Speaker 1: So on our Yellowstone first part or we talked about
Speaker 1: both of our individual first trips to America's O G
Speaker 1: National Park, along with info on thermal features and a
Speaker 1: super volcanome that you don't really need to worry about.
Speaker 1: Probably now it's time for the sequel episode, which I'm
Speaker 1: calling Yellowstone Full Throttle. Is that a nod to Charlie's
Speaker 1: Angels sequel moving? Yes, it absolutely is, because, just like
Speaker 1: that insane sequel are part two episodes of Yellowstone is
Speaker 1: filled with stunts and sites that defy logic and possibility,
Speaker 1: and subbing in for Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Lucy
Speaker 1: Lou we have you Me and Finn and grizzly bears
Speaker 1: instead of an evil de me More. I guess that's right.
Speaker 1: This is our first time actually seeing a grizzly bear
Speaker 1: in the wild. But don't worry. Everything worked out just fine,
Speaker 1: seeing as we're alive and talking about it right now.
Speaker 1: Few it was all my worst fears and wildest dreams
Speaker 1: converged into one memorable, epic moment. But you'll have to
Speaker 1: stay tuned because there's a lot of ground for us
Speaker 1: to cover in this second part episode of Wyoming's Yellowstone
Speaker 1: National Park. Hi, I'm Matt and I'm Brad. This is
Speaker 1: park Land, a production of I Heart Radio. We sold
Speaker 1: our aloft in Chicago, moved into an RV. Now we're
Speaker 1: traveling the country at full time with our dog Finn,
Speaker 1: exploring American's national parks, and today we're returning to Yellowstone
Speaker 1: National Park in northwestern Wyoming for part two. So in
Speaker 1: part one we actually talked about things like the frontiersman
Speaker 1: who first documented Yellowstone and how it became the first
Speaker 1: national park in the world. That's right, the world. Yes.
Speaker 1: We also talked about how Yellowstone got its name, about
Speaker 1: the troops who protected the park for thirty two years
Speaker 1: before the National Park Service took over, and about President
Speaker 1: Chester A Arthur's glamping trip. But don't worry, there won't
Speaker 1: be a quiz at the end of this episode, so
Speaker 1: feel free to go back and listen to part one
Speaker 1: if you haven't, it's a doozy. For this part, we
Speaker 1: want to talk more about Matt and Ice trip here
Speaker 1: together last summer. We had both visited separately at first,
Speaker 1: so it was exciting to revisit this iconic park again
Speaker 1: with our r V. I needless to say, it was
Speaker 1: a totally different experience, especially since their view is so huge.
Speaker 1: We saw completely new things completely. So let's cut right
Speaker 1: to the chase and talk about the star of the park,
Speaker 1: which are the thermal features. They're colorful, they're big, they're loud,
Speaker 1: they're scorching hot, and they smell like that time our
Speaker 1: r v's Black Tank exploded all over you. Like, that's
Speaker 1: so true. Oh, the sophic smell of these features is
Speaker 1: really intense, and you can just easily smell it through
Speaker 1: your car or our V as you drive through Yellowstone.
Speaker 1: It's actually nowhere near as bad as Black Tank, though,
Speaker 1: I mean, yeah, yess, that's true. It is pretty impossible
Speaker 1: to miss these things when you're here, no matter what
Speaker 1: part of the park you're in, and that's because there
Speaker 1: are more than ten thousand of these thermal features, including
Speaker 1: about three guysers in particular. Most of these are categorized
Speaker 1: and mapped into different guys are basins throughout Yellowstone, like
Speaker 1: Monument guys are basin, Norris guys are basin in. My
Speaker 1: favorite West Thumb guys are basin. This is a thermal
Speaker 1: section that's right on the shores of Yellowstone Lake. So
Speaker 1: it's got a really beautiful and peaceful backdrop. So good,
Speaker 1: so good. The juxtaposition of these like technicolor almost neon
Speaker 1: hot springs and steaming pools against the emerald blue lake
Speaker 1: is just so striking and captivating. And there's this awesome
Speaker 1: and easy boardwalk trail that winds through a bunch of
Speaker 1: the guysers, so you can like meander through and see
Speaker 1: these two like colorful, bright features right alongside each other.
Speaker 1: It's amazing. It's cool and kind of creepy too, because
Speaker 1: these pools have billowing steam pouring out of them and
Speaker 1: out over the boardwalks, so a lot of the time
Speaker 1: all you see is outlines of people in the midst
Speaker 1: usually pushing for photos. I'm sure, yeah, I mean, Sam,
Speaker 1: It's it's hauntingly pretty and the visuals are just off
Speaker 1: the charts. Trails and for a whole another visual You
Speaker 1: can also just cross the street and hike the trail
Speaker 1: called Overlook Trail, which is pretty easy and only about
Speaker 1: one and a half miles round trip. Yeah, you can
Speaker 1: just park at the West Thumb geys Are Basin and
Speaker 1: follow a clear trail across the main road, through the
Speaker 1: woods and up a hill for a sweeping view of
Speaker 1: the lake. Um, these little clouds of steam just rising
Speaker 1: up next to it. I've actually done this trail a
Speaker 1: couple of times. It's it is easy. I remember this
Speaker 1: most recent time that I did it, I was seeing
Speaker 1: these kind of scary warning signs for recent bear sightings
Speaker 1: in the area, so I was on high alert, like
Speaker 1: more so than usual. And I know you're supposed to
Speaker 1: make noise while you're hiking in grizzly country, So what
Speaker 1: I would do was I would occasionally cough really loud
Speaker 1: as if that would be a defense. But um, I've
Speaker 1: also been known to have really full blown loud conversations
Speaker 1: with myself if and when I'm hiking alone in Yellowstone,
Speaker 1: which is not recommended and I'm not endorsing that. And also,
Speaker 1: please don't tell my parents that I was doing that.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, you're screwing you realize this is I know
Speaker 1: I realized I had literally just told them. But so
Speaker 1: when you're visiting a Yellowstone during peak season in July
Speaker 1: like we were, you're rarely alone, which is nice. So
Speaker 1: people are literally everywhere, for better or for worse. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's the thing. Like you're especially like we were here
Speaker 1: in July, and it's unusual to have a trail to
Speaker 1: yourself for more than a few minutes during this prime time.
