UPPER GEYSER BASIN, Wyo. — A five-day trip to Yellowstone National Park can't cover everything, but it can string together a necklace of shining experiences. Baubles of intense hue — sapphire-blue for the sky, jade-green for the land, diamonds for glittering waterfalls, ochre, red and orange for the canyons — slip between crystal beads of ice.

Perhaps you'll use this guide to create your own jewel of a vacation. The itinerary allows time for activities and simply enjoying nature. Wildlife is our focus.

We join a bear jam near Tower Falls. A black bear asleep on a limb is oblivious to a gaggle of tourists. At the Firehole River, a grizzly bear romps in a clearing. People pass around binoculars as they watch from the roadside. Near Canyon Village, a rare great-gray-owl sighting ejects sightseers from cars.

Elk and bison are plentiful. A few are so attuned to motorists that they navigate traffic lanes and parking lots with ease. Elk bed down for the night on the lawns between ranger residences at Historic Fort Yellowstone. Their antlers get tangled in swing sets, a ranger tells me, so typically swings are put away until children are ready to use them.

Yellowstone National Park covers 2.2 million acres. The central plateau rests on a volcano that erupted a half-million years ago. Geothermal activity in the form of geysers, mud pots and fumaroles continues at seven major basins.

The mighty Yellowstone River cuts through the volcanic caldera creating towering waterfalls and richly bronzed cliffs. The river meanders through the broad Hayden Valley.

The 142-mile Grand Loop Road makes a figure-eight pattern in the heart of the national park. Connecting spurs extend to five entrances. Visitors do more than drive. Hiking, canoeing, fishing and wildlife-viewing connect people closely with the wilderness.

Day One

Young pines stubble the mountains at the south gate, our entry point following a drive on the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway. They represent a spate of good growing years following the devastating 1988 forest fire. Within an hour, the road crosses the Continental Divide three times as it zigzags through the southwest quadrant of the park.

We witness the eruption of Old Faithful, an icon in American folklore and a big reason 2.8 million visitors come to the park every year. Like clockwork every 90 minutes, Old Faithful sends thousands of gallons of water high into the sky.

Boardwalks direct people to the hot spots of the Upper, Midway and Lower Geyser basins. Odorous sulfur-infused steam wafts through the air. We see dozens of pools, boiling springs, bubbling mud pots and delicate formations of geyserite, a silicate mineral deposit. Steam rises from the enormous crater of Excelsior Geyser. The boiling vat releases 4,000 gallons of water a minute. Algae and bacteria color the Grand Prismatic Spring. Sounds — the constant hissing, gurgling, thumping, sighing and spitting — are as impressive as sights.