Photo of Mammoth Hot Springs at Yellowstone National Park

What can you say, about such an exceedingly photographed place like Yellowstone that hasn’t already been said?  Where can you take pictures, in this most photographed of places, and somehow be unique? What are the new superlatives?  I had heard so much about Yellowstone that there was no way it was going to meet my expectations. Everyone I met who had seen the place gushed about it like some hackneyed travel brochure. I was already jaded and I hadn’t even been there yet.

Artist Paint Pots at Yellowstone National Park

Before I arrived I had prepared my mind not to give into that enchanted place. I am after all unique. I was going to be immune and examine this vixen of a place with skeptical, detached eyes.  I wasn’t going to drink the Kool-Aid. I was going to be aloof and make Yellowstone chase me for my limited capacity of affection. I always try and see the world with an open mind but, this is the center of domestic flyover country and, I wasn’t going to let this empty spot on a map charm me.

Norris Geyser Basin at Yellowstone

See also:

• India and The Highway to the Himalayas
• Is Luxembourg Worth Visiting?
• What is it Like to Sleep in a Capsule Hotel?

I was humbled. From the time we enter the park near Gardiner, Montana I was hooked. My skepticism quickly melted away and I was transformed into what I guess at heart I truly am; another swivel headed, camera swinging member of the hoi polloi with mouth agape at the wonder. I have nothing original to say about the place but lesson learned; sometimes places are popular for good reason.

Buffalo at Yellowstone National Park

Entrance to Yellowstone National Park “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

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