Speaker 1: And on the other side of that coin, that's also
Speaker 1: potentially embarrassing for me, knowing that people more than likely
Speaker 1: could easily overhear me talking loudly to myself and having
Speaker 1: these like ongoing dialogues about me narrating my week or
Speaker 1: talking about silly things like upcoming movies I can't wait
Speaker 1: to see. I'm just like fully in conversation a mode
Speaker 1: with myself. You are entertainment at its finest on these drills,
Speaker 1: that's for sure. That's that's great. I hope people appreciated,
Speaker 1: I guess and if need be, though I am armed
Speaker 1: with bear spray at all times. I had a clipped
Speaker 1: to my little fancy fanny pack as fanny packs are
Speaker 1: coming back, the one that's like blue with the white
Speaker 1: strap and a lemon on it. Yeah, and then there's
Speaker 1: like bear spray on it, right, and it says spells
Speaker 1: all the words sour, but I think the O is
Speaker 1: a lemon. Yep, that's it. So good. So that's what
Speaker 1: I That's what I clipped my bear spray too, So
Speaker 1: a little mix of whimsy and like dead serious. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and it's all gonna be okay in the end. We
Speaker 1: just gotta get you out on the trail again for
Speaker 1: you to relax. I'm ready, me and my Fannie pack already.
Speaker 1: Now let's get back on the road, because navigating a
Speaker 1: park as large as Yellowstone is an important piece, especially
Speaker 1: for people driving an RV. The main drive in the
Speaker 1: park is the Grand Loop Road, which is basically a
Speaker 1: giant hundred and forty two mile figure eight that runs
Speaker 1: through the middle of the park and it divides into
Speaker 1: different sections. Yeah. I remember before I first came to Yellowstone,
Speaker 1: I was definitely overwhelmed, as I'm sure most people are,
Speaker 1: because it is huge. It's more than two million acres,
Speaker 1: so you could easily be forgiven for assuming that it's
Speaker 1: like a giant maze and really elaborate and complex, But
Speaker 1: surprisingly that's not really the case. The way that it's
Speaker 1: laid out and mapped, it's actually really straightforward and easy
Speaker 1: to follow once you stick to the map and kind
Speaker 1: of get your bearings driving through a little bit exactly.
Speaker 1: The Grand Loop connects to all five parks main entrances
Speaker 1: and exits, and it crosses the Continental divide twice, which
Speaker 1: is pretty cool when you think of that. Yeah. Um,
Speaker 1: it's well marked with huge signs on the side of
Speaker 1: the road with pull out so you can get photos
Speaker 1: with the signs. I mean it has it all, yes,
Speaker 1: And speaking of pullouts, here's a little helpful p s A.
Speaker 1: Please use them. We beg you. People are constantly holding
Speaker 1: up traffic here by stopping in the middle of the
Speaker 1: road to get photos of animals, and I totally get
Speaker 1: that and understand it. It's really cool stuff and these
Speaker 1: are you want to take photos of wildlife like this,
Speaker 1: but it creates such a mass, especially in the summer
Speaker 1: when this place is swarming with vehicles. Plus is dangerous
Speaker 1: for both the animals and other drivers. So there's a
Speaker 1: time and a place and stopping the thew street is
Speaker 1: not it absolutely like at certain times, traffic a Yellowstone
Speaker 1: is I think worse than traffic in Chicago. It's too much.
Speaker 1: I remember we're getting road rage at one point while
Speaker 1: we were driving back to our our v site from
Speaker 1: Yellowstone Lake one day. Yeah, there's really only so much
Speaker 1: I can take after a long day of driving and
Speaker 1: hiking and exploring, which is also fun but exhausting, Like
Speaker 1: you reach a certain point where you just want to
Speaker 1: kind of get back, in our case, back to our
Speaker 1: r V and like unwind. And when you're stuck for
Speaker 1: like hours and hours behind slow moving people and like
Speaker 1: stop traffic, it really really wears on you. So I remember,
Speaker 1: there's this one time I was behind this slow driver
Speaker 1: like just taking a sweet time on a joy ride
Speaker 1: in front of me for like miles on end. And
Speaker 1: the thing that aggravated me even more was he just
Speaker 1: like had his arms sticking out his window and it
Speaker 1: was like, you know, going through the Brie. I'm like,
Speaker 1: this isn't what are you doing that. It's like this
Speaker 1: little thing that just kind of drove me crazy. I mean,
Speaker 1: I've never seen you get road rage like this either.
Speaker 1: I mean it was really silly, but it was also
Speaker 1: really saying something. I guess that's mostly because you rarely
Speaker 1: drive though, true, but I usually enjoy driving through national
Speaker 1: parks like this, analong scenic roads and granted, like nine
Speaker 1: and nine percent at the time, it's relaxing and scenic
Speaker 1: and lovely. But occasionally I I do get moments like
Speaker 1: this where I start to like shoot steam out of
Speaker 1: my ears, like I've got too many old faithful guysers
Speaker 1: strapped to my head. We should also point out that
Speaker 1: it's super important to start your day early and drive
Speaker 1: into the park as soon as you can, because, like
Speaker 1: we said, traffic can be a beast. Most parking areas
Speaker 1: fill up super quickly, and you don't want to look
Speaker 1: like Matt it was steam popping up. I'm sorry, you
Speaker 1: guys are steam Yeah, Jatta singing out of my head.
Speaker 1: I'm constantly shocked though, by how early these parking lots
Speaker 1: fell up. It's it's really crazy, like, especially since many
Speaker 1: of these parking lots are huge and they're filled to
Speaker 1: capacity even when we get there early. Like are these
Speaker 1: people nocturnal? Do they just sleep in the parking lots?
Speaker 1: Are they? How are they here like before us? I
Speaker 1: don't understand, Like do you hear the road range that? Like,
Speaker 1: just even thinking about it, I'm like, it's all coming
Speaker 1: back to me in a really unfortunate way. It's okay,
Speaker 1: it's all gonna be okay, Right, we just gotta get
Speaker 1: you out on the trail again so you relax. Yes, Well,
Speaker 1: the trail for me, like hiking here is the best medicine.
Speaker 1: It comets me down in between driving stints, that's for sure,
Speaker 1: and for all these reasons, that's why we chose to
Speaker 1: rent a car and not use o r V for
Speaker 1: the entire time in Yellowstone. We drove through the park
Speaker 1: once from the east side to the west um, so
Speaker 1: that way we could park in West Yellowstone where we
Speaker 1: manage the luck out and book a last minute r
Speaker 1: V spot. Um. But this was over July four weekend,
Speaker 1: so we are real lucky. This just really makes it
Speaker 1: that much easier for parking and navigating because a lot
Speaker 1: of the parking areas have super limited spaces for large vehicles. Anyway,
Speaker 1: that's definitely true, and I can't really imagine like only
Speaker 1: being in Yellowstone with an RV, especially in like July.
Speaker 1: You'd have to get up like the night before. You'd
Speaker 1: have to like Black Friday it and not leave the
Speaker 1: park at all, just have your r V stay in
Speaker 1: a parking lot and be ready to go at three
Speaker 1: in the morning or something. It's ridiculous. Yeah, Fortunately, having
Speaker 1: a rental car, we could wake up at a more
Speaker 1: reasonable hour, get coffee in West Yellowstone and then head
Speaker 1: into the park by seven am and be just fine.
Speaker 1: Plus since we have Finn with us, of course, We
Speaker 1: didn't want to like constantly be leaving him in the
Speaker 1: r V while we went off hiking because for a
Speaker 1: lot of reasons, this is not a very dog friendly park.
