"Whatever you can imagine, somebody has done it." That's what a park ranger at Yellowstone told me. This of course includes the Darwin Award finalists who approach bison, elk, and other wild animals, including a recent goring incident. Also, somewhat surprisingly, a couple having sex behind a tree very close to Old Faithful. Maybe they were excited? I mean, I guess if I had to choose it would be there instead of joining the Mile High Club in an airplane lavatory, which is the last place I'd ever want to do it.
We arrived at Yellowstone in early June with temperatures in the 50s and 60s, but still I ended up wearing short sleeves in the afternoon. Imagine being there in July with temperatures in the 90s and bumper-to-bumper traffic. Anyway, we did encounter a LOT of cars and people, and sometimes came to a dead stop on the road as someone would stop and point to a bird, a bison, a tree, or in one case some guy fishing in a stream. Signs warning people to NOT stop but pull over if they see something interesting, or to not come within 100 yard give or take of a wild animal? Quite often completely ignored.
When I asked the park ranger about the crowds and traffic, she laughed and said, "This is a piece of cake. Just wait about one more week." I wondered, how is it possible for there to be more people and traffic? Glad I won't find out. "We saw a 25 percent increase during Memorial Day, so we're a little nervous about what that means this summer," she said.
In addition to nature and all of that, we saw someone drinking water from an Old Faithful runoff, and a kid shoved aside by two intrepid adults trying to get a closer look at the geyser. But yes, folks have "fallen" off the boardwalks and gotten seriously injured, or decided to get a closer look at a hot spring and, well, you figure it out. My idea is to just have one sign: "Don't be an idiot."
So we were blessed with great weather and over two full days saw everything we wanted to. The highlights included hiking the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and the painted pots (whatever) thermal pools, but there was so much steam coming out of them it was hard to really see the colors like you do online. I wanted to get closer. Mary: "What is wrong with you?"
We also did everything we hoped to do at the Grand Tetons, and the best part for us was taking a ferry across Jenny Lake and hiking up to Inspiration Point. Now for the bad part. I "misread" a map regarding the distance around another lake. I thought it said 2 miles, or something. It ended up being over 4 miles, and no it wasn't flat. We had already been averaging 25 thousand steps per day in hikes in Boise and then Craters of the Moon, and this was our last day. Mary was not happy. I told her, "Hey, at some point we will just turn around and go back the same way." Fortunately, around the moment of decision, we once again saw the lake and were heading downhill. All was well. Yes, we were thinking about bears as there was nobody else around. I reminded Mary that I was faster than her, so figure it out.
I will just add that Craters of the Moon is not a two-star, see it if you have time place. The lava flows were other-worldly, and we hiked up a cinder cone, a cave, and another long hike .... somewhere. We ran into a few hikers that asked us with worrying faces, "How much farther is it." I really wanted to lie and say something like "10 more miles, mostly uphill."
There are many people on this board who know far more about Yellowstone and The Grand Tetons than me, so take all of this with a grain of salt. Finally, the kind park ranger. "We've had people approach bears and other animals with food, even though there are a bunch of signs warning them not to do it. We have videos of people in a dead sprint being chased by a large animal." I'd suggest letting nature run its course. And a big "thank you" to Pam for advising us before the trip. That was quite helpful.