I had been to Yellowstone National Park once before when I was ten, but I didn't remember anything like this. My partner Christine had told me it was a wondrous place, but I was totally unprepared for Parkadise and what it did to me.
    We paid our fee at the west entrance, got our map and escaped off into the wilds.
   We drove for maybe two minutes before we were forced to stop. There was a bison herd occupying the road. Just standing there looking at us like we were inconveniencing them with a look of dominance in their eyes. The message was clear. This is our park not yours. We will allow you to visit but it's on our terms.
   So after the bison laid down the rules and graciously allowed us to pass, we drove respectfully by about 10 feet away from a calf that couldn't have been more than one week old. I was ecstatic. I knew there were bison here but I didn't think it would be like this!
   We drove along the Madison river and saw a large herd of elk, more bison, sandhill cranes, and some Canadian geese. The elk were everywhere that chilly May afternoon and I began to understand why people became so enchanted with this place. We drove a bit further to Norris and saw some thermal features alongside the road. Hot boiling steam pouring out of the ground and smelling like sulfur! Very strange. From the cracked pavement and warning signs it was obvious that nature was doing what it wanted regardless of whether there was a road here or not.
   A few minutes later we came upon a healthy-looking coyote across the river stealing eggs from a goose nest. He had a lot of yellow in his luxurious coat and seemed totally unconcerned with our presence. We observed him for quite a while still not believing the gifts the park was bestowing us on this first amazing day.
   I was thinking it can't get better than this when we suddenly noticed three large animals padding down the road straight towards us. It was a beautiful female grizzly with her pair of hulking two year old cubs in tow leading a parade of about 20 cars! I just stopped and stared through the windshield, my mind churning, trying to make sense of what I saw. They came within 20 feet of our vehicle and then cut into the woods sealing forever the fate of my heart as well as all my future vacation destinations.
   Yellowstone has what I want, Yellowstone has what I need. Uncontrollable unpredictable wildness where my role is reduced to just being an infinitesimally small part of the whole. So much beauty it will break your heart and leave your life forever lacking until your return. You can watch geysers go off, see huge waterfalls, smell the mudpots, watch bison duel, see sandhill cranes do a mating dance, catch cutthroat trout, hike for a day never seeing another person, see snowcapped mountains, watch a grizzly tear at a carcass, watch an osprey dive for fish, listen to coyotes howl, watch a wolf pack greet each other, the joys seem endless and I can never imagine tiring of the experience.
    There are so many wonderful places in the park, so many things to enjoy, each trip is special and fills in the picture a little more. After you have seen a grizzly in one spot, that place will never look the same again. I hope to share the Park with everyone I can. The more people who come and see what wildness is truly like, the better off all the wild places that remain will be.

Tim Springer - 2004