Still in Gardiner, MT
Today, we spent all day in Yellowstone National Park. On our way through, we passed through Mammoth Hot Springs and found this pair of elk grazing in the middle of town.
South of Mammoth Hot Springs, we came to Roaring Mountain. The fumaroles were releasing steam all over the slope. When we passed this again later, when it was warmer, there was no steam at all.
Our next stop was an area called Artists Paintpots.
The mud was boiling and spitting in this mud pot.
Next, we stopped at the Midway Geyser Basin.
You can see how the Firehole River got its name.
The Excelsior Geyser Crater is huge!
These moist lines are actually a bacterial mat.
The Grand Prismatic Spring (and a lot more bacterial mat).
The Turquoise Pool.
Moving on to Old Faithful.
Here's how Old Faithful looks most of the time:
And then, every 90 minutes:
After the eruption, we stopped for lunch at the Old Faithful Lodge. We stayed there back in 2007.
The lobby ceiling:
Inside the dining room:
The Old Faithful Inn:
Continuing on, counterclockwise around the Grand Circle, we crossed the Continental Divide twice:
Next stop, the West Thumb Geyser Basin. West Thumb is a huge lake that is an appendage of the much larger Yellowstone Lake. It has geysers and fumaroles all along its shore. Many are off-shore or under water.
Continuing on, we came across this fellow taking a dust bath at the edge of the road.
Next, we took a side road to have a look at Yellowstone Falls (we'r not sure if this is the upper falls or the lower falls but it's spectacular).
Tomorrow, we're off for Grand Teton National Park and Jackson Hole.
-J-
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