Aug 29, 2010

PBS & Ken Burns Told Me To Go To Yellowstone This Summer

Sarah Auerswald / TV / 2 Comments

Now, please don’t imagine that I think the TV talks to me — or that I know Ken Burns well enough for him to have actually told me how to spend my summer vacation  – although my friend Elise and I did meet him recently at the PBS Press Tour event in Beverly Hills…But the PBS series by Ken Burns they aired last fall on the National Parks truly did inspire me to visit Yellowstone — and so that’s just what my family and and friends and I did this summer.Elise’s Ramblings, Yvonne In LA and Mar Vista Mom all spent a week in the wilderness. Now, for the uninitiated out there, let me explain that Yellowstone is actually an alien planet, at least compared to Los Angeles. (And I have a feeling a few people in Wyoming would say the same thing in reverse.)

For example, instead of a traffic jam on the 405, we were delayed on the road in Yellowstone by the herds of bison just crossing whenever they felt like it, or for that matter, just walking down the road whenever they felt like it.

(Have you ever tried to tell a Bison what to do? Doesn’t work, trust me.)

I felt like we were on North American Animal Safari half the time, since, besides the hundreds of Bison, we saw a Black Bear cub, a few dozen Elk (some up close), some deer, a Bald eagle, a Trumpeter Swan, and on our last day, wolves. (Luckily, through a very long lens.) It was amazing to see them all — and to see that they can all roam free there.

The other half of the time I felt like we were exploring an ancient volcano, which we actually were, except that it’s not dormant by any means. Having grown up on Maui and now living in Los Angeles, I tend to think the only serious earth science action takes place near the tectonic plates, but it turns out there’s a volcanic hot spot underneath Wyoming, and it’s still got something to show. The geysers and hot pots were amazing to see, even though it did give us pause when we really thought about it too long…

We spent a little time out of the park in West Yellowstone, and it was a perfect illustration of the necessity of the National Park system: without that protection, all of Yellowstone would surely be covered in billboards, housing developments and geyser-fed hot tubs. And so I thank goodness it isn’t. We spent time in the wilderness and swam in fresh water (as opposed to the ocean), and even though I’m glad to be home, I am so, so glad to know that the wilderness in Yellowstone is there, protected from billboards and safe for Bison. And I’m so grateful to Ken Burns and PBS for the inspiration.