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We awakened to a bracingly cold morning in Yellowstone. Our cabin was right near Old Faithful, so after a breakfast of granola bars, a check for the timing of the next eruption, and a visit to the store for souvenirs, we went to see Old Faithful. It was around 9:45 by then and it was still quite cold. We sat on the benches placed for viewing Old Faithful and it erupted within a minute of the predicted time (10:05). We then wandered around the geyser walk area since there were geysers all around Old Faithful, and many of them are much more interesting and spectacular (just not as regular). We saw the Grand geyser which is one of the tallest in the world (and quite big as well) but was predicted to erupt some time between 12:45 and 4:45 that day. Quite a long wait. The other beautiful geyser we saw was Castle Geyser, which I could take pictures of all day despite it's predictable name;) Since we'd wandered off quite far, and kept wandering even farther rather than the short hike I'd originally proposed, we ended up seeing Old Faithful erupting again from a distance, and I liked this eruption and the resulting picture(s) much better. We then saw the other store and had to go in (Dad laughs at me for hunting down pins/badges, but he's addicted to those glowing etched crystal thingies), and ended up eating lunch there. Then we went into the Yellowstone lodge since Dad had stayed in the area when he was 15 (for a season while my grandpa worked in the park) and remembered it quite well, though he remembers it being more quaint and college students putting on plays in the main foyer (nowadays there's a paid artist). Since we'd taken so much time, we actually ended up watching Old Faithful go for a third time, this time standing on the opposite side from most of the benches which gave us an uninterrupted view of it. The eruption was much longer and we got millions of pictures, none of which were on my camera *L*. (My dad's photos aren't uploaded yet, so nyah:P)
From Old Faithful, we coasted through the park, past Gibbon Falls, and along winding rivers with the occasional buffalo or fisherman. We headed for the NW corner of the park to see Mammouth Hot Springs, but when we got there and laboriously climbed the walkways to see it (high altitude's a bitch), we discovered it was mostly dry. Only the very edge was showing any water, see? So, slightly disappointed, we made our way back down the paths, down the southern road and east to see the Upper and Lower falls of Yellowstone in Yellowstone's grand canyon. We totally missed the lower falls however, and simply ended up seeing the beautiful rainbows formed by the upper falls and climbing above them to look down on the upper fall. It was gorgeous. Rather than turning back to get the lower falls, we continued on through Hayden valley which was very pretty and covered in buffalo. This was a bit of a disappointment by this point since I'd been hoping to see some other large mammal and had set my mind on elk, which are in mating season and therefore should be very audible and visible. We were totally disappointed and in fact, as we left by the south exit, the only other animal we saw (which was pretty cool actually) was a coyote. However, the south exit takes you through Teton national park which led to beautiful pictures like this one of the lake and Teton mountains. The mountains were lovely and the sun was setting over them so we stopped occasionally for pictures. At one stop, we heard suspicious noises which sounded so weird we decided they must be elks' mating calls. Low and behold, we descended into a valley below the mountains, and there in the fields were a herd of elk which we watched/filmed mating for a long time until the sun almost set. From there, it was a long run through faded vistas, past buffalo and mythical moose (we only saw the moose crossing signs) to Jackson, WY, which is a hole, literally and figuratively. We ended up in a crappy hotel since none of the decent chains were to be found and ended a wonderful day on a sour note. Such is life.
From Old Faithful, we coasted through the park, past Gibbon Falls, and along winding rivers with the occasional buffalo or fisherman. We headed for the NW corner of the park to see Mammouth Hot Springs, but when we got there and laboriously climbed the walkways to see it (high altitude's a bitch), we discovered it was mostly dry. Only the very edge was showing any water, see? So, slightly disappointed, we made our way back down the paths, down the southern road and east to see the Upper and Lower falls of Yellowstone in Yellowstone's grand canyon. We totally missed the lower falls however, and simply ended up seeing the beautiful rainbows formed by the upper falls and climbing above them to look down on the upper fall. It was gorgeous. Rather than turning back to get the lower falls, we continued on through Hayden valley which was very pretty and covered in buffalo. This was a bit of a disappointment by this point since I'd been hoping to see some other large mammal and had set my mind on elk, which are in mating season and therefore should be very audible and visible. We were totally disappointed and in fact, as we left by the south exit, the only other animal we saw (which was pretty cool actually) was a coyote. However, the south exit takes you through Teton national park which led to beautiful pictures like this one of the lake and Teton mountains. The mountains were lovely and the sun was setting over them so we stopped occasionally for pictures. At one stop, we heard suspicious noises which sounded so weird we decided they must be elks' mating calls. Low and behold, we descended into a valley below the mountains, and there in the fields were a herd of elk which we watched/filmed mating for a long time until the sun almost set. From there, it was a long run through faded vistas, past buffalo and mythical moose (we only saw the moose crossing signs) to Jackson, WY, which is a hole, literally and figuratively. We ended up in a crappy hotel since none of the decent chains were to be found and ended a wonderful day on a sour note. Such is life.
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