Playing tourists...

Some observations about driving around Yellowstone: this place is big and the speed limit everywhere is 45 mph (less in some areas). I am astounded by the number of people who try to push the speed limit... passing on a solid yellow line and over-driving the conditions. The roads are all two lane, lots of hills and curves, wildlife galore which causes people to abandon their normal driving skills. We frequently see cars stopped on the road with all four doors open, the people trying to sneak up on animals. There are laws on how close you can come to the animals: 100 yards for most of the animals, 300 yards for bears and wolves. Yet, we see people getting WAY closer than that to bison, elk, moose, etc. We have a name for these people: morons. Besides the traffic jams they create, they are endangering themselves. There are pull-outs along the roads, but noooooooo - they stop IN the road. You can see and photograph bison elk, and moose from the safety of the car, but they think these are docile animals... every year dozens of these morons get too close and are injured by the animals. It brings real meaning to the term "thinning the herd." ;-)

Many people believe you can "do" Yellowstone in a day - see Old Faithful, photograph a bear, and move on. They are missing what this place is all about. The Park Service did something exceptional when they implemented their "keep it natural" plan. Rules were put in place to protect the wildlife and natural features of this special place. Roads and buildings make up less than 1% of Yellowstone... in order to see the amazing diversity here, you have to get out of your vehicle and hike around. Yellowstone is much more than geysers... it is waterfalls, canyons, mountains, streams, rivers, forests, the largest alpine lake in North America, rolling hills and valleys, fly fishing, 60% of the thermal activity in the world, abundant wildlife... over 2.2 million acres. There is a reason it was set aside 137 years ago as the first National Park in the world. To really experience it, you need to get out in it. You can't "do" it in a day... or a week... or even a season.

Rush through this park, and you cheat yourself. There are many beautiful places around the world, but none other that offer so much diversity in one place... granted, one very large place.

Today was a day off for us, and we played tourist... took the motorcycle on a loop around the park, stopped for lunch at Canyon Village, drove over the continental divide several times, checked in on the progress of the new Old Faithful Visitors Center, stopped by the lake for ice cream, photographed some wildlife, dodged some of those cars mentioned above, and just had a wonderful, relaxing day off. The roads here are great for motorcycling: sweeping curves, hills, spectacular views... you just have to stay alert for... um... road hazards. ;-)