Sightseeing Day:
- Yellowstone National Park, Lower Loop Drive
Up early this morning (before 7 AM) to get ready for our van trek. I microwaved a couple of "bowl" breakfasts. They have scrambled eggs, bacon, and taters all in one bowl. Of course, it wouldn't be breakfast without cheese on top as well. The tour stops for lunch, but wasn't sure what time, so wanted us not to have a "sugar drop" too early. We also packed some snack, just in case--we certainly wouldn't want to whittle away to nothing!
We were picked up on time and there were two families joining us. One family consisted of a couple from England and their daughter who is attending a university in Idaho. The other family was from California and they have two girls (about 12 and 10) and a boy about 6. Just how small is this world? The mother of the woman from California was in Dave's sister's graduating class at San Fernando High School. Her family also lived in Sylmar, where we lived, when the earthquake hit in 1971 (she was about 8 at that time).
Our guide wasn't very talkative, but he was definitely informative. There are a lot of pictures in this blog entry to share. Depending upon the width of your screen, the blog may not display the text with the picture (as I'm sure you've experienced already). I will try to describe the pictures in the text preceding the picture. I am sure the names of certain geysers and waterfalls will not be important to you, but as my feeble mind begins to forget, I know it will help me to remember.
So, here goes...
The guide told us that all these dead trees are the remnants of the 1988 fire that went through Yellowstone. One-third of the park was destroyed before the snows fell in the winter, which finally put out the fires.
The first and most exciting part of the trip today (for me) was seeing a coyote stalk his victim. We, fortunately, didn't see a victim. We were very surprised that he stayed so close to the road (about 10 yards) with about 10 cars parked along side and at least 20 people gawking at him. He stayed so long that we finally had to pull out else get behind on our travels. I think we watch him for about 5 minutes. The funniest thing was that all the cars were parked on the opposite side of the street from the coyote. And, along comes a jogger who is running on the same side of the street as the coyote. The jogger couldn't figure out what everyone was looking at--even though our driver told him--and he just kept jogging. He missed a most unusual wildlife experience. I don't think I'll ever forget how oblivious he was.
We were told that park of the loop has been closed due to a fire that erupted yesterday. So, we will not be able to make a complete circle and will be doing a lot of back-tracking today to get everything viewed. OK with us as the more repeats the better!
Our first official stop was to what is known as the Upper Falls. After crossing a bridge to the falls area, we got out to observe their magnificence. But, at the time, we had no idea of the beauty that was still ahead of us on our two-day trek. The picture of Upper Falls has a bridge in the picture above the falls.
Onward to what’s known as the Hayden Valley. There were bison galore. It is rutting season, and we had many opportunities to see nature at its best. We even witnessed a fight between two bulls for the opportunity to win the affection of a nearby buffalo gal.
Next, we traveled up the road to the Lower Falls area. The falls are located at one end of what is called the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. The colors are so beautiful. And, the Grand Canyon area is more desert-like in its appearance, yet it’s nestled among pine trees. Quite unique. One of these pictures captured the colors so well. Most of the time, I don’t get true colors in my pictures due to haze or other factors. But, this one is exceptionally beautiful.
We stopped early for lunch at Canyon Village. The only eating place open was a grab-n-go deli. Dave and I each bought one sandwich, a package of potato salad to share, and one water. The bill was $19. I about choked. We’d pay that for lunch and get service elsewhere. We gobbled down our food and headed to the gift shop. There was a power-outage, so we fumbled around in the dimly lit shop. But, we still managed to find several items to purchase. Dave had been looking for a zip-up, hooded sweatshirt with pockets. And, he found one. I purchased a carved shell necklace and two charms. By the time we got done, it was time to leave and we never did make it over to the visitor’s center.
Next stop, Gibbon Falls. We were entertained there by a begging Raven. Gibbon Falls is very close to the road, so you can get an up-close listen to the power of the water.
Onward to Firehole Falls. This fall is on a side road that larger vehicles should avoid. And, of course, they don’t listen and try it anyway. I thought we were going to collide with an RV driver who decided he should have the right of way. The falls were fairly close. But, the interesting thing about Firehole Falls is that there are very few fish in the river. The water is close to 80 degrees and doesn’t get very cold in the winter. It is fed, naturally, by several hot springs—hence its name.
This next picture is a close-up view of the water plunders over the rocks below.
As we drove on down this road, we were surprised to see this beach at Firehole Lake filled with swimmers. When you are so high up in the mountains, you just don’t think of the water being warm enough for a swim.
By now, I am beginning to chomp at the bit, I’m so anxious to see a geyser. And, there one was, off in the distance. This picture is our first view of the Lower Geyser Basin.
