Geyser or Bust

Journal of Our Journeys 

Chapter 9 - Yellowstone 

In 1872, Yellowstone National Park became the first ever park of its kind. It was dedicated to the American people to be preserved for the enjoyment of generations to come. At the time, however, since there had never been a national park anywhere before, the government and those put in charge of it didn’t know what to do with it.

No one had allocated any funds for the upkeep and furtherance of the area. Poaching was common in that faraway place. At the time, the Wyoming territory was in what was considered a very remote area of the country, so the public the park was created for had difficulty getting there.

Before long, however, railroads and roads found their way into the park. Though visitors on horseback were the first to explore the park, automobiles began arriving by 1915. It is estimated that starting in that year, tourists drove 1,000 cars through the park a year.

When my family and I traveled to Yellowstone in 1969, many more than a thousand vehicles were in the park. It was and still is the most visited national park. Still, the American population was also much smaller in the late 1960s. There were no hordes of people, just the same hordes of bears that still hang out alongside the roads, blocking traffic and looking for handouts.

Old Faithful was already very popular and easily accessible. A crowd would gather when it was predicted to be due to erupt. The other geysers were just as fascinating, even when they weren’t erupting. Just the thought that, at any moment, they could spew hundreds of gallons of steaming water high into the air was enough for me.

Morning Glory Pool was gorgeous, and it was hard to fathom that hot water bubbling out of the ground could attract such amazingly colored algae and other organisms. Who knew that these microscopic life forms could thrive in the hot water? The blues, greens, and pinks seemed to glow in various other pools under the nearly boiling water.

Some of the other geysers and pools were a short hike from the parking lot. So, at one such place, Mom wasn’t feeling up to the walk and wanted to stay in the truck while Dad took me, Pat, and the cameras – both the regular one and the 8mm movie camera – to wander the boardwalks winding around the hot ponds and steaming pools.

We took our share of pictures and home movies, Pat and me scampering in front of the camera for Dad. Even though we didn’t view any other geysers discharging, we still had fun. When we returned to where Dad had parked the camper along the far edge of the lot, Mom was all excited. She pointed to a small lake not far away.

“A moose came right out of the woods and went through the water,” she exclaimed. “He was just a couple hundred feet away. His antlers were as wide as this camper is long. And you missed it, and I couldn’t even take a picture because you had both the cameras.”

Sure, Mom.

And since we did have the cameras, there was no way to prove it. As I said, the crowds were small, so no witnesses could back up Mom’s story. We believed her but continued to give her a hard time, mainly because we were jealous that all we had seen was hot water.