The Stone, is in fact, Yellow

Yellowstone throws you around in awe of its volatile landscape, then leaves you exhausted wanting to escape for calmer territories.

   Simply breathtaking in so many corners and yet frustrating to accommodate wild tourists.
Our journey around Yellowstone has taken four days. At times we have experienced the 'popular' sites and at others we've sat alone admiring the birth of a landscape before our eyes.
   What we write here will not do it justice, suffice to say, this is a place to see before you leave this Earth. Although, after four days, we were exhausted from so much visual splendor that we felt like we needed to pop our head outside of the bubble to clear our heads.

   We chose to enter via West Yellowstone, then South and essentially counter clockwise of the Grand Loop. For wildlife, we felt privileged to see three otter's bobbing their head along Firestone River on our first day. At first we saw solitary and small groups of Bison, on our third day we passed through Hayden Valley and we found what seemed like the entire herd of well over 200. Though we caught more on the North West below Mammoth Hot Springs. We saw a coyote trotting along Yellowstone River and plenty of elk and birdlife. No bears or wolves, which sometimes we can be glad to not encounter in the wild. We did stop off in West Yellowstone at the Grizzly and Wolf Exhibit. There we were able to see some captive bred animals relaxing in their pens.
   Wildlife aside, the main event for us was the landscape. An example of this was while standing at a look-out observing incredible rock formations with Jamie describing the history of what has taken place. Another visitor with binoculars was desperate to point out the swans on the river before us. The lady went into great detail which variety she thought they were and what they may be doing. We nodded and gave our appreciation at her enthusiasm for the birds. Our interest was elsewhere.
   From geysers to pools, vents and pits, we had never experienced something like Yellowstone before. Breathtaking moments included the overlook at Grand Prismatic Spring when the sun was shining and the colours of the rainbow glowing. The Mystic Falls Lookout trail where you could view the entire Upper Geyser Basin. Being fortunate to coordinate our timing around Old Faithful to witness Daisy, Grand and Castle Geyser's erupting. We had enough time to see Old Faithful three times from various perspectives and times of the day. Though we thought the other geyser's were more entertaining. The West Thumb Geyser Basin was lovely, particularly the view into the lake. Mud Volcano and the Dragon's Mouth gave a fantastic comparison from pool to pit. The Upper and Lower Falls of Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and then walking along each cliff to the lookouts and points. Mammoth Hot Springs had its own unique display of pools and pits. Then Norris and the Steamboat fanatics as well as Monument Geyser Basin and even a moment at Beryl Spring in its own glory. All remarkable in their own way and from my perspective (Ian's) I have been in awe of Jamie's knowledge, of course in Geology, and being able to talk through everything that was happening around us.
   I ask Jamie her thought's, 'visually tiring but such a unique place on the Earth'. We were planning on staying an extra night, however, both felt a little tired, so chose to head South, out of Yellowstone and into the rest of Wyoming.

   Some other moments around Yellowstone, being mindful of how negative we can sound at times. Tourists are tourists, of which we belong to that group and we greatly appreciate those that accommodate us. But at times, we found it difficult not to root for the wildlife. There was a moment, when vehicles had stopped for photographs, as a bison was nearby grazing. Totally fine, except one particular tourist, decided to walk to within 10 metres of the bison to take their photo. The friends of this tourist were yelling at them to stop, but they did not listen. Now Jamie got a little upset when Ian told her he wished the bison would charge and gore the stupid tourist to teach them a lesson. Admittedly, that is a gruesome and evil thing to think. But he still thought it.
   We had another moment, when we had entered into a picnic area that had large signs at the front entrance advising buses, trailers and RV's not to enter. We were enjoying ourselves when we noticed a particularly large RV had become wedged between some trees attempting to turn within the corner of the picnic area. Ian walked over to provide some assistance and as English wasn't common to them, he did a lot of gesturing. After taking out their left side mirror and severely dinting the top of their RV, he waved them goodbye as Jamie sat back shaking her head.
   Our last little hype is about the Yellowstone map signage. We found we weren't the only ones, when walking along a path or trail, to see a split, and to have no idea which path led the way we wanted to go. The maps left a lot to the imagination. Particularly when driving around and not knowing when a pull out, picnic area or look out were ahead. So after awhile, we ended up just laughing about the lack of information and putting up with it. Maybe it had something to do with the limited Federal funding to National Parks. We only make this assumption as every piece of infrastructure around the park from paving, to fencing, boardwalks and seats, all seem to have a plaque thanking the personal donation or corporate donation that made it's construction possible. We might send a tweet to Donald and see if he responds.

   We couldn't stop taking photos the entire time, so we will try to be very selective in those we upload. But it's hard.