Speaker 1: They're not allowed on any trails whatsoever or in thermal areas.
Speaker 1: But all of which makes sense, and considering the immense
Speaker 1: wildlife here, you do not want a feisty little dog
Speaker 1: like Finn causing trouble with a wolf or a bear
Speaker 1: or a bison or something. It would be a regular
Speaker 1: brew ha ha. Yeah. Then, and you know all these
Speaker 1: animals like dumping everywhere and people not like picking it up. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it would be horrific because people are rude like that.
Speaker 1: But I feel like we prepared for Yellowstone properly, uh
Speaker 1: and did it right. Um. We were able to tackle
Speaker 1: a lot of this park in just a few days
Speaker 1: that we were here, which we're gonna talk a lot
Speaker 1: more about after this quick break. Hi, I'm Matt and
Speaker 1: I'm Brad. This is Park Glandia. In today's episode is
Speaker 1: Yellowstone National Park? Part two? All right? First things first,
Speaker 1: let's take it back to what brought us to Yellowstone
Speaker 1: in the middle of prime time, Like we literally arrived
Speaker 1: in the fourth of July, and I can't really think
Speaker 1: of a better place to spend July four in America's
Speaker 1: most iconic national park. All that was missing probably was
Speaker 1: like apple pie and maybe baseball. We did have a
Speaker 1: hot dog though his name is Finn. Oh my gosh,
Speaker 1: that's right. Yeah, what a patriarchal little bunch we were.
Speaker 1: Uh and right before Yellowstone we were at the rodeo
Speaker 1: and Cody, Wyoming, which also feels like an Americana thing
Speaker 1: really very much. So. Yeah, all the cowboy hats and
Speaker 1: chili and beer and lassos and star spangled everything. This
Speaker 1: was an experience. Yeah. I was working at the rodeo
Speaker 1: selling maple syrup and we were in the area for that,
Speaker 1: and you and I were able to attend the rodeo
Speaker 1: one night just for fun. Yes, and you forced me
Speaker 1: to sit on a huge cow, which was outrageous, like
Speaker 1: a real cow, And I was I thought you were
Speaker 1: joking for the first several minutes that you're suggesting it.
Speaker 1: I'm like, I don't want to do that. Do people
Speaker 1: do this like it's actually happening. That was a bowl
Speaker 1: that was a ball, well it was it was like animals.
Speaker 1: That was a bowl And uh, yeah, it was really
Speaker 1: cold out that night, but it was that was epic.
Speaker 1: I really loved that experience of sitting on that bowl. Um.
Speaker 1: We got some chili from one of the food vendors
Speaker 1: and went up into the bleachers to watch some of
Speaker 1: that rodeo. Yes, it was intense, let's put it that way.
Speaker 1: A lot of fast moving animals and dex as cowboys.
Speaker 1: It was fun though. It was an experience and it
Speaker 1: was super close to Yellowstone. So after the road here
Speaker 1: was done, we went into the park for three or
Speaker 1: four days to visit it together for the first time
Speaker 1: together together. Right, yes, but but first before the rodeo
Speaker 1: segment was over, because this was like a multi day
Speaker 1: thing that you were working at. I remember taking the
Speaker 1: rental car into the park on my own one day
Speaker 1: driving and it took it was a while. It took
Speaker 1: like two hours just to get in and go to
Speaker 1: like one of the hiking trails I wanted to do
Speaker 1: because this park is huge and we're staying kind of
Speaker 1: a little ways away. And I did one of the
Speaker 1: trails by the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone Section, which
Speaker 1: is this gorgeous segment of Yellowstone River with huge like
Speaker 1: raging waterfalls and it's it's mes rising, amazing place. Highly recommend.
Speaker 1: But this is where I did one of the most
Speaker 1: grueling hikes I've ever done in my life. And that's
Speaker 1: really saying something coming from you. I remember, you came
Speaker 1: back fully exhausted, and that never happens. Yeah. I did
Speaker 1: the seven mile Hole trail, which is ten mile round trip,
Speaker 1: and it descends down to the bottom of the canyon
Speaker 1: along the river, and it's the only trail in the
Speaker 1: park in this section that descends to the bottom of
Speaker 1: the canyon like this. But guess what, what goes down
Speaker 1: must come back up or something like that. And I
Speaker 1: apparently forgot about that before I started my hike, because
Speaker 1: it really hurt, and I suffered immensely, and I've never
Speaker 1: I don't think I've ever like huffed and puffed and
Speaker 1: gasped for air like this before in my life on
Speaker 1: any kind of hike. I remember, at a certain point
Speaker 1: I just fully stopped caring about grizzly bears entirely, and
Speaker 1: I had bear spray on me the whole time, of course,
Speaker 1: but it reached a point where grizzly bears and my
Speaker 1: bear spray were a complete afterthought. I didn't care, like
Speaker 1: if a bear comes, I'm done, Like like I'm just
Speaker 1: gonna just lay down, not even crawling to the feet
Speaker 1: of position. Right. Yeah, And I probably just would have
Speaker 1: been unfazed in comparison to the panous In. But at
Speaker 1: one point I also I lapped this group of younger
Speaker 1: hikers at one point too, was like a group of
Speaker 1: six or seven, probably like twenty year olds or something,
Speaker 1: and they were all really nice and the kind of
Speaker 1: sharing mind. They're like, wow, good job, and I was
Speaker 1: like thanks, and then like in my head like I'm
Speaker 1: I'm dying, And then I tried to like quickly get
Speaker 1: out of their lineup sight so I could literally lie
Speaker 1: down on the side of the trail and let my
Speaker 1: lungs like stop burning. That sounds crazy, but at least
Speaker 1: the views are great. And it's really cool too, because
Speaker 1: this is apparently the only trail that actually goes down
Speaker 1: into the canyon like that. I learned that the hard way.
