Just when you think you’d seen every geologic feature Yellowstone has to offer, you come across the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.
Then, you look over the canyon rim and see this…!
Lower Falls
And Upper Falls
There is lots more water in Yellowstone too, like…
Firehole Falls
Firehole River – one of just two places you are allowed to swim.
Gibbon Falls
Lewis Falls
And Lewis Lake where we camped for two nights and spent a day paddling the lake and connecting channel.
Posted in Wyoming, Yellowstone
Beyond the 200 geysers, the other 10,000 geothermal features in Yellowstone include hot springs, mud pots, fumeroles, steam vents, terraces, and more. These are all caused by an active volcano that lies just three to eight miles below your feet. Quite literally, any (or all) of them could blow at any minute!
Do we look worried? Actually, we are sitting in front of our absolute favorite geothermal feature, the Grand Prismatic Spring, the largest hot spring in the country, third largest in the world. What I really loved about it was the way the steam reflected the colors of the pool and surrounding microbial mats.
Click on this panoramic by Al to get a better feeling for the massive size of this colorful spring.
From rainbow colors to the more subtle earth tones of the mudpots and steam vents.
Here are a couple of beautiful pools…
And the elaborate terraces at Mammoth Hot Springs…
Steam vents are everywhere…
This one is called Dragon’s Mouth and it really did look, sound, and feel like you would expect one to.
Posted in Wyoming, Yellowstone
Waiting for Old Faithful, which isn’t quite as regular as it used to be.
If you can only get to one National Park in your lifetime, make it Yellowstone, the world’s first national park. You will not be disappointed! The 2,219,789 acre park (larger than Rhode Island and Delaware combined) is home to one of the world’s largest calderas with over 10,000 thermal features and more than 300 geysers. It has over 290 waterfalls with the 308′ Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River as it’s showpiece. Yellowstone Lake is the largest (132 sq. mi.) high altitude (7,732′) lake in north america.
But once it blows…
Seven species of ungulates (bison, moose, elk, pronghorn), two species of bear, 67 other mammals, 322 species of birds, 16 species of fish and the gray wolf live here. There are over 1,100 species of native plants, more than 200 species of exotic plants and over 400 species of thermopholes (bet you don’t even know what those are), plus one of the world’s largest petrified forests.
Warning: Don’t go until you can stay for at least a week. That’s how long we were there and I could have easily stayed for a month, or even longer to fully explore and savor all the park has to offer.
We took so many photographs that it will take several blog posts just to feature the best. Al and I were both totally blown away every time we turned around. So, on with the show…
It is pretty impressive!
Of course everyone has to see Old Faithful, but there are MANY other interesting and equally impressive geysers to witness. Doing so requires walking many miles of boardwalks and a bit (or more) of patience.
One of our personal favorites was Riverside Geyser, which we were lucky to watch erupt for some 15 to 20 minutes.
Here are a few others…
This one was just about 12-inches tall.
Steamboat Geyser is reportedly the World’s Tallest currently active geyser, erupting up to 300 feet in the air. Unfortunately, it only does so at intervals ranging from four days to fifty years so we only got to see it spurt a bit.
Several other types of geo-thermal features will be included in my next post. Stay tuned…
Posted in Wyoming, Yellowstone
Due to a lack of internet connections, it’s been awhile since I last posted. We’ve seen and done a LOT since then, so I’ve got some catching up to do.
This is all we saw of the famed peaks the day we arrived in Grand Teton National Park. Fortunately, the weather improved during our five day stay and the magnitude of their magnificence was revealed.
Did you know? Soon after the Lewis and Clark Expedition came across the Teton Range in 1807, the region began attracting French-Canadian fur trappers who sought beaver pelts to make hats. To their eyes three of the range’s peaks resembled the feminine physique, so the trappers called the trio “les trois tetons,” which translates to “the three breasts.” Eventually, the mountains came to be known as the Grand Tetons, French for “big breasts.”
This is the classic poster shot for the Grand Tetons. It took me a while to find the spot overlooking the Snake River.
While riding our bikes along the trail at the base of the mountains we got a good look at the beautiful elk in the following photo.
While touring the Menor Ferry Historic District within the park, I clicked a photo of this mighty bull moose relaxing outside a barn full of old farm equipment.
In a suburban-like neighborhood just outside of the park, the teenager below was resting in front of a house while her mother grazed nearby.
While we did not actually see any beaver, there was plenty of evidence that they are thriving along this river.
We also saw a coyote running down the road with some sort of rodent in his mouth, but he was too quick for me to photograph.
