July 6th ~ Yellowstone National Park
Tim and Joanne at Grand Prismatic Spring
Yellowstone National Park is HUGE – like 2.2 million acres huge. There are five ways you can enter/leave the park, from the east, south, west, north and north-east. The major roadway through the park is in the shape of a figure eight.
There are over 10,000 thermal features in Yellowstone which includes steaming pools, hissing fumaroles, boiling mud pots and of course erupting geysers. Yellowstone had more thermal features than the rest of the world, combined!
We met a lady today who only had ONE DAY to see the highlights here. My heart shattered. There is just no way to do justice to this amazing place in only a few hours. Our last time here we were fortunate to spend 10 days and felt like we got a fairly good overview. I so hope that if you are planning a trip to see our nations first National Park, that you can spend at least several days.
I think that my favorite part of the park is the area between Old Faithful and Madison Junction. If your time is limited however, and if seeing geysers is your primary interest, that is where you should concentrate your visit.
MIDWAY GEYSER BASIN
Along the River at Midway Geyser Basin
This is where Grand Prismatic Spring is located. As one of the most popular features in the park (after Old Faithful), the parking lot fills up early and the boardwalk can become crowded. We planned our visit to hit here first thing in the morning to try to avoid the worst of the masses.
We quickly found out that when there is no wind, or early when the steam is rising, it is difficult to position yourself for a great shot of the magnificent colors of Prismatic, but we still got some interesting shots.
Grand Prismatic Spring
The male bison seem to be solitary creatures. We occasionally saw two together, but most often one lone fella would be found grazing with little or no interest in posing for us.
I thought this guy was way too close for my comfort
I took these shots of two different male bison from the safety of our car.
BLACK SAND BASIN
Some great and colorful features can also be found here including Opalescent Pool, Cliff Geyser, Emerald Pool, and Rainbow Pool.
Opalescent Pool with white trunks of long dead trees
Cliff Geyser
Emerald Pool
I was also amazed by how much variety we saw in wild flowers that can grow and thrive in this sometimes hostile environment.
Notice the braided stems on this flower
UPPER GEYSER BASIN
This is where the most famous geyser can be found, Old Faithful. We have already watched her in all her glory several times. It does not get old.
Watching the crowd around Old Faithful as she blows
The hike around the basin above Old Faithful is mostly gentle and after the first few minutes some shade is available which helps on hot days. I loved how they have used recycled chopped up tires to form the walkway on the first portion of the pathway. I would love to see that more often as it is spongy and comfortable to walk on.
A few of my favorites from this section include:
Blue Star Spring
The Lion Group Geyser who lets out a roar just prior to erupting
Grotto Geyser with a very unusual shape
Another very popular site, Morning Glory Pool, sadly damaged by thoughtless tourist actions
Castle Geyser
Late afternoon we stopped in at the Museum of the National Park Ranger which was right next door to our campground.
Tim on the front porch of the museum
Returning to “Home Sweet Home”…
Campground Closed!
In case you missed the story behind this sign, see the previous post…
GRATITUDE MOMENT: Today I am grateful that I am still healthy enough to walk all day long, as that is what we did to cover this amount of ground. I realize it is NOTHING like doing a long hike/walk like the Camino, but, I was still pretty proud of myself for doing this in the heat.
A Note From Abroad 
Stunning photos!
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Thanks!
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Beautiful pictures. Bring back memories of our 10 days last summer. Anyone going less than a week is missing the best parts
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Beverly, I totally agree. 10 days was just right for an in depth look.
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Amen to that!
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Yellowstone and the other parks are so glorious. Reports that Trump plans to sell off parts of them are chilling.. Nooo!
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I would be heartbroken 😭
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Re the guy way to close to the bison. Yellowstone is the Olympics of the Darwin awards.
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Tim and I had a similar discussion the other day after watching some pretty dumb behavior by park visitors.
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Bloke with bison: Wild. Animal. Meet Idiot!
… other than that, what magnificent pictures. 😀
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Glad you liked the “other” pictures 😇
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Great photos, I love the one of your shadows holding hands.
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Terry, we are slowly building a collection of shadow pictures. Something fun and different. Thank you for noticing it.
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There is so much to see in Yellowstone and you have captured these geisers beautifully.
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Thank you.
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Wow, how huge is Yellowstone! Had no idea…Continued o/s photographs and interesting wild flowers: plaited?! Mother Nature has some tricks up her sleeve…
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Mother Nature certainly can surprise us at times, that is for sure.
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Fantastic photos!
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Thank you very much 😋
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Sounds like a very active, but wonderful day. Love all of the pictures. Thanks for sharing your adventures and insights. The flower with the braided stem is so unusual. What kind of damage has been done to the morning glory pool?
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Years of tourists throwing coins and trash inside changed the chemistry and temperature of the pool. It used to be even more colorful.
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That’s awful. How can people be so, shall I say, stupid?
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Thankfully it is now well protected and signs explain what damage has been done in the past. Hopefully it will be preserved, even if not as brightly colored as in the distant past.
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I guess, at some point in history, people really didn’t know better. When I went to Mammoth Cave last year, I was amazed to find out that they used to let people break off a stalactite or Stalagmite to take home as a souvenir!
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Oh my, things have sure changed regarding conservation- thank goodness!
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Yes. Thank goodness!
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Really beautiful photos!
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Thank you!
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