BACK TO WHERE IT ALL BEGAN

In 1872, a vast swathe of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho was set aside to create the first national park. Today, Yellowstone is more than just a wild gem - it's the story of US conservation

- Lynn Houghton

As the frigid night wore on, the thin whine of a lone coyote howling in the distance competed with the sound of vacuous gusts of wind. I wiped the moisture from my bedroom window and peered outside, but there was zero visibility due to an unseasonable and unexpected storm. By morning, the trees bowed under the burden of a sparkling white blanket. The leaden sky indicated temperatures were still at freezing, but at least the roads had reopened after two days of closure.

My introduction to the Wyoming side of Yellowstone National Park, a vast volcanic land that spills across two other states (Montana and Idaho), was proving that nature cares little for our plans. But, exactly 150 years ago, plans were what secured the future of this area and others across the country. In 1872, Ulysses S Grant, the 18th President of the United States, set aside the bulk of the 8,991 sq km that now make up Yellowstone. He wanted to secure this tapestry of prehistoric and historic cultural resources in perpetuity for the American people. In doing so, the first national park in the USA - and the world - was born. Today the US park system manages an area roughly equivalent to the size of Germany. Now, as the roads cleared, I could finally discover Grant's wilderness legacy for myself.

After an hour's drive, I arrived at the Norris Geyser Basin, the oldest of the park's many geothermal areas and christened after Yellowstone's second superintendent, a bullish pioneer-type named Philetus W Norris, who took the park in hand in 1877. Much of the basic 'road' system he laid out remains in the form of the Grand Loop Road. He also spent years documenting the hydrothermal features that now bear his name. I parked nearby and began gingerly descending an incline slick with hardened ice, muttering a soft expletive as I just about avoided ending up on my backside.