Originally written July 1, 2010
My second day in Yellowstone was awesome. Below is a map of Yellowstone National Park, which you can use to follow along as I recount my adventures in Yellowstone on Day 17 of my journey across the US:
Day 17: In and around Yellowstone National Park
Map courtesy of http://www.nps.gov/yell/index.htm
FYI: We started at Canyon Village and worked our way around the lower loop in a clockwise manner.
After meeting up Pat and Paul in Canyon Village, we set out to see the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and the Upper and Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River. The Upper Falls were pretty easy to spot. No problem! Unfortunately for my legs, the Lower Falls were a completely different story. Following my cousin's expert advice, I agreed to hike Uncle Tom's Trail. This particular trail descends 328 steps down into the Canyon (see the video below for a real-time walk down the trail). It was rough, but the view was worth it. I'm sure my legs will punish me for several days to come! I'll save you the trouble of marching down the trail yourself and share a few of my pictures:
Above: Images of Upper and Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River. Notice the rainbow in the picture of the Lower Falls? I thought you might!! Nice job, Amanda!
Come to find out, if you just drive down the road a bit, you'll hit Artist's Point. This spot provides a nice view of the Lower Falls and Canyon without having to climb "the grand stairway" of Yellowstone. If I'd only knew...
Once we were finished at the falls, we set out through Hayden Valley hoping to spot some wildlife. And boy oh boy, were we rewarded! Not five minutes after hitting the road, the trees gave way to a vast field of rolling hills and a giant traffic jam! We stopped and learned that earlier in the day three wolves had killed an Elk down by the water. A mother bear and her cubs ran the wolves off (one of which we saw on the hillside) and were now eating the carcass. There were people everywhere...Park Rangers with giant cameras and flashing lights. It was really something. I took some photos. They're not great but still pretty neat, huh?
Above: Black bears in Hayden Valley enjoying a meal at the expense of some unhappy wolves.
We also saw a nice herd of Buffalo in the valley. They were beautiful as always. Note: The bottom photo was taken at sunset in a different area of the park.
Above: Bison in Yellowstone National Park
Our next stop was the Sulphur Caldron and Mud Volcano. Now, for those of you who have sensitive noses, I'll warn you this is NOT the place for you. Just driving by these sites will fill your nostrils with the pungent odor of hydrogen sulfide gas. It's really stinky (think rotten eggs). These thermal features are the most acidic features in the park with a pH range of 1-2. These features are also near the greatest uplift and sinking of the caldera floor (remember, Yellowstone itself is a volcano). The area around Mud Volcano was one of the major vents from which lava flowed 640,000 years ago when Yellowstone erupted. Anyway, the features were really cool - especially Dragon's Mouth!
Above: Thermal features in the Mud Volcano area. The middle two photos are of the Mud Volcano itself. The bottom two photos are of Dragon's Mouth, which made a sinister growling sound every time water and steam rushed from the opening in the rock.
By the time we finished viewing the Mud Volcano area, we were starving. Since we were so close to Lake Village, we decided to have lunch in the Lake Yellowstone Hotel. It was fantastic! If you ever get a chance, make sure to eat at the Lake Hotel and have the Yellowstone Sundae for desert (Huckleberry Ice Cream with Lemon Crumb Cake...yum!). Also, check out our view during lunch:
Above: Our view at lunch from the Lake Hotel Restaurant. Can't beat it, can you?!?
With our tummies full of delicious food, we headed to West Thumb. Paul and I walked around the West Thumb Geyser Basin. He pointed out a few pools of interest. The first one was the Abyss Pool, one of the deepest pools in Yellowstone at 53 feet deep. The other was Black Pool, which (if you can tell from my picture) isn't black anymore. Apparently, the pool was originally black due to the cool temperature allowing the pool to accumulate a thick mat of dark blue and green bacteria. In 1991, the temperature in the pool rose killing all of these bacteria. The pool is now a stunning blue color as shown below:
Above: West Thumb Geyser Basin. Upper Right is the Abyss Pool. Lower Left is the Black Pool (now blue)
We also saw a few other items of interest at the basin, including the famous Fishing Cone. The cone gets the name from a practice that has long been banned. Years ago, people would fish off of the cone. Once they caught a trout from the lake, they'd turn around and dip it into the hot water of the boiling pool to cook it. In the picture below, you see Fishing Cone in use along with the photo I took today. In today's photo, Fishing Cone is under water. Apparently, it changes often so you never know what you'll see. Lucky for me, another cone, Big Cone, was above water, and I got an idea of what Fishing Cone would have looked like (picture not shown) in its full glory!
Our next stop was to return to Old Faithful. On the way we saw some beautiful cascades and crossed the Continental Divide... TWICE! If you don't believe me, take a look at the map above!! Oh Boy!
Above: Cascades in Yellowstone (can't remember the proper name at the moment)
Upon our arrival at Old Faithful, Paul and I decided to head out and tour the Lower and Middle Geyser Basins. We left our folks at Old Faithful Inn and promised to return for dinner. We saw a lot - too much to write about!! However, I will share with you my two favorite features. The first are the Fountain Paint Pots! A lot of people don't like the idea of mud bubbling about and making plop-plop-blop sounds, but I thought it was super cool. Reminded me of a witches brew....
Above: Fountain Paint Pots. Notice the mud jumping up out of the muddy "pot" in the ground!
The second feature I fell in love with is the Grand Prismatic Spring. It is absolutely gorgeous! I was so fascinated by the spring that I stood there while my dress was being blown up and about...eventually exposing my slip (oops)! Anyway, the rainbow colors are a result of pigmented bacteria that form the bacterial mats that surround the spring. Apparently, this hot spring is the largest in the US and the third largest in the world. I never got full view of the spring (as in the photo below), but next time I go, you better believe I'm hiking up there to see it!!
Above: Grand Prismatic Spring in the Middle Geyser Basin of Yellowstone National Park!
Overhead photo of Grand Prismatic Spring courtesy of http://www.nps.gov/yell/index.htm
After all that, we finished our day at the The Old Faithful Inn for a fabulous dinner, and I do mean FABULOUS! We had a good time. The atmosphere was great. A perfect way to end our stay in Yellowstone!
Above: The Old Faithful Inn
Tomorrow we head out to Spearfish, SD. Here's hoping we have internet!
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