists 18,000 parks & lets you search for new parks by current location, state or city. Feel free to email me back with any questions or feedback on how we can improve our app and/or website. All of our reviews are created by real RV enthusiasts like yourself.
iPhone app – http://rvparking.com/iphone
Useful website – RVParking.com is a community site where anyone can review campgrounds,state parks and RV parks that they have visited for free.
http://www.rvparking.com/
Here’s our listing for the Fish Creek Campground that you featured in the video above. It looks like no one has reviewed it yet. We’d really appreciate it if you took a few moments to add your thoughts.
http://www.rvparking.com/mt/west-glacier/fish-creek-campground
Happy RVin!
Amanda
amanda@rvparking.com