Yellowstone or Bust! Day 7

Friday, June 28, 2013. It was cold this morning when we woke up – cold enough to see your breath. But we had seen the forecast and knew it was going to be clear and in the 80’s, so we dressed in shorts and tanks, plus hoodies. We were on the road by 7:00, ready for more adventures.

We’re staying in West Yellowstone, Montana so we enter the park through the west entrance. Our route ran alongside the Madison River, and in the valley next to the river was a huge herd of elk. These were cows and calves, which live together in herds during this time of the year; bulls live in bachelor groups or alone. This early in the morning, there is very little traffic on the roads. It’s nice to be able to stop to watch wildlife, or turn onto a pullout without cars backing up behind us. One thing there are a lot of this morning are bikers – bicycles, not motorcycles. I simply cannot imagine biking here. There are so many steep grades that to me seem totally impossible by leg power alone. And they are hauling all their gear with them. It makes me tired just watching them!

Another advantage to being out early in the morning is that the thermal features are really dramatic in the cool air. The temperature difference makes them very steamy. It’s unbelievable how many thermal features are here. As you drive along, puffs of steam of all sizes are a stark contrast against the green trees and grassy meadows. Steam rises from the surface of lakes and streams, and innumerable vents pour out steam and hot water. Our first stop was at Terrace Spring, a small thermal area with very clear pools and streams. The water surfaces were steaming and bubbling among the green grassy meadow. The short walk along the boardwalk in the crisp air was enough to get us all fully awake and ready to face the day.

The 84-foot high Gibbon Falls caught our attention next. More interesting than the falls itself was the display telling how the roads were constructed in the 1920’s. A payroll record for the workers show that foremen made $8.00 per day; laborers made $4.50. The photos depicting the road building show the daunting task it was to put roads in. When you look at the precarious locations of some of the roads, it seems unbelievable that it was accomplished with teams of horses.

Beryl Spring is another small thermal area next to the road with a boiling pond and a roaring fumarole. We made a quick stop there before visiting Artist’s Paint Pots. A ½ mile trail led back to the Paint Pots, and there were a lot of downed trees from forest fires along the trail. This brought up once again Deb’s problem with all the fallen trees. This conversation has been gathering steam since we entered the park. She is convinced prisoners should remove the deadfall trees from along the road. She became even more convinced since yesterday when she heard that the large mammals travel on the roads more since the fires, since it is too difficult to step over fallen trees all the time. Prisoners are the answer, she insists. We’re not convinced yet, but are all quick to point out those areas that are extraordinarily laden with logs. We’re helpful that way.

The Artist’s Paint Pots are, as the name suggests, very colorful. There are orange pools, blue pools, and Dane even pointed out a purple pool. The different colors come from both minerals and thermophiles, algae that thrive in the heated water. The most fascinating feature for everyone, however was the boiling mud pots. Looking just like smooth drywall mud, the pools of white mud are burbling like boiling water and shooting clumps of mud up into the air.  We all loved it, and hung out watching the mud fly and waiting for some to make it to the boardwalk. That it could was evidenced by the splatters along the guardrails. It was an interesting and entertaining area.


Norris Geyser Basin was next on our agenda. This is one of the hottest and most dynamic of Yellowstone’s thermal areas. The trails led us through a weird and wonderful world that looked like an alien landscape. Hot springs, geysers, lakes, pools and vents are all here at Norris, in a variety of colors and shapes. Our favorite feature turned out to be a surprising little geyser called Vixen. It seemed to be just a steaming little hole in the ground, but it started to gurgle and a quick little eruption followed. When the eruption was finished, the hole drained just like a toilet. It even sounded like a toilet flushing!

Most of the morning was spent at Norris, and we stopped at a campground for lunch at a picnic table. While we were eating, a lady charged at us like a mad bison since we were at her site (even though there was nothing set up on the site yet). She calmed down a little when we explained we were just having lunch and her companion seemed cool about it, but she was all fired up and wouldn’t even wave when we passed her a few minutes later as we were leaving the campground. Bitch!

There is a ranger museum near Norris, and we made a quick stop there. It is the old soldier station from the time Yellowstone was maintained by the army. The kids weren’t impressed, but us old folk enjoyed it. I was most fascinated by the recreated emergency cabin. The list of things to do before leaving so it was ready for the next person in an emergency was extremely interesting, and depicted the military orderliness that was required by early park rangers.

Sawmill Geyser

Next stop: Old Faithful! Old Faithful is in the Upper Geyser Basin, which has the majority of the world’s active geysers. We toured the magnificent Old Faithful Inn, an immense log hotel built in 1904. It is the largest log hotel in the world, and was bustling with activity. We took our seats to wait for Old Faithful, enjoying the sunshine and blue sky while we waited. The eruption was only a few minutes past schedule, and we ‘oohed’ and ‘aahed’ with the rest of the crowd at the amazing spectacle. Afterward, some of the group decided to hike to Morning Glory Pool. It was a 2.8 mile hike, with many more amazing features along the way. Sawmill Geyser, Turban Geyser, and Grotto Geyser were just a few we saw along the way. Morning Glory Pool, although beautiful, has lost some of its amazing blue color due to vandalism. Objects thrown into the water clog the plumbing, which change the temperature and therefor the color. We decided Deb may be onto something with the prisoner idea; some well-built tatted up convicts guarding the thermal features would stop vandalism and keep people on the trails. We think her idea deserves a second look.

Morning Glory Pool

It was quite hot on the hike, and when we got back to the lodge it was lots of cold water and ice cream all around. Refreshed, we headed back to West Yellowstone for a dinner of leftovers (Italian Beef, brats, and hot dogs) and salad at the campground. A little shopping in town rounded out the day.

After showers, all the girls and Dane hung out in our cabin. Dane had us all rolling with laughter as he look up silly YouTube videos of animals marking their territory (it started out legit when we tried once again to figure out what that bison was doing yesterday, and went quickly downhill from there). We don’t have to get up quite so early tomorrow, and everyone was relaxed and in a silly mood. There’s a lot of snoring going on in this room right now, so I think I’ll join them. Goodnight!