Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks
Monday, June 25: Old Faithful to Rainbow Ranch
Monday morning we got up early and loaded up for our trip to Rainbow Ranch in Big Sky, Montana. We had talked to them Sunday afternoon and were told we were in for a four-hour drive. With a couple of stops planned for the trip, we thought it best to leave early. Not too early, but it wasn’t a day to sleep in, either.
Our first stop was at Biscuit Basin, just a few minutes away by car. In fact, there’s a trail that goes all the way there from the Old Faithful Inn and its Geyser Basin. Since it was on the way, and because Dan had recommended a certain feature there, we thought it was something we shouldn’t pass up. It’s kind of funny, but this was the third day in a row that we were enjoying the FIrehole River, though we weren’t doing it the way fly fishermen were doing.
The next time you go to Yellowstone National Park, be sure to spend some time here at Biscuit Basin. It’s part of a larger geothermal region, and the maps show trails that can take you from Old Faithful all the way here, and I’m sure that would have been fun to do when I was a bit younger. And we had seen other fields of geysers, smoky holes, and all of those things. But somehow, this place seems just “more.” Maybe it’s because when you’re out in the middle of it you can see so far before your eye is stopped by a normal place with trees, grass, and all the other parts of life. Or maybe it was just because we happened to be there early on a beautiful clear morning. Either way, the place struck me in a way that the other places didn’t. One or the other of us had said before, more than once, that it looked like we were on another planet. Biscuit Basin gave me that feeling more than the other places. The Sapphire Hotpool was the main reason we stopped that morning, but the rest of the place struck me as just as strong an attraction. We didn’t make it up to the Grand Prismatic pool, but that just gives us another reason to come back!
We didn’t stay there long, of course, because we were aware of a need to get on the road to Montana, but we still managed one more stop. We left the flat land of Biscuit Basin and headed north, then took the smaller Firehole Canyon Drive through the mountains for our last look at the Firehole River. Sure enough, there’s another impressive waterfall here. We had seen the Firestone River in pretty much all of its guises by this time: the Kepler Cascades, the flat, peaceful river along the Inn, home to fly fishermen, and finally (for us) the Firehole Falls. In a way that summed up another of the great geological features of Yellowstone–the crazy diversity of the land itself. Seeing the geo-thermal flats and the falls so close together made it just that much more obvious. This wasn’t the grandest, tallest, noisiest, or most impressive site of the trip; in fact the falls looked a lot like the small ones we saw on our first drive into the Park. But the site, with an impressive steep mountain to each side of the river, was indeed quite impressive–especially to a Flatlander.
Soon enough we drove on, turning west and leaving the Park behind. Almost immediately we were in the town of West Yellowstone, and the contrast between its small town energy and the beauty of the Park was all around us. On Dan’s advice, we went to the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center there, and that turned out to be a fun stop all the way around. I don’t always enjoy a zoo, mostly because I don’t like the idea of trapping healthy wild animals and forcing them to live in such un-natural circumstances. This place is a little different, although the animals here are no less free than the tiger in a cage. These animals are all rescues of one sort or another, either from injuries or abandonment, and they have each been deemed unable to live on their own in the wild. None of the birds could fly for more than a short hop, for a bird of prey not enough at all to make a life possible. And I have to admit, I’ll never get a closer look at a bald eagle in this lifetime. No wonder we’ve made this our national emblem.
Of course, the grizzly bears are the great attraction here. They have the largest enclosure and a dedicated viewing platform, not to mention a long fence and barricade so you can stand closer. They live in a part of the place that’s not accessible to visitors, and as individuals there aren’t let out into the public play area every day. On our day there were three bears turned out right after we got there, and watching them for just a few minutes made the stop worthwhile. They were far enough away from the barricades that their size wasn’t intimidating, and they never made any move toward the visitors or each other that could have been seen as aggressive. To all appearances, they just played with the food, with the trees, with each other—in the water and all around. I walked away a couple of times to see the rest of the place, but I kept coming back to watch the bears. And the ravens seemed to enjoy being in there with them, although I never saw one actually get in the water. Check out one of the videos to watch the bears in action.
In some ways, the wolves have it even better. There are two small packs, one to either side of a building that stands between them. The main room of the building has glass walls, so visitors can sit there and watch one pack or the other. Each pack has a den, and there’s some wondering room for them as well. Judy and I spent a little time with each pack, but maybe that’s just because we liked the chance to sit somewhere besides the car for a few minutes. In spite of the very nice viewing building, there was still a sadness there. The ground squirrels in their little enclosure were a fun contrast. Out in the bright sun, they ran around as much as ones we had seen in the Park. Then again, maybe they wanted to be out with the people. It’s sort of fun to imagine a breakout of the little furry things running around and causing a little disturbance. Maybe I’m over-thinking things a bit, but I do find myself wondering if the exploitation factor isn’t still in operation here, and they would all rather be out where they were born.
Being conscious of the time factors, we left the bears and wolves–through the gift shop, of course–and got back on the road toward Big Sky and the Rainbow Ranch, sure that we would have to eat lunch along the way and get there just about check-in time. Surprise, surprise. We sailed along the Gallatin River, drove past Rainbow Ranch, made a pit stop in Big Sky, and got all the way to Bozeman for pizza for lunch. Seems the information we had gotten on drive time was just a bit exaggerated. So, being the clever people we are, we called about an early check-in time, drove back to Big Sky, and this time stopped at the Rainbow Ranch, just like we could have a few hours earlier. When we got into our cabins, we immediately sent up words of sincere thanksgiving to Jan Cordell for booking this place for us.
Rainbow Ranch is a lodge built on the strip of land between US Highway 191 and the Gallatin River, and it’s just one of many similar establishments we saw along our drive through that part of Montana. What appeared to be a typical outdoor-corridor motel building turned out to have a few special features: large rooms with wood-burning fireplaces and a back door that led onto a small deck furnished with two Adirondack chairs. There was nothing to do but to test those out, of course, so Judy and I settled down to watch the river flow by. I doubt that we could have found a more peaceful way to end our trip than this. Just being there. I think the most activity we indulged in before going to dinner was to walk slowly through the property and watch a couple of magpies. Not a bad end to the trip at all.
Photos
