The night before our first day in Yellowstone we stayed in Gardiner, MT. In the morning, we entered through the Roosevelt Arch at the North Entrance. President Roosevelt laid the corner stone in 1903. The inscription is a quote from the Organic Act of 1872 that basically states the park cannot be sold, settled or occupied, and that it is set aside as a public space for the benefit and enjoyment of the people. Once through the gate we were in Wyoming, and ready for our Yellowstone adventure.

President Grant signed the bill declaring Yellowstone as America’s first ever National Park in 1872. The army served as park administration until a National Park Service was established in 1916. The NPS are still managing the conservation and preservation of the park. There are still army barracks in the park and several museums to celebrate the park’s history. Really, we weren’t too keen on the museums. Some of them are kind of ridiculous. Who needs to see a museum of the Park Ranger? (I imagine exhibits like in 1920 they wore green hats, and in 1940 they switched to beige. Seriously, we didn’t check it out.)

From prior research, I knew Yellowstone was going to be geothermal insanity, I just didn’t realize exactly how much we would see. Obviously everyone thinks “Old Faithful” when they hear Yellowstone, but there are more than 10,000 features in the park. There are steam vents, fumaroles, bubbling mud pots, hot springs, and lots of geysers. An astounding half of the earth’s geothermal features are in Yellowstone. We took loads of photos that don’t necessarily do the park justice. Sure the colours are beautiful, but if you can’t smell the stench of sulphur, or hear the water hissing out of the ground you won’t receive the full effect. (Be happy you can’t smell the sulphur!)

We covered all of the parks roadways making our way from the North Entrance down through Norris and Madison to Grant Village on day one. The first feature we saw was Mammoth Hot Springs. The natural terraces are formed by mineral deposits left behind by the flowing water. There trail is limited to wooden walkways that are built to protect the structures created by the hot springs, but also to protect the visitors. Some places in the park there is a very thin crust over scalding hot water, and people can be scalded or even boiled to death if they stray off the walkways.

Here are some photos from our stop at Mammoth Hot Springs.