The purpose of this weekly feature is to share some of the places we’ve been. They are places that stay with us for one reason or another. This week we are focusing on Yellowstone Lake.
Almost everyone thinks of Old Faithful when they think of Yellowstone National Park. I’m not one of them. Old Faithful has become a side-show attraction with thousands of people gathered around for the regular eruption. Thousands of people seeing the eruption through their camera lens is not my idea of spending time with the wonders of nature at Yellowstone.
My favorite place at Yellowstone is the lake. Most of this is nostalgia for the old days. At Yellowstone Lake there used to be a fantastic campground called Fishing Bridge. Nearby people could actually fish at Fishing Bridge. My favorite memory here involves my brother Brian and I, some Cracker Jacks stuffed down in our sleeping bags and a bear.
We had our sleeping bags outside the tent and had planned to eat the Cracker Jacks after everyone else went to bed. We forgot, and at some point a bear came wandering through our campsite. We thought he wanted the Cracker Jack so we threw them at him. This scared him and he ran off. It was very exciting to us and we had a bear paw on one of our sleeping bags as a souvenir. We were lucky, but then back in the 1950′s the bears were more afraid of people than they are today.
Now the campground is gone and fishing is not permitted on the Fishing Bridge. But the lake is still there and still as beautiful as ever. Fishing for cutthroat trout is very good here. They allow some restricted boating as well. There are plenty of places to simply sit by the lake and read or have a picnic lunch. It’s still a favorite place of mine.
It’s that time of year when many people start thinking about lakes. What’s your favorite lake – today or in the past?
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The first time I was in the park was in the mid-1960s. Two campers had been killed by bears that summer! I’ve been to park several times since, and my younger brother even worked there in the late 1970s. The park is huge, and I agree — go beyond the headquarters and Old Faithful. During that first trip, my family rode horses far into the park and also did extensive hiking up to the glacial fields (probably all melted now).
We got to see a moose up at Yellowstone too. It looked so “pettable” but of course that’s what I thought about the “Teddy Bear Cactus” when we first moved to Tucson (and found out quickly pettable was not the right word!)
Favorite lakes: Those turquoise lakes up at Banff and Lake Louise are amazing!
I love the Cracker Jack story! Your picture is gorgeous.
What a beautiful lake! Being a native Ohioan we are preety much landlocked here and our vacations growing up, more often than not, involved driving to the ocean or Potomac. Now that we are in the Cleveland area we have a nice big great lake, but it is woefully underutilized. Now I want to go to Yellowstone Lake! And take me some Cracker Jack
I remember going to Yellowstone when we were kids. I prefered sitting watching the different animals in the fields then watching old faithful…But that was pretty cool too.
I saw a friend at a lunch party today. She told me about her upcoming trip to Yellowstone and I told her about your post. What perfect timing
I loved Yellowstone when I visited a few years ago, and yes, there is so much more to it than just Old Faithful.
Your post brings a lot of nostagic memories of the lovely time I had there