Page 176 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL FALL 2024 SPAIN

began exploring the park in the 1700s. The
many groups hunting and living within the
boundaries of the national park were
driven out after the park was created, at
times by the US Army. Buffalo Bill was a
scout for the army during the 1880s Indian
Wars, as they were called. People called
the park a virgin wilderness, a completely
inaccurate label. These days, 27 tribes are
associated with the park in some way.
It’s impossible to cover the 2.2-million
acre park in a day, and we missed Old
Faithful and other dramatic geysers. But I
didn’t feel shortchanged at all. In just a few
hours we saw herds of bison in the Lamar
Valley, called the Serengeti of Yellowstone,
and 11 bears including grizzlies and black
bears with their cubs. We were far from
alone as we cruised along the twisting,
climbing road often clogged with cars and
RVs. Animal sightings caused everyone to
pull over to the side for a better look. The
crush of all sizes of vehicles caused our
driver to occasional exclaim “Cheese and
crackers!” her sanitized cuss for rude, self-
absorbed drivers.
We saw far too many “tourons,” those
ignorant humans who somehow feel they
have every right to harass wild animals. It
was truly astonishing to see people stand-
ing just a few feet from a five-foot behe-
moth weighing well over 1,000 pounds, or
crossing a broad field to get close to a
large herd. Did they really think they could
outrun a bison or bear? A woman standing
a few feet from a bison was gored to death
the day before our visit (a fact no-one
shared during our tour). Over-eager sight-
seers were lucky to escape harm during a
recent sudden hyper thermal explosion at
Biscuit Basin. Tourists regularly wander too
close to hot springs and other meltingly
hot thermal spots. All sorts of unbelievable
behavior pops up daily on the Tourons of
Yellowstone Facebook page. The bison, by
the way, was declared our Official National

176 WINE DINE & TRAVEL MAGAZINE FALL 2024