Part 3 of the Great Adventure-Continuing our exploration of National Parks, we left the Kolob Mountains to head north to stay in a cabin outside the town of West Yellowstone. Because of the large size of Yellowstone park (almost 3500 square miles spanning into three states), several days were needed to adequately explore its incredible diversity. The geothermal wonders of this park are centered on a huge caldera left by ancient volcanic eruptions. The magmatic heat still produces eruptions in geysers, hot springs, fumaroles, and mud spots. Combine this with waterfalls, rivers, lakes, mountains, forests, and the largest concentration of free roaming wildlife in the lower 48 states, and it is no wonder that this is one of the most visited national parks!

For our first day in the park, we came through the West Entrance driving along the Madison River. It wasn’t long before we began spotting wildlife, including bald eagle, bison and elk. We stopped at the information station to let my youngest child pick up his Junior Park Ranger requirements for the park and to listen to a ranger talk on wolves and bears. Heading south, we drove on the Grand Loop to the Upper Geyser Basin where Old Faithful resides. The trail leading to one of the best-known geysers was lined with colorful geothermal features. The type of organism, thermophile, which lives at different hot temperatures, caused the variety of colors. We waited patiently for Old Faithful to erupt and then drove by Grotto and Castle Geysers.

The next day we headed north to Mammoth Hot Springs, one of the few active travertine terraces in the world.  Hot water mixed with dissolved carbon dioxide created a weak acid which dissolved the limestone to form these beautiful terraces. Unfortunately, sulfuric gases resulted in an unpleasant smell similar to rotten eggs. Continuing on the Grand Loop, we drove to Lamar Valley on the east side. The valley was filled with elk, and pronghorn antelope. On our return trip we stopped at Mammoth Visitor Center for huckleberry ice cream.

For our last day in the park, we drove to the Grand Canyon area, which was over twenty miles long and 1200 feet deep with a blend of yellow, red, white, and pink mineral deposits along the canyon walls. Uncle Tom’s Trail had steel staircases with 500 steps that actually led down to the Yellowstone River. We also made sure to stop at the Inspiration Point Overlook and Artist Point, where artists were painting the stunning scenery on canvas. At the Upper Falls the force of the river rushing by amazed us. It was frightfully beautiful.   Passing Hayden Valley heading south, we came upon a sea of bison grazing in the fields before we stopped at Lake Yellowstone Hotel to view the lake.  Our last stop was at the Grant Village Visitor Center, which had a fantastic exhibit and movie focused on the fires of 1988 that destroyed one third of the forests in the park.

We continued our drive south to exit Yellowstone Park and to enter the Grand Teton National Park. Since it began raining, we decided to head straight to our next lodging choice just south of the park in a small quirky town called Kelly. Using VRBO, I found a cabin with amazing front porch views of the majestic Grand Tetons. These jagged peaks with deep canyons rose up from the valley of Jackson Hole. Mountain fault blocks created the Teton Range and glacial erosion formed the Teton landscape. Beautiful lakes formed in the moraines at the base of the Teton Range.

The next day we drove up to the Leigh Lake trailhead for a 4.5-mile round trip hike. We followed String Lake through a lodge pole pine forest to the third largest lake in the park, Leigh Lake. At 250 feet deep, this lake was surprisingly bordered  by white sand on the east side. In the distance, we could see Falling Ice Glacier on Mount Moran. We also explored the Gros Ventre Slide area near our cabin to examine one of the largest land movements.

We had an early start the next morning to attend the ranger led hike to Inspiration Point. After a ten-minute ferry ride across Jenny Lake, we hiked to Hidden Falls. The ranger made stops along the way to explain the geology of the area and to allow us to catch our breaths before hiking to Exclamation Point, Perspiration Point, and lastly to Inspiration Point. The views overlooking Jenny Lake made the difficult hike worthwhile. We decided to continue on into the valley of Cascade Canyon. The terrain varied greatly with rocky boulders along the hurried swollen stream that fed Hidden Falls. After driving into Jackson for dinner, we came home via Moose-Wilson Road. This was the road less traveled rewarding us with views of two moose in the willow-lined ponds. We ended our day with spectacular sunset views over the Grand Tetons from the front porch of our cabin.

With another early morning start the next day, we headed out towards Taggart Lake for a ranger-led wildflower hike. Ranger Justin was well outfitted with wildflower books and lenses. When he began his talk saying  he was feeling overwhelmed by all that was going on in this ecosystem and that he hardly knew where to start, I knew we were in the hands of a true naturalist! Following the 3.2-mile hike, we drove over to Spalding Lake for a picnic lunch and then headed up to Signal Mountain to view the Snake River below. On our way home we witnessed a wedding and a commercial being filmed near the Mormon Row Historical Homesteads, which had the Teton Range as their backdrop.

For our last full day in the park, we decided to catch an early morning scenic float trip on the Snake River. It was a peaceful ride with sightings of beaver dams, geese, ducks, pelicans, bald eagles, deer and elk. Next, we headed over to Teton Village, the local ski resort for lunch. The kids loved riding the tram up to the 10,000-foot mountaintop and finding snow to play with in the summertime! After descending, we hiked around the Blacktail Ponds trying to find evidence of beavers and then let the kids play in the Snake river at Schwabacher’s Landing.

We left the Grand Tetons to head home on Day 16 of our Great Adventure. I was grateful to introduce my kids to America’s natural wonders in the National Parks. It is never too early to develop a love of nature, outdoor exploration and learning about science while creating family memories in God’s handiwork. Sesame Street paired up with NPS to produce six short videos with hands-on activities to introduce preschoolers to the natural world of habitats, seasons and animal families:

http://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/kidsyouth/sesame-street-grca.htm

Most national parks also offer a Junior Ranger program for kids from the ages of 5 to 13 to encourage them to complete activities during a park visit to receive a Junior Ranger patch. You can also purchase a National Park Passport to have stamped at national parks throughout America. It is a fun way to document your travels and to get kids involved. Last but not least, the NPS provides a free park pass for an entire year to every 4th grader who applies online.

In the words of John Muir, “Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul alike. “ The Yosemite