Speaker 1: And let's not forget about the other trail we did together,
Speaker 1: which is about twice as long as you did. Told
Speaker 1: me it was, yeah, the Fairy Falls trail, which is
Speaker 1: one of my favorites. He told me it was three
Speaker 1: miles around trip. That was just a wild guess. For
Speaker 1: some reason in my hat, I was like females. It
Speaker 1: was definitely twice that at least, but it was really
Speaker 1: pretty and you know, it was just so sunny. There
Speaker 1: were a lot of like flies, um, which is not
Speaker 1: really fun. But yeah, not my ideal kind of wildlife
Speaker 1: for for hiking, I promised me. Bison, Yeah, I know,
Speaker 1: but I mean it could have been worse. That could
Speaker 1: have been like a treacherous canyon hike, could have been like,
Speaker 1: you know, swarmed with grizzly banits or something. But so yeah,
Speaker 1: the Fairy Falls Trail, I love it, and this I
Speaker 1: had very fond memories of it from when I first
Speaker 1: did this trail with my family a couple of years ago,
Speaker 1: and that that's why I swear I remember it being shorter,
Speaker 1: because in my head that's I thought it was shorter,
Speaker 1: but I was probably disstracted by all the things we
Speaker 1: saw that time that I did it, like grand prismatic
Speaker 1: spring from the overlook at the beginning of the trail,
Speaker 1: and then all the bison, like hundreds of bison, plus
Speaker 1: the waterfall itself. Of course, I'll give you that, and
Speaker 1: you know what, that's nature, right. Sometimes you see it,
Speaker 1: sometimes you don't, and you just you can't. You can't
Speaker 1: be bummed out when you don't see it. But I
Speaker 1: mean I was a little bummed. But I mean they
Speaker 1: don't show up on cue. This is like, no, this
Speaker 1: is this is the real world. This is the real
Speaker 1: wildlife of yellows Um. The waterfall was amazing and it
Speaker 1: was totally worth it. It's just long, thin, ribbon like
Speaker 1: waterfall that crashes down into a cloud of mist, makes
Speaker 1: this stream that flows out into the meadows. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's just this great place for lunch or trail beers. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I was so nervous about that. Like I was excited
Speaker 1: about it because I love the idea of trail beers
Speaker 1: and I just have a built up at such a
Speaker 1: taboo in my head, I guess. But I kept worrying
Speaker 1: and thinking everyone around us was like a beer nark
Speaker 1: or something. It really was happening. They're a beer narc
Speaker 1: And I'm like, no, they're not. They're just people like
Speaker 1: they're just wish that they had a beer too, like
Speaker 1: they might happen them in their noble That one is
Speaker 1: definitely a beer and beer narc Look, he has a camera.
Speaker 1: I'm like, he's taking pictures of the waterfall. He doesn't
Speaker 1: care about our beers. Um, but the waterfall was amazing
Speaker 1: and totally worth it, So you're just ridiculous. Let's just
Speaker 1: put it that way, clear as day. Yeah. The rest
Speaker 1: of the trail was really awesome though. It takes you
Speaker 1: by these steaming little rivers and mud pots, through small
Speaker 1: patches of forest, and then out into this huge vast meadow. Uh.
Speaker 1: We didn't see any bison, as I pointed out, any times, um,
Speaker 1: or much wildlife at all really, aside for some horses
Speaker 1: that people are riding on. And they had Cody rodeo
Speaker 1: sweaters on. Um, yeah they did. Did I feel like
Speaker 1: I was wearing mine too? Yeah? No. They even point out,
Speaker 1: oh my gosh, they were at the rodeo too, Like,
Speaker 1: but these people were probably actually like in the rodeo
Speaker 1: because it was now officially over. Yeah, and I clearly
Speaker 1: looked like I had nothing to do with the rodeo, right,
Speaker 1: and not to rub it in, but the last time
Speaker 1: I was here, I did see hundreds of bis something
Speaker 1: like I said, and a fox So that was cool.
Speaker 1: That was exciting fox that didn't even really care that
Speaker 1: we're walking by it. So we'll call that one the
Speaker 1: fantastic Mr Fox, Mr Fox. Yes, So that's why I
Speaker 1: was hoping to see a little something extra or at least,
Speaker 1: you know, something beyond like domesticated horses. But I would
Speaker 1: say that definitely fair he falls, the waterfall itself and
Speaker 1: Grand Prismatic Spring totally made up for that. Yeah. We
Speaker 1: actually started the day early at Grand prism Springs, taking
Speaker 1: the board walk out to the spring itself, but the
Speaker 1: air was still croo cold. Yeah, and it was extra steaming.
Speaker 1: Right when the air is too cold and you combine
Speaker 1: that with scolding hot hot spring, then it gets way
Speaker 1: too steaming and it's ob scared. You can't really see it,
Speaker 1: just kind of sense it, and you're aware that it's
Speaker 1: there and now that you shouldn't go wander into it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but it makes for great photos. Yeah, right, And even
Speaker 1: though I was freezing when we went there in the morning,
Speaker 1: and I was also worried about year well being because
Speaker 1: you were in short sleeves, Yeah, I really was. Um,
Speaker 1: but I bet you everyone is really wondering why it
Speaker 1: took us all along to get old faithful, which is
Speaker 1: not only the most iconic site here, but one of
Speaker 1: the most iconic sites in the entire country. And that's
Speaker 1: mostly because the Old Faithful Area feels too much like
Speaker 1: a theme park. Yeah, it's it really is kind of
Speaker 1: too much, to be honest, And don't get us wrong,
Speaker 1: The Guys Are is really incredible to behold, and like
Speaker 1: the name suggests, it's faithful and I applaud the reliability.
Speaker 1: So there's that. But it's way too crowded and surrounded
Speaker 1: by hotels and restaurants and stuff that make it feel
Speaker 1: almost corporate, like it's owned by Disney or something. Not
Speaker 1: that there's anything wrong with Disney. That's great, but yeah, no,
Speaker 1: not at all. But Old People Inn is actually a
Speaker 1: beautiful hotel. When you go into it and hang out
Speaker 1: at it, you can maybe get some coffee and relax,
Speaker 1: or go check out the gift shops. It's like a
Speaker 1: huge lug cabin basically. But um, you can also watch
Speaker 1: The Guys Are from here. Uh, there's like a porch
Speaker 1: on the second floor as well. Yeah, is that where
Speaker 1: you watched it from when you were first here. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I watched it once or twice from there, and then um,
Speaker 1: Benjamin and I we went down and went up to
Speaker 1: the geyser itself and did that. Uh but yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: it's a I mean, it's a gorgeous hotel and I
Speaker 1: would totally just hang out and lounge about here. I
Speaker 1: love though, the way it's laid out, with these like
Speaker 1: soaring ceilings and wooden rafters way up there. It's And
Speaker 1: we got a couple of coffees from the second floor cafe.
Speaker 1: They have like Huckleberry latte's. Yeah they were great, yeah,
Speaker 1: really good. But instead of chilling here, we wind up
Speaker 1: going up to the observation point trail, which I pretty
Speaker 1: much dragged you to separently, and because I wanted to
Speaker 1: watch All faithful from the top of a hill from
Speaker 1: a different vantage point. I had seen it before from
Speaker 1: ground level here, you know, in the midst of these
Speaker 1: hordes of people. So I had heard that this was
Speaker 1: a cool vista of the geyser, and it's an easy
Speaker 1: trail to get there. It's only about one and a
Speaker 1: half miles round trip, and it's honestly much less crowded
Speaker 1: once you're up there. Um to see the guys are there.
Speaker 1: There were a few people, but plenty of room for everybody.
Speaker 1: There's like, I don't know, two dozen people max, so
Speaker 1: plenty of space, not even a dozen people, right, Yeah,
Speaker 1: but I mean I I can emit when I'm wrong.
