On the Road, Part III: Further explorations

With our Subaru seemingly in good order, we returned to Yellowstone on Saturday, Aug. 29 to explore further the national park. Why did the bison cross the road? To bring traffic to a halt, obviously:

Our route this day took us past the turnoff to Old Faithful and onward to Yellowstone Lake, at 7733 feet (2357 meters) the largest alpine lake in the U.S. Sand Point provided a good vantage point of the water, as well as across to the Absaroka Range:

Another great spot to take in the view was in front of the general store near the Lake Yellowstone Hotel, where we stopped to have lunch:

Fishing Bridge was once a popular destination for anglers, but fishing was stopped in the early 1970's in order to save the declining cutthroat trout population. Now it's a place to see grizzly bears in the spring when they come down to the water to look for fish. Fortunately for us no bears showed up while we were there:

Our next stop was at Mud Volcano, an active thermal area of mud and sulfur pits. Dragon's Mouth Spring has a very Chinese-sounding name; its eruptions resemble waves coming ashore:

One of several odoriferous mud pots:

Continuing our drive along the loop road, we soon came across a herd of bison grazing in the distance:

So engrossed was I in taking pictures of the beasts that I failed to notice that some members of the herd had parked themselves right next to the road:

On we drove, our next stop being the Canyon Village Visitor Education Center. The main reason for stopping there was so our daughter could earn her Junior Ranger badge. The park service has a program whereby kids are given activities to complete in order to receive a badge. Amber had picked up her activity booklet the day before at the Old Faithful Visitor Education Center and had enthusiastically set about doing all the tasks, such as going on walks, describing things she had seen and answering questions. The last remaining activity was to listen to a ranger give a presentation; here, Amber learned about some of the animals who make Yellowstone National Park their home:

Mission accomplished. Amber was very proud to receive her badge:

The highlight of our day came when we reached the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, where the Yellowstone River plunges over some spectacular waterfalls as it carves its way through the canyon. From Grand Loop Road, we took South Rim Drive to Uncle Tom's Trail, where a 500-foot (152 meters) walk led to a viewpoint over the falls:

More great views were had further down the road at Artist Point:

Not content with looking at the canyon from its southern vantage point, we crossed over to the North Rim Drive and Lookout Point. Another 500-foot trail led down to the falls, to the place where Thomas Moran sketched one of his famous canyon paintings:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellowstone_Falls

As it was beginning to get dark, it was time to return to town. After years in the crowded metropolises of Asia, it felt simply wonderful to be back in the open spaces of the American West once again:

On our last night in West Yellowstone, we dined on baby-back ribs at Buckaroo Bill's and took a walk through town, before retiring to our hotel room. Our stay was too brief; Yellowstone National Park is just too huge to see in only two days. We'd seen a lot (Old Faithful, the Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone Lake, Hayden Valley and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone), but we reluctantly had to leave out the Lamar Valley and Mammoth Hot Springs, among other sites in the park. It was time to move on:

To be continued...

On the Road, Part II: First Day in Yellowstone

With our Subaru in the shop being seen to, we rented a Chevrolet for the day and entered Yellowstone National Park (and the state of Wyoming) from its West Entrance. Yellowstone was the first national park to be established in the U.S. (in 1872, the first anywhere, actually), and is known for having the world's greatest concentration of geysers, as well as the largest high-altitude lake in the United States and, ominously, sitting atop a supervolcano that may one day cover the western U.S. in a suffocating layer of ash and plunge the rest of the world into a prolonged period of winter. For the time being, however, all that geothermal activity combines with its stunning natural scenery and diverse collection of wildlife (bison, grizzly bears, wolves etc.) to make Yellowstone a must-see for any visitor to America (and there were plenty of Chinese taking in the sights while we were there).

Going along the 142-mile (229 kilometers) scenic Grand Loop Road, it wasn't long before we encountered our first bison:

Approaching geyser country:

Old Faithful: what is there to say about Yellowstone's most iconic geyser? Spewing between 3700 to 8400 gallons (14,000-32,000 liters) of water 100-180 feet (30-55 meters) high every 35 to 120 minutes, we only had to wait about 20 minutes for the geyser to do its stuff:

While impressive, Old Faithful was eclipsed (in my opinion, anyway) by Beehive Geyser, which only erupts once a day and which we were fortunate enough to see shortly after Old Faithful had given its performance:

Taking a walk through the Upper Geyser Basin, we came across the curiously named Chinese Spring:

The clarity of many of the springs was inviting, though you would be boiled alive should you try to enter one:

Castle Geyser has been erupting for thousands of years; in comparison, Old Faithful's cone may only be a few hundred years old and still growing:

Countless eruptions of silica and other minerals have stained the ground around many of the geysers and springs:

The day was hot and sunny, and the sky was clear; it short, it was perfect. My wife might disagree with my climate assessments:

Solitary Geyser erupts every 4-8 minutes:

The view of the geyser basin from Observation Hill:

Historic Old Faithful Inn is close to...you know what. I tried to make reservations for us there, but all the hotels within the national park were booked solid for the dates we would be there:

After several hours exploring the area around Old Faithful, we got back in the car and headed back to West Yellowstone, making several stops along the way. Here, Amber checks the water temperature and is surprised to find it was warm from spring water trickling into the river:

The Midway Geyser Basin has two notable attractions. The first is the colorful Grand Prismatic Spring, with an expanse of 370 feet (113 meters):

The other is Excelsior Pool, the clear blue waters of which reminded me of a tropical beach. Only with a lot of steam:

Every hour 4000 gallons (15,142 liters) of hot water flow out of Excelsior Pool and into the Firehole River:

There were more geysers and springs to check out on the drive back to town...:

...as well as some wildlife:

Back in West Yellowstone (and in Montana), we were relieved to learn our 2007 Subaru still had some life in it, but we were warned to keep an eye on the oil level if we wanted to continue our cross-country trek. After dinner, Pamela retired to our hotel room (the sheer scale of Yellowstone exhausted her), while Amber and I took a walk through the small town, finishing the evening off with a scoop of huckleberry ice cream. Huckleberry takes many forms in Montana - in addition to ice cream, we sampled huckleberry fudge, pie, soda and taffy while we were in Big Sky country:

Back at our hotel and no doubt that we were in the West:

To be continued...