Speaking of wildlife… we had a rousing good time at Bar J’s Chuckwagon in Jackson Hole. We’d been told by several fellow travelers over the past few months that Bar J’s has a standing joke in their dinner show about how nobody from Rhode Island has ever eaten at their 30+ year old establishment. We just had to spoil the joke, which was fun! Now we need to send them a state flag to hang from the rafters. The food was tasty and the show, put on by the Bar J Wranglers, surprisingly professional. They are all excellent musicians as well as very funny men.
Back to those grand mountains, which we never got tired of looking at or photographing. The variations of light, clouds, and shadows seemed endless.
Here are a few of Al’s panoramics. Remember to click on each to see larger.
And our last look at the Tetons from the shore of Jackson Lake…
Posted in Wyoming
Thanks to the AllStays app on my iPad, we easily found FREE places to camp three nights in a row! The first was at the 24-hour hot springs located in Saratoga, WY (not NY!). The free showers were a unexpected bonus. Unfortunately, we were there on a Saturday night so there a few late night groups disturbed our peace and quiet.
The main facility (no, that’s not me in the bikini). This pool was way too hot for me.
The hot mineral water is also pumped into the nearby stream for a more natural setting and cooler temperature.
Some of the neighbor’s yard “art”…
Our second FREE night of camping was in the charming and friendly town of Lander, Wyoming where anyone can camp in their beautiful City Park for up to three nights. We met several interesting folks here, including two from Maine who were not here together but discovered that they had attended the same private school. Everyone seemed to really appreciate the town’s generosity by treating the property respectfully.
Wouldn’t it be nice if more towns were this welcoming?
Free camping right next to the river with nice restrooms nearby. You can’t beat that!
The next day we drove into Sinks Canyon where an interesting natural phenomenon is the primary attraction.
The water from the river disappears underground through the cavern at left in photo above
and reappears a quarter mile down canyon in this pond where huge trout enjoy the good life protected from predators.
After exploring Sinks Canyon, we drove further up an amazing winding road to Frye Lake where we had lunch and spent the night at a FREE BLM (Bureau of Land Management) camp site in the Shoshone National Forest.
Only a few of the sharp hairpin turns show in this photo. A few more appear on the GPS screen below.
In addition to the curves, there were a few obstacles of the bovine variety.
We weren’t sure this bull was going to let us pass! He seemed to be protecting his harem.
Lunch spot on Frye Lake
Our FREE Frye Lake campsite
Our neighbor’s interesting rig. They set-up lounge chairs on the deck when they returned to camp
Sitting out the rain
Hopping stones on a hike around the area
Our last stop on this leg of our journey was at Falls Campground in the Wind River Range not far from the town of Dubois, WY. We managed a quick hike to the waterfall, for which the campground is named, before another thunderstorm struck. This campsite wasn’t free, but cost just $7.50 with our senior discount.
We had a beautiful open meadow next to our campsite.
As I write this blog, we are camped at Grand Teton National Park, where we have seen more wildlife in two days than we did during two weeks in Alaska a few years ago. Photos to follow soon.
Posted in Wyoming
The calendar pages keep flipping (we had spent over a month in Colorado), so it was time to make our way further north into Wyoming and Montana. We want to visit the Tetons, Yellowstone, and Glacier National Park before snow begins to fall and that can occur as soon as early September!
We drove west on route 14 along the Poudre River and over Cameron Pass at over 10,000 feet. It was a beautiful drive where some sections felt like the Black Canyon while others reminded us of Yosemite Valley.
Tunnel carved through solid rock.
Poudre Falls
Filling up water jugs with 105 year-old pump at Ansel Watrous Campground along Poudre River.
The next day’s lunch stop was on the outskirts of the small town of Walden, CO where we photographed some amusing sights.
One of two owls perched above Town Hall’s front entrance.
This old theater being re-purposed as an Inn.
Mid-Century Modern building for sale.
Our beautiful lunch spot on the outskirts of town (2 blocks from main street).
After a surprisingly quiet night camped in the Laramie, Wyoming (NEW state!) Walmart parking lot, we took a slight detour to drive through the Snowy Range. We did this on the advice of a couple of fellow travelers we bumped into a few weeks ago. While there we took a couple of short hikes and several photos, which should provide proof that taking this route was well worth the effort.
One of my best through-the-windshield shots ever.
Angler at Lake Marie
Alpine Columbine
The photos above and below are panoramics, click on them to see larger.
Mirror Lake
Posted in Colorado
Travels with haRVy 
