Into the wild and mysterious
To be able to make the most of a four-day trip with people I have hardly met before, to a place around 1000 miles away from my city was the highlight of the summer break for me. I was prone to rethinking my decision a few times, because of the distance and because none of my friends were accompanying me. The unspoiled splendor and allure of our destination, Yellowstone national park tugged at my intrepid spirit and won me over. I should unashamedly confess that I was not aware of the existence of states by the names of Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana in the USA before this trip.
I felt I was leaving from home, as I ate dinner cooked by one of my roommates and as they accompanied me outside to bid adieu. As is customary, our trip commenced after posing for a group photo, which I still have not had a chance to lay eyes on. We travelled through the states of Nevada, Arizona, Idaho, Utah and Wyoming apart from our home state of California. A few hours after we started, I woke up from a slumber only to be told that I missed a view of the sin city, Las Vegas. The journey lasted for more than twenty hours including our numerous breaks, which were opportunities for me to get to know my co-travellers a lot better and make new friends. There were five of us in a car and we were slowly getting used to each other’s idiosyncrasies. I was all the more happy having found someone with similar taste in music, listening to Tamil melodies and English songs alike.
I could not help but notice how meagre the vegetarian options on the menu were, at most of the eateries outside California. We were being ‘LA snobs’ as my friend playfully termed, too picky about the nutrition facts of the food we ate, coming from one of the most health, fitness and beauty conscious places in the USA.
The landscape looked greener as we neared the entrance to Yellowstone late in the afternoon on the next day. Once we entered the national park premises, we found our way to the campsite using a map on paper, as our cell phones gave way in the no-signal area. The varying terrain and the feral environs never stopped surprising us for the next two days. If there was lush greenery as far as we could see, the next moment it changed to dry and bleak land with fallen trees. It is unbelievable that the whole park is located on a volcanic hot spot. We drove along the Yellowstone River and lake, which looked beautiful at all times of the day. We kept our eyes wide open hoping to spot some wildlife. After setting up the tents, it was time for another disappointing vegetarian dinner, which consisted of rice and steamed vegetables, which gave me the feeling of eating a sick person’s food.
http://www.nps.gov/yell/index.htm
We attended a presentation by a ranger, about wolves. Unfortunately, all I remember about that talk was that he was funny, it was getting colder and the moon looked distractingly charming! The ranger also mentioned that we should look for expensive cameras if we are looking for wildlife. We later got a better view of the moon atop the lake as we spent time by the lakeside late at night. We looked at Saturn through a telescope too, thanks to some of our friends’ efforts. We went back to the tents and I slid into my brand new sleeping bag, fell asleep in no time, warding off all the worries of staying in a tent for the first time.
We started early the next day, as there was a lot of sightseeing to do. We stopped at beautiful view-points on the way, sometimes just to catch a glimpse and sometimes to click photographs. Somewhere on the way, one of us was lucky enough to get signal on the phone. We stopped to update our parents about our whereabouts. We visited the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and the upper and the lower falls, hiking to see the picturesque falls with the rainbow next to it. Ours was a huge group which split into smaller groups and went their separate ways right from the start. When we met everybody for lunch, I was dejected that we had not seen any wildlife apart from the bison yet and the others had managed to spot some. There was ‘bison burger’ on the menu, which appeared brutish.
http://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/canyonplan.htm
The big herd of elks which seemed quite tame, very close to the restaurant, raised my spirits. After spending time at the mammoth hot springs terraces, some of us did some shopping and we were on our way back. As luck would have it, we could watch a grizzly bear munching on some flowers at a distance. Another viewpoint later, we were back at the campsite for the barbecue night. The preparation was on in full swing with each person doing their bit. The only upset during our trip was that we disturbed our neighbours and were shouted at by one of them for being too noisy after 10 PM. I decided to rest early that night too, instead of joining the others who had other plans.
On the second day, the group tried to stick together. We started late in the morning, again after some shopping where I remembered to buy postcards for my roommates, which had become a tradition in our apartment. I was rather downcast looking at all the others in their new Yellowstone print tees. Our first stop for the day was a geyser called ‘Old faithful’, the most popular attraction in the national park. As the name indicates, it is most predictable. We were a tad early for the next eruption and fortunately could listen to a ranger explaining the history of the geyser. We listened to him with rapt attention, enjoying his self-deprecating and amusing flair. We watched in awe as the eruption lasted for a few minutes. All the visitors shouted in chorus as the water shot up. It was a testimony to how we can never stop marveling at nature. Post lunch, we explored many more geysers, some of which had all the colours that we can possibly recognize. We spent some time at a swimming point too. Even though diving was forbidden, there were some daring lads proving their mettle, plunging into the water from spots as high as possible. We arrived at a geyser just as it ejected water, managing to take a ‘selfie’ in front of it.
http://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/exploreoldfaithful.htm
We fiddled with the idea of going back that very night, as opposed to the actual plan of staying back and leaving early in the morning on the next day. Everybody reached the campsite and we packed up, leaving no trace that we had been there. We were on our way back soon after midnight. We moved slowly, like a convoy. A watchful coyote crossed our path on the way. As we sped defying the speed limits on the park roads, lo and behold, there was a park ranger behind us and we had to pull up. The ranger was polite throughout and he let us go after issuing a speeding ticket of $100.
There was a strange feeling of happiness at the thought of going back home. We veered off track into a small town for breakfast. It was a Sunday morning and everybody there was dressed in the best way possible. We looked and felt absolutely out of place. Adding to the glares and stares was a comment by a lady that people do not know how to present themselves these days. One of our friends had a shirt on which said ‘Don’t walk on the grass, smoke it!’ and he literally ran away from the people in that town.
The change in the weather as we travelled was quite perplexing. It rained cats and dogs for some time, and then there was the unbearable heat and it got cooler as we headed closer home. There was traffic jam too, which delayed our arrival by a couple of hours. Four out of five people in our car were engrossed in a dialogue about religion, just before we reached home. It was refreshing altogether, as we argued for and against how religion is the cause of all evil.
I was soon in the warmth and comfort of home, narrating some incidents to my roommates. It was an ideal break, away from technology, in the wild. I am delighted to have met so many people on this trip, some of whom made everybody laugh with their tomfoolery, some of whom made sure nobody was left out and others who were just very helpful in untold ways.
