Wednesday, May 24, 2023
Up early so we could be among the first into
Yellowstone National Park, the world's first national park (1872). Our Senior National Park Passes got us into the park for free.
We were now in Wyoming. Some roads within the park were still closed due to snow, and there were several road-work areas narrowing the road to one lane.
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Gibbon Falls and the Gibbon River |
Gibbon Geyser Basin:
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Gibbon Geyser Basin general view(KSS) |
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Blood Geyser, with an average temperature of 196.7°F/91.5°C, with iron sinter/deposits of red and orange
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Bubbling Flash Spring |
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A bit of a climb for a view down on Gibbon Geyser Basin; I'm afraid the gray skies have muted the colors (KSS) |
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Another view from Paintpot Hill (KSS) |
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Some of the bubbling Paintpots on the hill, in red, green, blue, and gray |
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This Paintpot is filled with a soft clay-like substance, so the bubbles are really cool |
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Hot Spring GAPNN011 |
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Farther north is the Roaring Mountain; more like hissing from all the fumaroles/steam vents |
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Obsidian Cliff is a source of volcanic glass that has been used for tool-makng by the indigenous Americans for over 11,000 years and has been found along trade routes from western Canada to Ohio
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Bison bison/American Bison of which about 5,900 were counted in Yellowstone in summer 2022 |
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The bison are the dots on the left, near the Mammoth Hot Springs Lower Terraces |
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Mammoth Hot Springs Terrace Grill (1936, by Robert Reamer in Colonial Revival and Art Moderne styles) |
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Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel (1913 wing seen here, 1936-1937 renovation, both by Robert Reamer) |
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Yellowstone Post Office (1935-1937, by Louis A Simon in French Renaissance Moderne style) |
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Double Cavalry Barracks (1909) was the largest building in Fort Yellowstone, from when the US Army administered the national park (1886-1917) |
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Bachelor Officers' Quarters (1909) became the Albright Visitor Center in 1919 |
Mammoth Hot Springs Lower Terraces:
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Liberty Cap (as in French Revolution) was created by mineral deposits of an especially high-spouting hot spring |
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Plenty of bison calves were seen |
(Unofrtunately the Upper Terrace Drive was closed.) Mammoth Hot Springs Upper Terraces:
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A huge (mammoth?!) area of hot springs rising through limestone, dissolving the calcium carbonate, then depositing calcite, which creates hard edges around a pool of water, resulting in "terraces" |
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An attempt to photograph the terraces |
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Rustic Falls of Glen Creek (KSS) |
Midway Geyser Basin:
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The Midway Geyser Basin runoff into the Firehole River |
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The coolness of the weather means there is more steam (KSS) |
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The steam clears enough to see into the Excelsior Geyser Crater |
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The wind blows some of the steam off the Excelsior Geyser Crater (KSS) |
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You are seeing dark micro-mini terraces, so that the water is actually flowing from the top towards the bottom right |
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Too much steam to see the glorious hues of the [south half of the] Grand Prismatic Spring; the colors are from different species of thermophile/heat-loving bacteria living in the progressively cooler water around the spring |
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These footprints indicate that the bison wander just about anywhere! |
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The north half of the Grand Prismatic Spring |
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More bison footprints in the orange bacteria runoff |
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Um, a hotspot for yellow bacteria? |
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Opal Pool has an average temperature of 132 °F/56 °C, and as a geyser, may spout once a year? |
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Turquoise Pool is a hot spring |
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The clear water of the Turquoise Pool |
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Walking through the steam, which is hot! |
Very unfortunately, the Fairy Falls Trail was closed, which would have taken us to view the Grand Prismatic Spring from above.
Upper Geyser Basin:
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Old Faithful Lodge (1923 as detached buildings, consolidated in 1926-1927 by Gilbert Stanley Underwood and Daniel Ray Hull in National Park Service Rustic style) |
When we stopped at the Visitor Center in West Yellowstone this morning, we found out the time of the last eruption of Old Faithful. We added 90 minutes to that time for the rest of the day, to get an
approximation of the next eruption that would take place when we arrived at Old Faithful.
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Old Faithful Geyser is always steaming |
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Crowds of people wait all around Old Faithful, as it spit water on and off for a half hour (our timetable was off by a quarter hour) (KSS) |
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Okay, the geyser is starting to blow: the "water fountain" is seen on the left side when the steam is blown away (KSS) |
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The eruption is starting to build up (KSS) |
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Old Faithful Geyser can reach a height of 106-185'/32-56 m (KSS) |
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The eruption is finishing up (KSS) |
Video of Old Faithful:
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Old Faithful Visitor Education Center (2010, by Cushing Terrell, inspired by Arts and Crafts and the Rustic style of Old Faithful Inn) |
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Still a large pile of snow left from winter (KSS) |
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Old Faithful Inn (1903-1904, by Robert Reamer in National Park Service Rustic style) |
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Had a late lunch at Geyser Grill of Snow Lodge (1958) |
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Whimsical sculpture hangs from the Geyser Grill ceiling |
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Now that we are in Wyoming, we had to have something made from bison, thus a Bison Bratwurst |
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Heading south out of Yellowstone National Park, the plowed snowbank has shrunk, but is still 4-5'/1.2-1.5 m high |
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We crossed the Continental Divide at least three times, here at an elevation of 8,391'/2,557.5 m |
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Lewis Lake in Yellowstone is still frozen |
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Now we have left Yellowstone National Park, and are in Grand Teton National Park (1929) at Jackson Lake Overlook |
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View from Colter Bay Visitor Center in Grand Teton National Park |
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Dinner was at the Village Cafe in Dubois, WY |
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Antler arch at Stagecoach Inn & Suites in Dubois, WY |
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Stagecoach Inn & Suites: we are usually assigned a room on the second floor where we have to take the stairs |
Next: University of Wyoming Art Museum.
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