Yellowstone

Since I am known to be slightly crazed when behind the wheel of a car, it should be no surprise that Candy and I took off to see Grand Teton National Park and ended up driving all the way through it and up into Yellowstone. So much for a short, relaxing afternoon in the Tetons. Along the way, we got a lot of the cool Tetons pictures, which I posted earlier.

Yellowstone is… well… Yellowstone. We saw everything from canyons to waterfalls the geysers to wildlife to valleys. Here are a bunch of photos and I hope you enjoy then just 1% as much as I enjoyed taking them. As always, click on each thumbnail to see a larger version.

We drove through the south entrance into the park and immediately stumbled across Moose Falls, complete with a bunch of teenagers swimming at the bottom. I wish I’d had my suit with me; the water felt wonderful.

We continued to follow the Lewis river north,

and shortly came to Lewis Falls. I do need to mention that neither Candy nor I did any significant hiking to get these shots. All of this is easily accessible from a car on the road and a short stroll after you park.

After Lewis Falls, Candy convinced me to stay in the car and keep driving, lest we see nothing beyond the doorstep of the park. With her “gentle reminders,” we got to West Thumb and spent the rest of the afternoon noodling around the hydrothermal features there.

I did not take careful notes of the name of each feature but these are roughly in order of a counterclockwise circuit around the boardwalk. This first pool had a sign near it that it is a balmy 167 degrees Fahrenheit.

The run-off steamed its way across a miniature wasteland into Yellowstone Lake.

I learned that the color of the bacteria in the water gives a clue to a pool’s temperature. Greens and blues are cooler than oranges and browns. Cooler is relative, of course.

The fumerols made me imagine the lair of a small dragon

with the blasted plain of its doorstep just a few yards away

Hunger and darkness forced us home for the night but we returned the next day and continued our tour counterclockwise around the lower loop of road in Yellowstone. We made several stops along the north side of Yellowstone Lake with the shore near Pumice Point being one of my favorites

Hayden Valley, north of Lake Village, opened spectacularly with scattered clouds painting the landscape with sunlight.

The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone with Inspiration Point, Grand View, and Lookout Point, were our northernmost goals for the day. This is, I believe, even more beautiful than “The” Grand Canyon. Walk to Grand View and look east

Continue on to Lookout Point for the canonical shot of the lower falls.

I did not hike down the trail to the base of the falls, though the sign promised I would be close enough to feel the spray on my face. The trip down didn’t look too bad but the thought of climbing back up was simply too daunting.

From the canyon, we drove west through Norris and Madison

and Firehole Canyon to reach the Lower Geyser Basin. I am certain that Tolkien and other fantasy writers must have had this landscape in mind when writing about places like Mordor. Islets of grass, surrounded by steaming hot water.