Speaker 1: And the views I thought were not the great. It
Speaker 1: was further away than I would have liked seeing the
Speaker 1: guys are it kind of just looked like a random
Speaker 1: well yeah, because there's nothing like, um like seeing it
Speaker 1: right up front, right up in it. But it's also
Speaker 1: beautiful looking at nature in a different way. Uh. It
Speaker 1: was really nice to get away from those crowds and
Speaker 1: the noise. So I'm given that, Tom, And honestly, if
Speaker 1: you're spending some time in the thermal area. It got
Speaker 1: a head over to Mammoth Hot Springs on the north
Speaker 1: side of the park. This was the first time to
Speaker 1: this section for both of us, and it was really impressive.
Speaker 1: A lot of a lot of a lot of history there,
Speaker 1: oh a lot. This was a sleeper hit. I think
Speaker 1: we had both heard of Mammoth Hot Springs, but we
Speaker 1: didn't look into it too much. And I'm so glad
Speaker 1: that we did because this is like my favorite day.
Speaker 1: So much to explore in Yellowstone, right gosh, yeah, so
Speaker 1: not only because of all the military history here, but
Speaker 1: Mammoth Hot Springs is where the troops resided when they
Speaker 1: were tasked with protecting the park. So this place has
Speaker 1: all sorts of old cabins and great like exhibits at
Speaker 1: the museum in busitors Center. But another fascinating aspect is
Speaker 1: this place was teeming with elk. They were everywhere, like
Speaker 1: I have never seen this machelic just like recently, wandering
Speaker 1: around the streets like it's nothing. Like they were just pedestrians,
Speaker 1: you know, like not even noticing the humans, which was
Speaker 1: a little alarming that they're so used to crowds and
Speaker 1: cars and stuff. They were right, so, I mean cool
Speaker 1: to say they're beautiful, majesting animals, but still maybe not
Speaker 1: this close. We also tried to go swimming up here
Speaker 1: at this place called Boiling River, which sounds a lot
Speaker 1: more horrific than it is. It's not, actually, it's not
Speaker 1: actually boiling. You're not gonna die swimming it, obviously. It's
Speaker 1: actually one of only a couple of places in Yellowstone
Speaker 1: that is accessible for swimming because of the temperature is comfortable.
Speaker 1: It's like a mixture of like thermal water and like
Speaker 1: the cold natural like river water, so it's ideal for swimming. Actually,
Speaker 1: but when we went up there. Up when we were
Speaker 1: up there, it was closed for the season, like it
Speaker 1: was scheduled to open soon like in any any moment,
Speaker 1: but we probably by a couple of days to um.
Speaker 1: But they're also at least gigantic colorful hot spring areas
Speaker 1: called the Upper Terrence and Lower Terrence at the easy
Speaker 1: boardwalk trails that run right through them. They Yeah, they
Speaker 1: look like huge tiered wedding cakes, is how I describe them,
Speaker 1: because they're mostly white, and they look really too perfect
Speaker 1: to be real, Like a wedding cake that's like billowing
Speaker 1: deadly steam. If you can admit envision that. It's like,
Speaker 1: I don't know, thirty a thirty layer wedding cake that
Speaker 1: could kill you. That's a good way to describe me.
Speaker 1: With hot springs, like the terraces, I could really just
Speaker 1: stand here all day and gawk at them. I think
Speaker 1: they're so pretty. Yeah, and right by there, we had
Speaker 1: breakfast at this beautiful restaurant inside of Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel. Uh.
Speaker 1: It's this historic property that kind of reminded me of
Speaker 1: like the Stanley Hotel. New were like Rocky Mountain. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it really looked like that. It have the same kind
Speaker 1: of history and or innate design and even just right
Speaker 1: down to the color palette. It was really interesting, but
Speaker 1: minus any of the like psychosis and murder. I guess
Speaker 1: our server was super friendly here. He was from either
Speaker 1: from Chicago or like in Illinois, remember that, that's right. Yeah,
Speaker 1: well I think his badge said Chicago, but he was
Speaker 1: actually from the Burbs. You know that works. Yeah, I'm
Speaker 1: just like yeah, but it was really nice to like
Speaker 1: chill out here and watch elk what we eat almlets.
Speaker 1: It was nice. It was also the perfect fuel for
Speaker 1: the Beaver Pond Sloop trail, which we did right after. Um.
Speaker 1: That was pretty moderate. It wasn't hard, it wasn't impossible.
Speaker 1: It was about five miles round trip. UM. I wasn't
Speaker 1: sure I was going to be able to do it
Speaker 1: at first because I was feeling sore. Yeah, what was
Speaker 1: going on? I forgot what the issue was. Maybe your feet,
Speaker 1: I think, Um, I can't I Lord, I can't remember,
Speaker 1: but it was I was in pain him and I
Speaker 1: was like, I don't know if I'm gonna be able
Speaker 1: to do this, like, and I just you know, I said,
Speaker 1: screw it, let's just do it. It'll be fine, Well
Speaker 1: you didn't just do that voluntarily. I fully guilted you
Speaker 1: into it. I was like, oh, that's fine, i'll meet
Speaker 1: you after. I'll just go hiking alone in dangerous grizzly
Speaker 1: country and probably get mald but i'll meet you later. Yeah.
Speaker 1: That worked like a charm. Yeah. It was a mixture
Speaker 1: of like trying to guilt you into it and also
Speaker 1: being well, your dad would never forgive me no, right,
Speaker 1: so let's just and I do not blame you do
Speaker 1: he would he would kill me if you died. Um. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I would be dead right behind you. But it all
Speaker 1: worked out. No bear sightings, and the trail is honestly
Speaker 1: pretty easy, I think, and unadvent like totally uneventful regards
Speaker 1: in regards to like dangerous wildlife. That's for sure. We
Speaker 1: didn't see any bears, any bison. I think the only
Speaker 1: animal we saw was towards the very end of the
Speaker 1: hike we saw a small heart of healk in the meadow.
Speaker 1: But at that point we were we had seen so
Speaker 1: much of them that were like totally desensitized. They were
Speaker 1: like score roles were like oh tomorrow right, Yeah, I
Speaker 1: hate how we do that. We get like desensitized from
Speaker 1: these beautiful animals and um, just you know it, but
Speaker 1: you know it happens, and you know, maybe this is
Speaker 1: a lesson that we'll learn from ourselves and just remember
Speaker 1: to take that moment to watch, appreciate, appreciate them. But
Speaker 1: the best part about it was all when we were
Speaker 1: driving back to West Yellowstone from these hikes and uh,
Speaker 1: we actually saw our very first grizzly bear in the
Speaker 1: wild finally, and like right out the neck of time too,
Speaker 1: because this is our last full day in the park
Speaker 1: and I think I was getting to the point where
Speaker 1: I was reconciling, like, Okay, I'm probably not going to
Speaker 1: see a bear this time. Fine, But miraculously we did
Speaker 1: see one, and we saw it the best way we
Speaker 1: possibly could, from the safety of our car, Like it
Speaker 1: was off on the side of the road and impossible
Speaker 1: to miss because there was just a huge swarm of
Speaker 1: cars and vehicles pulled over and people like milling about.
