Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Old Faithful Visitor Center
Offline map
( 307-545-2750; 8am-8pm mid-Apr-early Nov & mid-Dec-mid-Mar)
The new, im-
proved and environmentally friendly center offers a bookstore and information booth and
shows films 30 minutes before and 15 minutes after an eruption of Old Faithful. Kids will
enjoy the Young Scientist displays, which include a working laboratory geyser and experi-
ments involving elk jaw bones. The center closes at 5pm or 6pm outside of summer.
VISITOR CENTER
Old Faithful Inn
Offline map
Designed by Seattle architect Robert C Reamer and built in 1904, this is the only building
in the park that looks like it actually belongs here. The log rafters of its seven-story lobby
rise nearly 80ft, and the chimney of the central fireplace (actually eight fireplaces com-
bined) contains more than 500 tons of rhyolite rock. It's definitely a worthwhile visit,
even for nonguests.
HISTORIC LODGE
WATCHING WOLVES
CAROLYN MCCARTHY
You sit. You watch. You wait. Unlike Old Faithful, wolves don't operate on schedule. The best thing is to track re-
ported sightings. Then you race to the nearest lookout. And watch. And wait.
We rolled out of bed at 4am, without a peep from the bluebirds, who were wisely still snoozing. What followed
bordered on asinine: driving around mountain-pass pullouts in the dusky light, setting up spotting scopes in
blustery winds, only to dismantle them minutes later. False alarm. We nestled into a steep overlook on Chittenden
Rd, where others had already set up their post in the chill of daybreak: couples snuggled with spotting scopes
while roaming children still wore pajamas. We asked the group if they had seen anything. They shrugged. 'Just
grizzlies.'
Watching wolves is all about expectation. Call it the excitement of waiting for something so wild that only a
few ever witness it. A Native American story says the white man rose from the hair of a dead wolf. Mongols
revered them and shamanic Turks believed them to be their ancestors, while Europeans crafted suspenseful
fairytales and stories of lycanthropy based on their tufted shadows and fierce incisors.
Wolves were hunted to the brink of extinction in the United States. In 1995, under much controversy, they were
reintroduced into Yellowstone. At last count there were around 100 wolves, including 38 pups, down from a peak
of 175 in 2003.
On Chittenden Rd, someone spotted an elk cow wandering dazed on the edge of the forest deep below us. The
elk circled around, as if she was looking for something. It turned out to be her calf.
The calf was limp in the grip of the wolf, but the stunned mother elk stood her ground. What followed was
dazzling. She kept charging, but the wolf kept returning to the carcass. It was not unlike a dance. But this wasn't
