Jersey City to Seattle Roadtrip

Day 6 – Friday, October 6

The next morning upon exiting from the hotel we saw more elk – groups of females and solitary males scattered all around the big clearing, but this time surrounded by glorious beauty of nature – rolling hills, rich old woods and vast grasslands all at the height of autumn in full splendor of a gorgeous summer day! A person standing there, surrounded by such dazzling natural beauty, feels so small and insignificant yet at the same time also a part of something immense, sacred and cosmic. At times you almost feel your heart ache as you are surprised and overwhelmed by strong emotions and as you let out a sigh and take a deep breath your lungs fill with crisp mountain air permeated with a fresh scent of wet grass, evergreens and mountain streams. Such experiences always fill me with determination that we must safeguard natural wonders for future generations, because I simply cannot imagine that I should have to explain to my children why they cannot see them in person but only in photographs.

Even though we originally planned to spend only the first half of the day visiting Yellowstone, we quickly decided to extend the visit for as long as possible. We were fortunate to have a chance to see numerous herds of elk, bison, bighorn sheep, and even one solitary wolf. While driving through the park we also crossed the Continental Divide of North America, a topographic ridgeline that bisects the continent between Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean water drainages. We also visited the Old Faithful, possibly the most famous geyser in the world, whose eruption can shoot 3,700–8,400 gallons (14,000–32,000 l) of boiling water to a height of 106–184 feet (30–55 m) lasting from 1.5–5 minutes. Intervals between eruptions range from 65–92 minutes, and it just so happened that we had just missed an eruption so we decided to have a nice relaxed lunch at the Old Faithful Inn in the meantime.

The same afternoon on the way back to Rt.90 we crossed from Wyoming to Montana and drove through a little town called Belgrade, MN. :-) We decided to spend the night in Missoula, MN and continue the more challenging part drive through the more mountainous part of Montana the following day.