Speaker 1: You say, hold over, but really they were zig zagged
Speaker 1: every which way, like they basically forgot how to park
Speaker 1: and they're like bear and they got so excited. So
Speaker 1: it's like again, pull over because other people want to
Speaker 1: go through. Yeah, I mean, we're obviously all stopping for this,
Speaker 1: but still, like, what if there's an emergency people? True, yeah,
Speaker 1: but I mean I'm glad that we saw it so
Speaker 1: we were able to pull over and get off on
Speaker 1: the side of the road enough to make way and
Speaker 1: then see the bear from a safe vantage point. It
Speaker 1: was like off in the meadow, like foraging for food
Speaker 1: or something full grown, like full, very obviously bear and
Speaker 1: just super exciting. And also it is comforting when you
Speaker 1: see a griously bear to be surrounded by other people.
Speaker 1: Worst case scenario, the bear goes ballistic, it would have
Speaker 1: to mow down a lot of other people to get
Speaker 1: to us, and I think we're pretty safe. Yeah. This
Speaker 1: bear didn't even seem to notice the crowds of people
Speaker 1: that were taking photos from a distance. It was just
Speaker 1: foraging in the grass and slowly walking along and doing
Speaker 1: its day. Yeah, it was. It was so exciting and
Speaker 1: I'm really glad that we capped off our time in
Speaker 1: yellow Stone with this grizzly bear siding like the most
Speaker 1: epic animal here that everyone wants to see. Perfect and
Speaker 1: you have to remember to pack it a pickting a
Speaker 1: basket city And I know I'm thrilled to talk about
Speaker 1: this next section, which is about West Yellowstone. It's so nostalgic.
Speaker 1: I love it. It's such a cute, little, happy hamlet.
Speaker 1: It's one of the main kind of entry areas to
Speaker 1: the park. It's in actually Montana. It's in the sliver,
Speaker 1: like the portion of Yellowstone that's in Montana, like far
Speaker 1: northwestern Wyoming. And then West Yellowstone is bustling a little
Speaker 1: tourist town in the summer. I'm sure it's completely quiet
Speaker 1: in the winter, if anything's even open at all. But yeah,
Speaker 1: so this was my second time in West Yellstone, your first,
Speaker 1: and I was so stoked to be back here and
Speaker 1: come back with you and revisit all my favorite places
Speaker 1: that I went to with my family. It's so great. Yeah,
Speaker 1: what's Yellowstone is really a beautiful place. Uh, there's so
Speaker 1: many places that you can walk to. I remember that
Speaker 1: we actually we actually walked over and saw Spider Man, Yes,
Speaker 1: the new Spider Man in Imax. There's like an Imax
Speaker 1: theater randomly in West Ailstone and that was great. What
Speaker 1: a great setting to see Spider Man whatever. That far
Speaker 1: from home. Um, that's because it's just really you know,
Speaker 1: when we're going to national parks. We also have to
Speaker 1: take like breaks from it and just get other entertainment
Speaker 1: just too in the evenings. And this is like perfect,
Speaker 1: Go see a movie, go eat at a restaurant, which
Speaker 1: we had a couple of different restaurants. They have a
Speaker 1: good variety of restaurants here considering how small the town
Speaker 1: is and it's really only like a ten block radius
Speaker 1: a plate of of a town. But we definitely made
Speaker 1: the rounds. Some we liked better than others. I think
Speaker 1: we'll just say that, like long story short, you probably
Speaker 1: eat at French restaurants in West e Elistine No this one. Um.
Speaker 1: I remember asking them, uh, suggesting for wine and they're
Speaker 1: like red, I'm like, can you break it down a
Speaker 1: little more please? Oh you don't even know I got it.
Speaker 1: So if you're a friend's restaurant and you know nothing
Speaker 1: about wines, you probably shouldn't be a restaurant friends restaurant,
Speaker 1: Let's be honest, because it wasn't cheap. Like I got
Speaker 1: like a butternut squash ravioli and that was like twenty
Speaker 1: two bucks, and so like I'm spending a lot of money.
Speaker 1: I want you to know what you're serving me. But
Speaker 1: you could just see it was a disorganized mess. And
Speaker 1: I'll tell you this from Matt, being the food writer
Speaker 1: in the family and one that like goes out to
Speaker 1: restaurants all the time, I think I'm more of the
Speaker 1: food critic you actually are. I'll be honest, because I
Speaker 1: think I've softened a little over the years now, Like
Speaker 1: I unless it's that right awful, I'll like try to
Speaker 1: find the slover lying in certain places and I'll be like, well,
Speaker 1: this is good, or like this part is cute. Although
Speaker 1: I don't remember finding many redeeming factors that this place.
Speaker 1: I guess like the people were nice, they were polite. Yeah, no,
Speaker 1: that was Yeah, that was difficult to say the least.
Speaker 1: And it's weird because it's fortunly weekends, so you know
Speaker 1: that it's going to be busy, so it's like, you know,
Speaker 1: just up your game a little bit. Yeah, please please try.
Speaker 1: We also tried to go to a Japanese restaurant because
Speaker 1: per usual, we're constantly craving sushi and even in the
Speaker 1: weirdest places, but we can't go too long without having sushi.
Speaker 1: So we just looked up in desperation and found this
Speaker 1: Japanese restaurant that looked promising, but like we walked in
Speaker 1: and there was just like no one there at all.
Speaker 1: There was a few like teenager looking people, but they
Speaker 1: were standing waiting to be seated or something. So I
Speaker 1: don't don't I don't know if we were just opening
Speaker 1: or something. But I didn't want to um wait forever,
Speaker 1: because we waited ten minutes really nothing, so you know,
Speaker 1: move on. But then we walked over to bowl Winkle Saloon.