We drove onward to catch a glimpse of the Silex Spring. These pools are brightly colored due to the bacterium that grows within these hot pools. The water in these pools ranges between 180 and 220 degrees. Not only is the water hot enough to scald you or kill you if you fall in, but they are loaded with acids (low levels of sulfuric acid) and bacteria that will eat off the top layer of your skin within a few hours. So, if you keep on the boardwalks and don’t wander off or put appendages into the water, you will be just fine. Also rising from these pools and many of the geysers is hydrogen sulfide gas—what we would describe as rotten eggs. Phewy!
Turning down Firehole Lake Drive, we were shown what they do with elk carcasses that they find from the winter. They leave them for the wild animals. The guide was rather upset that it was left so close to the highway where bear and wolves might venture too close to humans. But, alas.
As we drove through Firehole Lake Drive, we saw a couple of geysers. First was Great Fountain Geyser. This geyser erupts every 12 hours, give or take 2 hours. So, that means that if it was scheduled to erupt at 3 PM, it could erupt anytime from 1 PM to 5 PM. It has a history of erupting approximately 40 minutes after this gaping hole you see fills with water. Today, it filled with water and then emptied without a large eruption. So, it had begun to fill again. The guide said we’d come back later to check on it. But, I was glad to see it empty for a better perspective. Because this geyser is so unpredictable, it’s rare to see it erupt. But, we had hope.
Directly behind Great Fountain Geyser is Castle Geyser (some call it White Castle Geyser). It was quiet when we drove by. But by the time we come back, maybe it, too, will awaken. It isn't really as large as this picture makes it seem. It's probably about 5-ft. tall from it's base. But, it is larger than the built-up area of Old Faithful.
Onward into traffic, you can see that we came upon Beehive Geyser erupting. It goes off quite frequently, and because it’s so close to the road, it was fun to watch as we drove past.
As it was getting late, we rushed over to Old Faithful. When a geyser is scheduled to erupt, the time is always given with a leeway. For example, Old Faithful was scheduled to erupt at approximately 2:30 PM. It has a 10 minute window before or after that time. So, there is actually a 20-minute spread. We arrived at 2:10 PM. So, this was 10 minutes prior to the 20-minute spread. It finally erupted at 2:40 PM. I stood on the path waiting to take my pictures because so many people were crowded around the grandstand, I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to see it all. Yes, truly, I stood in one spot for 20 minutes. It was quite spectacular, but I spent the whole time behind the camera, and I don’t really think I got the true oohh-aahhs. So, I have something to go back for. I’d like to just watch it without trying to capture it on film.
Here's a picture of Old Faithful before it erupts.
Here's a picture of its eruption.
Next stop on the tour was to get out and walk to see the mud pots. But, by now, Dave and I have about had it. Dave decided to stay in the van. I tried to see if I could make it, but when I got to the base of the boardwalk, I decided I would go back and sit with Dave. I know it would have been really neat to see, but it will be something to do when we aren’t at the end of a long day. It took the group 45 minutes to get back from their walk, so I was glad we were chillin’ in the parking lot. We had a great time people watching.
Here's a picture of the boardwalk that leads to the top of the hill to view the mud pots.
Our next dash was back to Great Fountain Geyser. We were told that it was ready to erupt. Again, it is rare to get to see it. And, if it filled up and then emptied without erupting, we would just be out of luck. As it was, we hit the jackpot. We arrived and got onto the boardwalk about 5 minutes before it starting “coughing.” There is a real term for it, but I forgot. The geyser gurgles and gurgles, and finally in a last spew forth, up comes all that water.
Notice all the water that flows outward from the geyser and glistens in the sunshine.
Although, I was talking pictures again, it went on for so long that I was able to stop taking movies and enjoy some of it.
In the picture where you see the cars along the road, our white touring van is parked between those two campers. So, you can see we had a LONG walk back to the van. But, we made it, dodging those cars that wanted to zoom past us and get to the next adventure.
On our drive back to West Yellowstone, I happen to catch a great photo of three geysers erupting at one time. I have no idea which ones they are, but they are in the Norris Basin.
As you can see, in areas where geysers erupt, the land is barren and is mostly white. This ground becomes filled with silica or travertine. The ground is very hot and nothing will grow in these areas.
Needless to say, when we arrived back at the RV, I was not going to cook tonight. So, we got into the car and drove to a recommended steak place. We were not overly impressed. The food was good, but, of course, it was overpriced. The service was ho-hum. I was tickled as when we went to the Mexican restaurant yesterday and we had asked for two boxes to take home our lunch, the waitress told us that they only had one large container left—ya, know, those Styrofoam boxes. And, when I asked at the steak place for two boxes, they only brought one and the waiter wondered why we couldn’t share. So, I guess there is a shortage of the Styrofoam boxes in Yellowstone.
Early to bed tonight as we have to rise early again to meet our van. We had such a great time today and saw such beautiful sights, we can’t imagine that we’ll see anything much better.
No comments:
Post a Comment