Yellowstone

I have found paradise. Yellowstone National Park has completely won my heart as my favorite place on earth. I am still in awe at the physical beauty of the land and the number and variety of incredible animal species that call the park home. I can not wait to return. With my family we spent 10 days immersed in the beauty of the area, each day I added more species seen, including wolves and grizzly bears, both were at the top of my life list as must see before I die. We rented a nice little house that overlooked the Yellowstone River on the North end of the park in Gardiner. Across the River was parkland, so we had the added bonus of not only the rushing river but mountains and grasslands that gave us more nature to view. We spent hours watching the Mountain Goats frolic on the steep cliffs and Pronghorn antelopes grazing in the fields. One day we hiked among thousands of buffaloes for eight blissful miles, incredible to be surrounded by such immense animals, a privilege to see them so up close and personal in their natural habitat. Rafting for an entire day in the gorgeous Galitan River valley in Big Sky Montana was nothing short of awe inspiring and more fun then any amusement park I've ever been to. Every drive was another chance to see a new species of bird or animal. I couldn't wait to get into the park each day....my sense of wonder and awe for the natural world was woken up like never before. I think every American should try to see our parks, and learn what flora and fauna once existed across our entire nation and now is almost non existent anywhere except in the protected parks. I would have like to have been a Native American before we came to this country and destroyed it...just to see what true beauty was. Thankfully we have little slices of it still left within places like Yellowstone National Park.