Yellowstone II

We made a bee line to Old Faithful. I remember the setting – surrounded by the Lodge and general store. You could literally watch the almost precise eruption from the balcony of the Lodge, which we of course did. As the old guy performed, I looked down to see the looks on Nick and Karen’s faces, but had to settle for the glow from the face of the Woman – nice!

I remembered taking the kids to see a bunch of the other geysers in the Park, but I can’t remember any of the others erupting. Some were so irregular that they might only erupt every few hours, and were completely unpredictable. Others could erupt anywhere between 5 days or 5 years! We were happy to see a number of the lesser known geysers erupt during our visits, a total bonus!

All the geothermal features are simply awesome. We particularly liked the mud flats where it seemed like the surface of the earth was completely alive. The array of colors is not to be imagined. The blues, the greens, the oranges and reds – just about every color of the spectrum is represented here, and it’s all natural.

Some of the hot springs were as impressive as the mud flats. Scientists say that acid resistant microorganisms are what give the hot springs their colors as well as the look that they are alive. You can see the dry, grey mounds that once were alive, but have now died off. Luckily, near each dead section is a massive thriving section that is alive and well.

The Woman wanted to head out on a wildlife hunt around dusk a few nights. We had yet to see a bear and really wanted to, so driving the Park at dusk was our best shot. We got skunked the first few attempts, but the night we waited until a bit later to venture out, we spotted a grizzly in Hayden Valley. He was strolling along the river, and even hopped in for a swim every now and then. While we couldn’t get very close, the zoom on my camera could.

While out visiting every corner of the Park we went through Firehole Canyon, which was spectacular. While driving through we saw a huge nest we thought was a Bald Eagle nest, but it turns out it was an Osprey nest, and was occupied. I guess I now know what I saw at the falls was not from Pirates of the Caribbean.

It’s hard to believe but the Woman tired of Yellowstone and wanted to bail a day early. So we will make our way to Billings where the pooch will get a well needed haircut.

Talk to you soon!