To me this image says it all… a girl and her dog on the open road, smiling from one National Park to another. This is Hazel, and she and I spent 2 weeks out and 2 weeks back from Michigan to Montana, with a month’s stay in Big Sky Country in between. Having visited Yellowstone once before on my own and exhaustively scrolled for a sight of a wolf during a 16-hour day in the park and coming up with nothing, what happened on this trip was a life event. Hazel and I were cutting across the park on our way to the Lamar Valley one last time on our way back home from west to east. We had a decision to make and rather than take the more scenic route (not that everything isn’t scenic in Yellowstone :) we short-cutted through a center road only to find the telling stopped truck to the side of the road. As I slowed and peeked, I couldn’t believe my eyes… a beautiful light gray (almost white) WOLF slinking through the trees with something in its mouth! I stopped to speak with the people in the truck, saw photos that they’d gotten, and a friendship resulted. Aside from the million other reasons I love the National Parks, that day I not only saw an example of how Americans come together from all across the country in shared love of nature and the wild, but I also made a new friend and had a dream come true. It doesn’t take long for any of those things to happen in Yellowstone.
Sincerely,
Yellowstone National Park
America's first national park is named after the river that runs through it. Within the park's massive boundaries, visitors can find mountains, rivers, lakes, waterfalls and some of the most concentrated geothermal activity in the world. The park has 60% of the world’s geysers, as well as hot springs and mud pots. It is also home to diverse wildlife with the largest concentration of mammals in the Lower 48 states, including grizzly bears, wolves, bison and elk.
State(s): Idaho Montana, Wyoming,
Established: 1872
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