Once again, the act of taking in all I can of Yellowstone in a day has left me slack-jawed and stupid. I started at 6:30 am when I walked Banjo, and then we hit the road at 7:30 to get to Old Faithful before the lunch crowds. It’s 4:00 pm now, and I don’t know how I’m putting two words together. Bear with me (no pun intended; we did not see a bear today).
Old Faithful
We did drive down from the north entrance about two hours and found parking easily at Old Faithful, with an hour to spare before she was scheduled to blow. So we walked around one of the many paths showing off several kinds of geysers, with two bull bison wandering between.
That’s Castle Geyser in the distance.
This one, below, made a scintillating sounds as the water spurted up.
Here’s water pouring down from a small geyser, showing off orange bacteria.
And the exit of the gas from this one revealed a long hole in the ground in deep green, like a magical tunnel.
And here’s the obligatory video of Old Faithful. After all the colorful, varied geysers I saw that morning, Old Faithful seemed as ho hum as her name. But I saw it!
Gibbon Falls
We tried to stop at something like three sites on the way north after Old Faithful, but the crowds were terrible: we didn’t even try to find parking. We did go by two lovely waterfalls though, which never show well in my photos.
We learned that Firehole Canyon was formed when two facing mountainsides of lava met in the valley; one new, hot stretch of lava melting into an older, cooled stretch. Firehole Canyon seems like a great name for that.
Here’s the downstream side of Gibbon Falls, just a little north of Firehole.
Artists Paintpots
Oh my: this spot has one hot spring or small geysers per color (a blue one, a red one, etc.). I am uploading way too many photos, so here’s a video of a mudpot that’s mesmerizing.
We saw a bull elk with a full rack grazing at the tourist “town” of Mammoth, as well as a Trumpeter Swan on Swan Lake. Bighorn Sheep, lots and lots of bison, and lots and lots of people. I’m ready for a sensory deprivation tank right about now.
That is amazing and otherworld like! I will for sure make the trip out there someday! Thanks for sharing all the great pics.
Loved the video of the mudpot.
So funny, Betsy! Tracy wanted to stand there and watch that mudpot all danged day.
Oh my! You’re right, it lives up to the hype, and I’m just seeing through your eyes. This one has moved up the scale on my bucket list!
Mud pools are mesmerising! I used to stare at the Rotorua ones for ages when I was a kid, I thought it looked like hopping frogs. Every time I make porridge I think of them! 😄 And Old Faithful is gorgeous!
Oh I’ll never look at porridge the same again!