Speaker 1: Now that it was perfect. That was their attentive. If
Speaker 1: they're fantastic, they have like a saloon, a liquor store,
Speaker 1: and a sit down restaurant. Yeah, and we went back
Speaker 1: there multiple times because we felt welcome every single time. Yes,
Speaker 1: and their food but they had a diverse mix of food,
Speaker 1: some like a lot of regional specialties like Bison Burger's
Speaker 1: and elk Ravioli and stuff like that, but then plenty
Speaker 1: of surprises like welcome surprises, like they had a chicken
Speaker 1: Wellington I had. This is my first experience with Zucchii
Speaker 1: noodles a k a. Zoodles, And first of all, would
Speaker 1: never expect to find that in West Yellastone and especially
Speaker 1: not good like this was great it was delicious, Like, yeah,
Speaker 1: you sat down and got prompt service, very friendly, which honestly,
Speaker 1: the reason why I go out to a restaurant is service,
Speaker 1: Like I want, I want good service. So you are
Speaker 1: a service industry, so they know what they're doing and
Speaker 1: we really appreciate that. So shout out to Bowl Winkles
Speaker 1: And whenever you all go to West Yellastone and Elliston
Speaker 1: National Park, you have to go, huh, check in with
Speaker 1: them and grab a Huckleberry margarita or go gamble in
Speaker 1: their casino. Treat your absolutely down restaurant, grab booze to go, like,
Speaker 1: just frequent them because they're really good. And then, um,
Speaker 1: you know there was that other place. A friend of ours,
Speaker 1: Gary Miano from Montana, he actually told us to go
Speaker 1: to a Firehole Barbecue because it has the best barbecue
Speaker 1: in Yellowstone, really solid. Um. I remember we got in,
Speaker 1: we ordered our barbecue and you know it's not like
Speaker 1: um institution. It is a new place, but you can
Speaker 1: definitely see that they know what they're doing. Um, and
Speaker 1: we got our food and we sat down and we
Speaker 1: sat next to two park rangers. Yeah basically I mean
Speaker 1: in our mind their celebrities. So we were sitting next
Speaker 1: to a couple of celebrities, like it's basically like the
Speaker 1: Britt name Madonna celebrities, even though they are two guys.
Speaker 1: So I guess may be Elton John and Freddie Mercury, right,
Speaker 1: So I mean they're still celebrities, all right, So I
Speaker 1: guess back into the park rangers. They were amazing. They
Speaker 1: were really fun. I remember there was the younger one
Speaker 1: and he was talking about how his friends are coming in.
Speaker 1: He's going like Bank Cutch of camping with them, and
Speaker 1: he was just as excited as we were. And that's
Speaker 1: what I really love sees that our park rangers are
Speaker 1: just as excited to explore these beautiful national parks out
Speaker 1: there and all the time, like they're tourists. Oh my gosh. Yeah,
Speaker 1: stars are just like us, thy geek out over just
Speaker 1: like us, love it barbecue, just like us. What they're humans.
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm as surprised as you are, I know, right,
Speaker 1: I'm like, can we're gonna go party with park rangers?
Speaker 1: Party with park rangers. Let's start this maybe once a
Speaker 1: year event. I'm into it. And when we come back
Speaker 1: from the short break, we'll talk with our researcher Jescelyn
Speaker 1: Shields more about the ecology and wildlife. I get us
Speaker 1: own national park. Hi, I'm Matt and I'm Brad. This
Speaker 1: is park Landia in today's episode is on Gallowstone National
Speaker 1: Park in Wyoming. Ecology, so, biological diversity is a benchmark
Speaker 1: for measuring the health of an ecosystem, and today to
Speaker 1: talk more about that, we're bringing on our show's researcher,
Speaker 1: jes Lyn Shields. Hi, guys, I'm Jesslyn and i am
Speaker 1: a freelance science writer and I'm also your show's researcher.
Speaker 1: And we love it, Yes we do. I'm so excited
Speaker 1: to be on today's show because we're talking about one
Speaker 1: of my favorite things, which is biological diversity and how
Speaker 1: it's used to measure the health of an ecosystem. Every
Speaker 1: organism plays an important role in transferring energy, storing nutrients,
Speaker 1: and breaking down pollutants. So basically, we're not talking about
Speaker 1: the big animals like bears, bison, and wolves, who individually
Speaker 1: play a big part of the Yellowstone ecosystem right, not entirely,
Speaker 1: they are part of it, but um, we're talking about
Speaker 1: something equally important, which are the little ones and the
Speaker 1: big ones together lots of times people don't pay very
Speaker 1: much attention to mushrooms and beetles and blue green algae
Speaker 1: and microscopic worms. But if you're thinking about biodiversity, it
Speaker 1: leads us to the concept of extinction. So wolves were
Speaker 1: really important to the Yellowstone ecosystem for a few reasons.
Speaker 1: But one big thing is they work together to take
Speaker 1: down large ungulates. That's how they hunt. So a bear
Speaker 1: is huge and powerful, but it will rarely go after
Speaker 1: a moose or an elk on its own. Um. A
Speaker 1: bear will scare a pack of wolves away from a
Speaker 1: dead bison after um, the wolves have done all the
Speaker 1: hardware to kill it, but the wolves. If wolves aren't
Speaker 1: present in the ecosystem, the bears don't eat as well,
Speaker 1: and neither do the scavengers. Yeah, like ravens, coyotes, bald eagles.
Speaker 1: That's right, um, And this is just the tip of
Speaker 1: the iceberg. Wolves made space in the ecosystem that didn't
Speaker 1: exist during their seventy year absence for snakes and mice
Speaker 1: and cottonwood trees and otters and aspen groves and songbirds
Speaker 1: and all kinds of things. The presence of beavers making
Speaker 1: dams and the increased bank stabilization on rivers even ended
Speaker 1: up changing the hydrology and Yellowstone the way water moves around. Um.
Speaker 1: These changes are fascinating and it definitely makes Yellowstone a
Speaker 1: nicer place to visit. But it also shows us that
Speaker 1: biodiversity is really important to preserve what we can. Yeah,
Speaker 1: because we're losing individual species all over the world all
Speaker 1: the time. It's really tough to know how many species
Speaker 1: even exist on this planet right. The current estimates for
Speaker 1: the number of species that live on Earth is somewhere
Speaker 1: between five point three million to one trillion, which a
Speaker 1: small number. It's kind of like saying I either have
Speaker 1: thirty six dollars or one point two million dollars in
Speaker 1: my bank account. Yes, that window. So how many organisms
Speaker 1: are going extinct every year? Well, that's really tough to
Speaker 1: tell to. About fifteen years ago, a United Nations Task
Speaker 1: Force estimated that eight thousand, seven hundred species go extinct
Speaker 1: every year, which seems like a ton, But a few
Speaker 1: years later they concluded that it was more like fifty
Speaker 1: five thousand year. No way, I mean, like, are there
Speaker 1: that many here? Yeah, I mean that there might be
Speaker 1: as many as a trillion. I thought it was an
Speaker 1: expert new all things because they read a couple of
Speaker 1: articles and then don't we all yea for those of
Speaker 1: you who couldn't see, Brad just winked. Well, humans have
Speaker 1: only recorded the passing of around eight hundred species in
Speaker 1: the past four hundred years. So I mean that's like
Speaker 1: somebody going out and being like, there was a dodo
Speaker 1: bird here and now there are no more dodo birds. Um.
