Thoughts of a Sojourner

Today began the first of two days exploring Yellowstone National Park. First, huge thanks to Shane Kirby for being my tour guide. Shane has been a best friend of mine for many years and lives out here in Big Sky Country. Our day began in Jackson, WY. Jackson is a nice small town with a lot of history. We only spent about an hour there before striking out to Teton National Park and Yellowstone. The Teton Mountains stretch, it seems, to the skies. Even though their grand peaks were shrouded in the smoke from forest fires in neighboring Idaho, they still commanded my attention in a way that no other mountains ever have before. The vast flatlands of Teton stretched for miles it seemed. After driving through Teton, we moved on to Yellowstone. I have always dreamed of exploring Yellowstone and it did not disappoint. We toured the west side of the park today. We visited many waterfalls that were awe-inspiring. Hearing the water rage over the rocks was a display of power unequaled by anything that I have ever witnessed. As the water crashed over the edge and down into the valleys below the beauty of the water slowing down and meandering down a canyon were unlike any thing I have ever witnessed. Our next stop, would be Old Faithful, but it had already put on it’s show until the next one 1.5 hours later so we enjoy touring the lodge and grabbing some huckleberry ice cream (by the way, if you’ve never tried anything huckleberry, I highly recommended it. We visited some thermals and the only way to describe them is wow! The beauty of the water that is pouring from the lower parts of the earth brings to mind the mystery of this Creation that God has blessed us with to enjoy. We were able to enjoy some of the local wildlife. The bison are massive and just exude power as they slowly made their way up the middle of the road inches from our car. The Pronghorn Antelope are almost comical to watch as that dart back and forth in the grand fields along the roads. As we mad our way to Gardiner, MT, we were met at the town entrance by the Roosevelt Tower which is a magnificent spectacle of architecture. The elk that call Gardiner home are majestic creatures and can be seen in the fields along the roads and also simply walking the streets of Gardiner. Tonight we camp along the Yellowstone River in Corwin Springs, MT under the open skies of the Big Sky Country. Day two I’m sure will be no less amazing.