Yellowstone National Park...day 1

On Thursday, we headed out early for the west entrance of Yellowstone National Park. Two hours later we reached the park, after driving through some beautiful scenery along the way. No sooner had we entered the park as a traffic jam slowed everything down. Right away we could see the reason for the clot of cars...a bison crossing the road and then lazily grazing in the grass just beyond the shoulder. We took a couple of pictures from the car while several braver (read: stupider) folks walked as close as they could to the big guy. We didn't stick around to see if the flyers and warnings about the frequent goring of adventurous visitors by buffalo were accurate.

Beryl Spring

Just up the way we saw a small creek formed from a bubbling hot spring. We ventured closer and noticed the ooze and slime in different colors around the edges of the creek bed and spring pool. Fascinating! Nearby little wildflowers in yellow, purple and white bloomed while we winced at the sulfur smell and the heat emanating from the water.

Artists Paintpots

Down the road a bit more we saw Beryl Spring, a larger pool overflowing with clear blue steaming water. The calcite formations around the spring create a white chalky crust over which the bacteria accumulate and form patterns of soft colors. Conveniently, the park has installed wooden boardwalks to each of these features so that visitors don't step on fragile thermal ground and everyone has an easy view.

A little further on, Ken and I strolled down a long flat path to the Artists Paintpots, a formation of steaming cauldrons of boiling water in a low area. The small basin was crisscrossed with the colors of various bacterial colonies growing along the edges of the formations where the temperatures cool to well above 100 degrees.

Next we found the Norris Geyser Basin, a huge area within the caldera formed by the eruption of Yellowstone 640,000 years ago. A simple museum and ranger station sit at the edge of the basin overlooking the long loop of raised boardwalks encircling the area. Ken and I hiked down and walked along the path admiring the brilliant colors surrounding each different thermal formation. We saw lots of bacterial mats in greens, yellows, oranges, reds and black caused by the accumulation of thermophiles, heat-loving microorganisms.

Norris Geyser Basin's Porcelain Basin

As we wandered around the Porcelain Basin we felt the heat rising off the steaming pools of water and enjoyed the colorful runoff from Whirligig Geyser and Pinwheel Geyser. We walked past small geysers, deep springs, milky pools, and hot steam vents. Each burbling formation adds to the chorus of noises we could hear across the basin. We returned to the top of the path and found Mom and Dad again.

Steamboat Geyser

Emerald Spring

We strolled over to Back Basin and the brilliant Emerald Spring, a 27 foot deep pool of almost boiling water. From there, Ken and I continued to Steamboat Geyser, a geyser that erupts every minute or so in a small way and every few years in a major way. Purported to be the world's tallest active geyser, Steamboat Geyser launches the water 300 feet in the air during a major eruption. And, though while we were there it erupted only a few feet, we were still impressed.

Back in the car, we drove toward Canyon Village, but, first...another buffalo in the road. This giant guy wandered across the street and through the cars as we all snapped a bunch of pictures of him. Without caring about what any of us were doing or how enamored we were of him, Mr. Cool Guy sauntered along the side of the road next to us. So cute!

At Canyon Village, we dined at the cafeteria in the Canyon Lodge, a respectable (and tasty) lunch option with generous portions. After searching diligently through all three gift shops around the parking lot, we left with the postcards and magnet I've begun to accumulate from each national park. Nice.

Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

Our next stop brought us to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, a deep V-shaped canyon formed by the rushing Yellowstone River. As we neared the edge we could see the steep rock walls with the deep blue river at the bottom. What a view. We could also see the impact of the fires raging in Idaho since the smoke from them has wafted all the way through Yellowstone. We also learned of a controlled fire in the park that apparently got out of control and whose smoke has begun to choke out the view of distant mountainscapes. Despite the heavy haze, the immense beauty of the canyon was easy to see.

Upper Falls of Yellowstone River
with smoke from nearby wildfire

Just down the road we found the Brink of the Upper Falls, a short hike from the car to the roaring Yellowstone River. The falls cascade over a series of steps and down a steep cliff, crashing spectacularly in a deep pool at the bottom before leveling out and continuing calmly downstream. Climbing down several sets of stairs, Ken, Dad and I took pictures of the pretty water for a few minutes before we noticed the sun being blotted out by the nearby raging wildfire a couple of miles away. The heavy smoke filled the sky above us and turned the sun a deep red, which cast a sunset orange glow on the river. Wow, what a sight! We met Mom back at the top where she had been admiring the falls from the alternative path.

Orange Spring Mound

After a fantastic and long day of sightseeing, the troops became restless. As I steered us north toward Mammoth Hot Springs (hoping to actually see them), I heard a near constant refrain of "You're cutting into happy hour, Pam" and "It's Miller time, Pam" from the peanut gallery. Nice. With the vehicle squarely in my command, though, I stubbornly drove through the Upper Terraces Loop of Mammoth Hot Springs, where we saw a few interesting features. Despite the whining, we saw a large dome with a spring leaking out of it, adding more layers of sediment to the already very tall mound. We also noticed a colorful runoff from an upper terrace accumulating deposits of chalky white calcite and rusty iron oxide down the side of the hill toward the roadway.

Roosevelt Arch at the north entrance
to Yellowstone National Park

With the complaints about my cutting into happy hour mounting, we continued north out of the park to Gardiner, a schlocky tourist trap of a town just outside the park. We stopped for a brew at the grimy Red's Blue Goose Saloon whose floors haven't seen a mop in years, nay, decades. Yikes. Navigating toward Livingston an hour north, we saw flocks of bison (in farms), pronghorn, and a few stray elk. Colorful horses and thousands of cows dotted the farms and ranches along the way as well. Finally in Livingston at close to 8pm, I pulled into Clark's Family Restaurant, a friendly diner with predictable food. A half hour later we were back in Bozeman, where we parted ways and quickly fell asleep.