Traveling Solo in Hayden Valley — Yellowstone Trip 2021

After my exciting drive around Yellowstone Lake, I headed to Hayden Valley. It’s a scenic drive in Yellowstone, where you can spot wildlife such as buffalo, grizzly bears, wolves, coyotes, and other types of wildlife. Right before I got to Hayden Valley, I saw a lone buffalo on the right side of the road in a field covered in snow in the distance.

I pulled over, exited my SUV, and stood in awe. I have never seen a buffalo this close before. I was at a safe distance, protecting the animal and myself. But I was in awe.

He or she was just standing there while the snow lightly fell on us. At that moment, I felt connected since it was just us. Alone in nature, in the snow, I tried to enjoy the moment of quiet. Then a truck went by, and it snapped me back to the reality that we were not alone after all.

I got back into my SUV and kept driving toward Mud Volcano. To my left, I saw over ten buffalo grazing in the white-covered field, just business as usual. Within one hour, I saw a wolf and over ten buffalo on this cold, snowy day in May. Just a short drive from here was Mud Volcano. 

Mud Volcano 

What is Mud Volcano, you ask? According to the Yellowstone National Park website,

"Yellowstone itself is a volcano, and one of its most spectacular eruptions occurred 640,000 years ago. During the eruption, the land collapsed and left a large depression in the earth—the Yellowstone Caldera. This caldera filled with lava flows over hundreds and thousands of years, creating the volcanic plateau that comprises much of the central part of the park.

Here at Mud Volcano, you are close to one of the resurgent domes. The hills you see east of here comprise Sour Creek Dome. Resurgent domes are areas of active ground deformation where the land moves up or down with the fluctuation of the magma chamber below. Scientists monitor these domes closely for information about ongoing volcanic activity."

When you turn into Mud Volcano, you will see the parking lot, then a boardwalk to walk around. The loop trail is about 0.8 miles long and easy to walk around to see the volcanoes. 

Buffalo!

Three to five other groups walked the boardwalk at the same I did. As I followed this one family, I saw another lone buffalo walking in the field next to the boardwalk. He started to get closer, then he stopped and watched us. It was super awesome to have a visitor!

Quick note, if you see buffalo, you must stay at least 25 yards (75 feet) away for their safety and yours!

He stood there for a few minutes, just watching us. Then he proceeded to come onto the trail that connected to the boardwalk. A little too close for comfort, he crossed the path, went up the hill, and left us alone. It was an unbelievable experience.

I left Mud Volcano to head to Artist Point. Besides the wildlife, this was my top priority in the park. I am a sucker for a fantastic view, and I have seen pictures of Artist Point on Instagram that made me want to check it out.

As I continued my journey to those points, I entered a massive land opening to my right and left. As I got closer, I saw many buffalo hanging out in the field down in the valley, and I pulled over to watch the buffalo hanging out in the snow in the distance.

That's when I witnessed my first buffalo fight!

On the left side of the road was a hill, and I saw two buffalo that were about to cross the street. As they traveled, I saw two more. I thought they both would also cross, but nope! They decided to fight for whatever reason, and it was fantastic to see the strength of these animals (from a safe distance) and how they finally gave up fighting and just crossed the street.

Artist Point

I was excited to arrive at Artist Point, though the parking lot was packed, even though it was snowing again. Artist Point is an easy "hike," primarily because it's not a hike. It's more like walking a short distance to see a famous view. The roundtrip hike is .2 miles with a 50-foot elevation change. This was my favorite part of Yellowstone besides the wildlife.

Next on my list was Lower Falls Viewpoint, a close drive nearby. The hike is .25 miles round trip and had an elevation change of 75 feet. Easier trail than Artist just because there were no steps. This was a really pretty waterfall and cool view of the canyons. It was breathtaking to see both viewpoints covered in snow!  

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions . . .

Sadly, the road that takes people up to Lamar was closed due to construction, and the only way to get there was to go a long roundabout way. I kept going back and forth on whether I should do that.

I wanted to see more wildlife (wolves and bears) but didn't feel like taking the extra-long way. So I headed to Norris to check out the geysers and basins and to finally make my way down to Grand Prismatic Spring and maybe Old Faithful.

At this point, the weather changed from snow and clouds to some rain. I was getting a little of it over all the basins and geysers, so I decided to take a more scenic route to Grand Prismatic Springs via Firehole Road. I highly recommend this road to anyone that wants to see more waterfalls!

Grand Prismatic Springs

Finally, I made it to Grand Prismatic Springs! The parking was beyond ridiculous; I had to park far away from the road since there was no parking nearby! As I headed to the boardwalk, the sun started to come out.

The boardwalk is 0.8 miles long, and you will see different types of hot springs before you get to the main attraction. According to Yellowstone National Park,

"Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone's largest hot spring, is 200-330 feet in diameter and more than 121 feet deep."

While I was on the boardwalk, the weather turned from the sun trying to peak through the clouds to full rain. Stupid me! I left my rain jacket in my car and didn't think I needed it since it was just snowing!

By the time I got to Grand Prismatic Springs, I was soaked, and a lot of steam was coming off of it that couldn't be easily seen. I waited to capture the spring with my camera, but I couldn't get a good shot.

I became more impatient as I was drenched from the rain shower, so I gave up after 20 minutes. I returned to my car, defeated and looking like a drowned rat.

Old Faithful

I had mixed feelings about seeing Old Faithful. Yes, it is probably the most popular thing to see in Yellowstone, and it's amazing how the earth can erupt every 90 minutes or so. But I wasn't really interested in seeing it.

Maybe it's because I knew it would be packed with tourists, but it’s not like other parts of the park weren't packed too. Perhaps I was just tired and . . . done. I decided to go to the nearby gift shop, get some food, shop, and change out of my wet clothes. The perk of camping is having everything in your car with you!

When I arrived at the main gift shop, there was a madhouse of people inside because it was pouring rain! I was cold, wet, tired, and annoyed, but I checked to see how long it was until Old Faithful erupted, and it would happen again in about an hour. Which is how long it took me to shop for everyone since the lines were crazy.

I arrived at Old Faithful and waited for what seemed like forever until it finally erupted. It started to rain again, but not as bad, and then the weather became sunny.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, there she went! It was cool to see, but it's not my favorite thing in Yellowstone.

The Journey Back

I finally headed back to the Grand Tetons, and naturally, it started to snow again. Driving, I thought, Man, I should have made the long trip up to Lamar Valley! I really wanted to see bears and other wildlife.

I kept thinking this throughout the drive until finally getting back to Grand Teton National Park, and that's when I got a chance to see Bear 399. Who’s that, you ask? Be sure to read my post about Yellowstone's most famous bear.