We decided to head up north to Yellowstone for the day. There are so many things to see and do in Yellowstone that we thought we’d take an extra day up there. We planned on visiting the thermal features in West Thumb and then heading over towards the Old Faithful area to see some of the things we missed when we were over there last week.
On the way up we saw stopped at the Lewis Falls. These falls are near Lewis Lake named for Merriweather Lewis though he never came closer than 50 miles of Yellowstone. It was named by the 1872 Hayden expedition ‘in memory of that gallant explorer.’
West Thumb overlooks Yellowstone Lake, the biggest lake at this high elevation in North America. We only saw the ‘tiny’ bay called West Thumb here. Wait until we actually see the Lake itself. But, don’t even think about swimming here - the water is about 45 degrees, enough to numb your toes. The bay itself was caused by a volcano about 174,000 years ago. When the volcano caused the earth’s crust to collapse, this bay was formed. Some of the thermal features are actually under water until the late summer and fall when the water level has fallen. But, the water is so clear that we had no trouble seeing them.
One of the more interesting geysers is called Fishing Cone, The tale that was told by the fur trappers and mountain men was that they could toss their fishing line into the waters of the lake, catch a cutthroat trout, swing the fish over to the geyser and cook it in the hot waters there, without having to leave the spot. Maybe or maybe not. But there have been many fishermen who have tried to duplicate this. It was called ‘hook ‘em’ and cook em’. Many even brought their own chef’s hats and aprons to be photographed doing this. Unfortunately, some of them got injured straddling the geyser and with all the tramping around the geyser edges got damaged and the Rangers had to call off the trick.
As we were standing there looking at it, the older gentleman next to us was reminiscing and told us that there used to be a long fishing pier here and that he used to bring his boat here, put it in and leave his truck and trailer on the parking lot right in back of us. Well, there is no long pier now and right in back of us is geyser territory. Although, we could see some piers that probably used to hold up the dock. But, one of the things we’ve heard about Yellowstone is that change is continual, one geyser might go dormant for years and then spout, that springs went dry but that other springs appeared, that nothing is guaranteed to stay the same. And, in this case, it didn’t.
Here’s Abyss Pool which at 53’ is the deepest hot springs in the park. It used to erupt up to 90’ high but has fallen silent until recently when it has begun to spout again.
We finished up at West Thumb and then decided to head on over to the Old Faithful area. On our way we passed Isa Lake which is on the Continental Divide and drains into both the Atlantic and the Pacific. Backwards. Because of its placement on the Continental Divide, its east side drains in to the Pacific and the west side into the Atlantic. Pretty cute trick but then Yellowstone is known for cute tricks.
Our plan was to eat our lunch and watch Old Faithful go off, if we were lucky in our timing and then head on over to some other features. As we walked over towards Old Faithful, we could see that an eruption was imminent - the crowds had formed. Sure enough, we were in time to watch Old Faithful again. While it was going off, the wind changed directions and the people in the front benches got an up close and personal experience with Old Faithful. Boy, did they move fast. Cute.
Then we were off for the Fountain Paint Pot region. Here you can see the ‘mud’ just a bubbling and a gurgling away. Plopping away like boiling oatmeal. Sometimes it is really soupy and sometimes it is more gummy.
On one of the signs by these mud pots was this recipe:
We also saw a fumarole: not as pretty as the pools but just a-growling and spouting off.
Next we headed over to the Midway Geyser Basin where some of the largest thermal features are: the Grand Prismatic Spring which is 370’ in diameter and over 121’ in depth. I could only get a small bit of this with my camera, even with its wide angle lens. But, take it from me, it is gorgeous.
The colors come from the microorganisms called thermophiles which live in the bubbling water called ‘Mats’. They are thick, a 3” section of this mat can have more microorganisms than the number of people on Earth. But they are so colorful.
The other large thermal feature at Midway is Excelsior Geyser which is pretty quiet these days but instead pumps out 4000 gallons per minute which then run down the bank into the Firehole River and raise the temperature of the river 3 - 4 degrees.
We finally checked out Black Sand Basin where we saw Cliff Geyser just a going to town. Continuously erupting for about 5 minutes.
I liked Opalescent Pool. The dead trees around it indicate that this pool used to be larger.
Yellowstone is truly a treat for our senses. You can hear the rush of water escaping from the geysers and can hear the gurgling and bubbling of the mud pots and pools surrounding you. You can see the spectrum of colors emanating from the pools and the vivid colors of the bacteria mats. You can feel the steam as it swirls about you as you walk among the pools and the droplets of water when a geyser erupts. You can smell the pungent aroma of the sulphur most of the time you are walking around the area. Maybe that’s not a ‘treat for the senses’ but it does add to the other worldly atmosphere of Yellowstone.
Beautiful sights and we’ve seen a lot. but it’s about 8:00, we’re hungry, tired and it’s about 40 minutes at the earliest that we’d be getting back to the RV - only to have to cook and eat. Hmmm - how about a hamburg in the Snow Lodge Grill, Gar? He didn’t have to be asked twice and we were in line. Believe me when I tell you, this was nothing special. The fries had been tanning under the heat lamp for a while, the bun had been drying on the counter and the meat had never seen a grill. Where is In ’N’ Out when we need it? But it was food and that was what we needed.
Time to head home. Oh, no. How did we get in back of the guy who wanted to drive only 35 mph in the 45 mph zone? To drive the last 35 miles will take us an hour. Oh, swell. Home by 10:00.
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