Speaker 1: So it's tough to know exactly where we stand with
Speaker 1: biodiversity on this planet. But the wolves and yells help
Speaker 1: us understand that biodiversity works for the ecosystem. This is
Speaker 1: sad and tricky problem to find solutions for. Yeah, well,
Speaker 1: I think this situation provides a good case study and
Speaker 1: why more biodiversity is good for an ecosystem. Without functioning ecosystems,
Speaker 1: we don't have clean air or water. Our plants don't
Speaker 1: get pollinated by bats and bees and stuff, which means
Speaker 1: we don't eat. And then there's a tons of stuff
Speaker 1: we don't know exists. Um, what if a cure for
Speaker 1: cancers out there, like on the ocean floor in the forest. Yeah, honestly,
Speaker 1: who wants to live in a planet with no wild
Speaker 1: functioning ecosystems not me, UM, So biodiversity is important and
Speaker 1: arguably the most complex feature of our planet. We need
Speaker 1: our national parks partly for preserving spaces that protect it.
Speaker 1: And just like with the wolves, which are still controversial
Speaker 1: members of the Yellowstone ecosystem, we need to be boosting
Speaker 1: biodiversity wherever we can. I know are part of understanding
Speaker 1: our ecosystem is so important. We need to realize how
Speaker 1: our decisions impact our world and planet. Yeah, bi diversity
Speaker 1: is an engine that makes an ecosystem work. So each species,
Speaker 1: whether it's a spider or a fungus or a lion,
Speaker 1: has an important role to play. Greater species diversity ensures
Speaker 1: natural sustainability for all it forms, even humans it does.
Speaker 1: And that's why like digging deep into these topics UM
Speaker 1: is going to be a whole podcast of its own,
Speaker 1: but we just want to introduce these different aspects to
Speaker 1: our listeners. And I'm really happy that we had you
Speaker 1: on today to talk a little bit about like biological
Speaker 1: diversity and how it all works together because it's important
Speaker 1: we learn more. UM. The more we learn and we
Speaker 1: get to share with everyone, it helps make a better
Speaker 1: community of assets for our national parks. Yeah, well, it's
Speaker 1: my pleasure to be here. Thanks for having me. My
Speaker 1: favorite Well, with all of that, there's so many beautiful
Speaker 1: things to explore in and around Yellowstone National Park, and
Speaker 1: I think what we need to talk about is what
Speaker 1: was our favorite part of Yellowstone on this trip? Matt,
Speaker 1: what was yours? This is probably the hardest decision for
Speaker 1: this segment I've had to date, because this park is
Speaker 1: obviously huge. We did an so it's it's hard to
Speaker 1: narrow it down. But I would say my favorite part,
Speaker 1: even though at the time I was in absolute misery,
Speaker 1: it was probably that Canyon trail that I did the
Speaker 1: base of Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, because the scenery
Speaker 1: was just unbelievable and in retrospect very worthwhile. I'm glad
Speaker 1: I put myself through that and experienced it because I'm
Speaker 1: proud of you. Thank you. Yes, I'm glad I did.
Speaker 1: It would be nice too, I should have. It would
Speaker 1: probably help if I slowed down. I'm constantly speed walking,
Speaker 1: speed hiking, and this is not the trail for that,
Speaker 1: because you will burn yourself way out before you're even
Speaker 1: like halfway done with it, and then that's a mistake.
Speaker 1: So but I loved it, and I would definitely recommend
Speaker 1: that trail for especially if with a small group who
Speaker 1: can keep you motivated and keep you safe. Yeah, my
Speaker 1: favorite part would have probably had to have been Mammoth
Speaker 1: Springs area. So many hot springs, so many geyser's so
Speaker 1: much different like um ecology and wildlife, um just seeing
Speaker 1: how they interact differently with the environment that they're in.
Speaker 1: Like you're telling us about like the elk and how
Speaker 1: they were just like in the middle of everything and
Speaker 1: they're so used to it, and you know that's good
Speaker 1: and bad. But I remember, like there's times I to
Speaker 1: go to turn on the road and there's like an
Speaker 1: elk crossing and I'm like, hey, look, this is the
Speaker 1: perfect place to put an outcrossing sign. But there's that,
Speaker 1: and then you know the Boiling River that I would
Speaker 1: really love to do. So when we go back, we'll
Speaker 1: have to make it's open. And then I know it's seasonal,
Speaker 1: so it's not like it's an exact hard date every year.
Speaker 1: It's not like October one every year, September one. It's
Speaker 1: not like pumpkin spice season. You know that it's not right,
Speaker 1: So we just had to be careful with that. Um,
Speaker 1: we should talk about what things people should bring to
Speaker 1: Yellowstone and let's assume that from experience, Like if you're
Speaker 1: going to visit Yellowstone during primetime like we did, so
Speaker 1: like July or August, you should bring well, for one thing,
Speaker 1: a lot of patients, a lot of patients, and forgiveness,
Speaker 1: willing willingness to overlook a lot of don't be like
Speaker 1: Matt where there's road rage for a man sticking his
Speaker 1: hand out the window. It's infuriating, like come on. So, um,
Speaker 1: that's something that we learned and that we would bring. Yes,
Speaker 1: and then we also I'm sure I've talked about this
Speaker 1: plenty of times already with Yellstone, but bears right of course,
Speaker 1: no matter whether alone or with a group, that's pivotal.
Speaker 1: And you can get that really anywhere in the entire area.
Speaker 1: You can get that from park stores in and around
Speaker 1: the park for any kind of convenient store in West
Speaker 1: Yellowstone or Jackson Hole is a hub to the south
Speaker 1: and it brings them light layers because even though it's
Speaker 1: um like in July, we went there really early in
Speaker 1: the morning, it was cold. I remember I was mad
Speaker 1: because I didn't bring a sweater or something. Um on
Speaker 1: our first trail the day, right, Yeah, it does get cold,
Speaker 1: it's not during the day. During the afternoon especially you
Speaker 1: can get really warm or hot. But this is definitely
Speaker 1: one of those places that at night and early morning
Speaker 1: it's brisk. At least a windbreak would actually probably best
Speaker 1: because then that way it's still light and it's breathable
Speaker 1: in a way. UM, So you know, just bring another layer, yes, absolutely,
Speaker 1: And then if you're doing something specifically water oriented, if
Speaker 1: you're lucky enough to be here when Boiling River is open,
Speaker 1: then bring a bathing So we bring a towel and
Speaker 1: have a great time and we'll live and swim vicariously
Speaker 1: through you and send us pictures tag us at park
Speaker 1: Landia pod. Yes, well, it took us too full episodes,
Speaker 1: but I think we've done justice for this incredible, most
Speaker 1: iconic national park. There's a liar from epic history to
Speaker 1: epic wildlife, and you've really got to go see it
Speaker 1: for yourself. Just remember to bring your bear spray and
Speaker 1: wake up early. You've been listening to park Landia, a
Speaker 1: show about national parks. Parklandia is the production of My
Speaker 1: Heart Radio, created by Matt Carouac, Brad Carouac, and Christopher
Speaker 1: has the otis produced and edited by Mike John's. Our
Speaker 1: executive producer is Christopher has the otis our researcher. It's
Speaker 1: Jescelyn shield. A Special things goes out to Gabrielle Collins,
Speaker 1: Christal Waters and the rest of the park Landia crew
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