JAMES B. YOUNG SPECIAL TO THE STAR-BULLETIN A bull elk trumpets for his mates.

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Back to the wild

Yellowstone National Park is
a wonderland of colorful hot
springs, geysers and wildlife

Yellowstone National Park is the first and, many say, the best of our national parks. Created in 1872, it is actually the caldera of a sleeping super-volcano, one large enough to create worldwide, catastrophic change when it erupts.

Today, 640,000 years after its last eruption, it is a wonderland of colorful hot springs, geysers and wildlife. When I decided to see it again, I hadn't been there in 50 years and was excited to see how it might have changed.

Picking a good time to visit was a problem. I didn't want to fight the summer crowds or brave extreme winter cold. Then I read that September, after the Labor Day holiday, was an ideal time. The crowds would be gone and weather would be cooler. Even so, lodging was in short supply when I started making reservations last June.

To take advantage of lower costs, my plan was to headquarter most of my visit in the small town of West Yellowstone. From there I could drive farther and farther into the park each day. This worked well. Most of the sites of interest to me were within easy driving distance, but the first 15 miles or so just inside the park were so spectacular it was hard to go beyond them.

Large fields border the route into the park from West Yellowstone. The beautiful Madison River winds through them, and in September these fields are home to elk mating rituals. Herds of bison also move along the roadway to winter pasture. Fly fishermen and wildlife photographers are everywhere, and long red and amber grasses shine in the early morning and late afternoon sun.

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JAMES B. YOUNG SPECIAL TO THE STAR-BULLETIN Traffic at bison rush hour.

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THE PRIMARY PURPOSE of my trip was photography, and I was equally interested in wildlife and landscapes. But I soon learned that many visitors are interested only in the wildlife. When I stopped at the side of the road to take pictures, tourists would stop and excitedly ask what I was photographing. If I said "beautiful scenery," they would look disappointed and just drive off.

There is no question that the park belongs to the wildlife. It's not wise to argue with a 1-ton bison, even if he is holding up traffic. Driving just three feet away from one and looking into its eyes is an unsettling experience. While stuck in a bison "traffic jam," I saw one attack a car that had gotten too close to the creature. Tourists trying to get close-up photos often get gored.

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JAMES B. YOUNG SPECIAL TO THE STAR-BULLETIN Elk and fly fishermen share the banks of the Madison River.

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JAMES B. YOUNG SPECIAL TO THE STAR-BULLETIN Bacteria mattes color hot springs like rainbows.

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JAMES B. YOUNG SPECIAL TO THE STAR-BULLETIN James Young experienced the beauty of several seasons as an early snow triggered spectacular fall colors and created patterns on pine tree trunks burned in the fire of 1988.