Celebrating 150 years as a national treasure

“The earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof.” — Psalm 24:1

I saw the mighty creature, with its thick coat of long shaggy hair draped over his massive, rounded shoulder and head like a shawl. Above his eyes grew 15-inch curled horns, and steam rose from his nostrils. The bison was grazing near the road, and behind him, Lamar Valley was dotted with hundreds of his relatives.

I stepped up for a closer look and kicked a rock. The beast raised his head. His shoulders shifted and those hairy front legs moved much faster than I expected. The bison lowered his head with his horns pointing forward. I turned to run and heard thunder behind me. I raced like the wind toward the car. I heard a loud snort behind me and felt warm breath on my legs. And then … I woke up.

I was safe with my family in a small cabin at Mammoth Hot Springs, just outside Fort Yellowstone.

It had been a full week with my mom dragging us and some friends out West for our annual adventure — this year to Yellowstone National Park. Driving north from Salt Lake City in late May 2017, we crossed into the northwest corner of Wyoming. The first phenomenon we saw in the park was … snow and ice. Lake Lewis was frozen over and rock solid to walk on near the shore. The first lodging area, Grant Village, covered in piles of snow, was named after President Grant, who signed the law creating Yellowstone as our nation’s first national park 150 years ago in 1872.

We ate bison burgers (think mushy filet mignon that’s hard to chew) at the nearby restaurant that overlooked Lake Yellowstone, almost 8,000 feet above sea level. We learned from our waiter that Lake Yellowstone sits over several large volcano vents that affect the weather at different spots. In fact, most of Yellowstone sits over a large supervolcano and these “geothermal features” are the reason for all the hot springs, spewing geysers and mud pots.

On Day 2 we visited the “Grand Canyon” of Yellowstone, a waterfall pouring into a rocky, wooded canyon. We hiked down to the bottom of the waterfall — and back up — in the snow. Mom dragged us to see “Old Faithful,” a geyser that spews boiling hot water some 150 feet into the air about every 90 minutes. Hundreds of tourists sat on benches to watch this predictable steam show. We noticed that many were Asians travelling in tour buses.

We then walked the boardwalk sidewalks to explore the springs, including “Grand Prismatic Spring,” with its deep blue hot water with rainbow edge. It was a little hard to see for the hundreds of Asians with selfie-sticks everywhere. We then walked past paint pots that spit colored mud everywhere, and “fumaroles” that blew hot steam. By the end of the day, my buddy Mike and I were so-o-o-o done with paint pots.

Day 3 was more fun with horseback riding in the Montana mountains and a 6-shooter contest. Of course, I was the most deadly shooter. We then drove the northern loop up to Mammoth Hot Springs. Ugh — more mud springs. We walked around Fort Yellowstone, built by the U.S. Army when they ran the park 100 years ago, and now the set for the TV show. And we found dozens of elk, roaming freely everywhere around the town and in our backyard.

On Day 4 a longtime employee told my dad that if we had not seen Lamar Valley, we had not seen Yellowstone. Scattered across the valley were thousands of bison lounging around as far as the eye could see. Further up the road were probably 40 cars with cameras out like paparazzi, filming a baby black bear romping through the meadow — followed by its mother. Further up the road we saw pronghorn sheep.

That evening we drove through the famous rock Roosevelt Arch at the north entrance and ate dinner at the Cowboy’s Lodge in Gardiner, Mont. My dad was thrilled to find sweet tea on the menu. We then met the restaurant owners, the Knights forestry family from … Whigham, Georgia! No wonder the menu was delicious.

At least 4 million visitors, like we Drakes, visit Yellowstone National Park each year and explore this area of 2.2 million miles. A national treasure, this year we celebrate its 150th birthday. Much of the park is the way it was when God created it and remains beautiful with its bison, elk, bears, sheep, lakes, forests, waterfalls, geysers, hot springs and even the paint pots.