Day 12

The campsite we were staying in was awful. I am learning to dislike people in RVs. The ones we have encountered on our road trips are some of the loudest, rudest, most selfish people. RV culture is definitely different than tent culture. The RVs run their loud generators all night not caring about ruining the sounds of nature or about whose sleep they might disrupt. They speak loudly and are often in large gregarious groups, again not caring that others are there for an escape into nature. I’m not saying all tent campers are angels. We’ve certainly dealt with ones we haven’t liked. But we are at point where we will do whatever possible to avoid RVs.

Last night, the RV campers were so loud that I ended up having to put the seats down in the car so that I could sleep in trunk. The thin tent walls just did nothing to muffle the sound. Only in the car was I able to fall asleep.

To escape the awful campground we woke up at 5:30 this morning to break camp and drive north. We found a much better, more removed campsite in the National Forest, not too far from Yellowstone. We can smell the pine and since there are no electric hookups we can be confident there will be more tents than RVs.

Since we will be living in bear county for the next week or so Kati not only bought bear spray, she bought a hunting knife. We are hoping we will not need either knife or spray, but if Kati ends up wrestling a bear I will do my best to snap a photo as I scurry G3 away to safety. (Just joking).

We finally made it into Yellowstone for more than a drive at night. We entered the park at West Yellowstone and started the day with a hike. We did the 4.2 mile round trip Bunsen peak trail. The clouds and breeze kept it cool enough for Kati to reach the top. Besides, she had the bear spray so she wasn’t allowed to turn around.

Hiking is almost mandatory in National Parks where the stifling crowds threaten to choke the serenity of nature. It’s the only way to escape the people. At the peak G3 was excited to meet a curious little chipmunk. I could not believe how close he got to us. The views from the trail were okay, nothing breathtaking. That might have been in part due to the thick haze that cast a veil over the mountains in the distance.

After our hike we visited Mammoth Hot Springs — another cool science lesson for G3. Water deep underground is heated. When it is pushed through the buried limestone it dissolves the calcium carbonate. The calcium carbonate is then deposited in terrace like formations. They were pretty and the patterns beneath the running water were interesting. G3 said the color and texture reminded him of coral. I could have watched the water dribbling over the terraces all day but while G3 and I were looking at them we heard thunder in the distance. Rain pour down.

Traffic leaving the park was once again reminiscent of NYC during rush hour. No, I actually think the traffic here was worse. There are too many cars, too many people. And it’s not just entering and leaving. All the parking lots are overrun. Finding a spot is nearly impossible. The National Park should limit the number of people who visit daily. But they won’t because then they’d lose money.