MORE GREETINGS FROM YELLOWSTONE NP
More exploring of the park today.
We are starting to wonder whether the “charm” of the “old” National Park Lodges still outweighs the quirks.
At about 5.30 this morning, the heating pipes beside the bed started thumping and rattling madly. The room generally was quite comfortable and we hadn’t turned our heater on. But someone obviously had and the pipes didnt seem to be coping too well with the buildup or change of pressure. Eventually I worked out that if I turned ours on briefly it seemed to fix the problem – at least for a while. We eventually gave up and got up – had our fruit, muffins and coffee for breakfast and “got an early start”.
Geysers engulfing Adrienne
The weather this morning was even better than yesterday – cold, but no wind and a perfect blue sky – not a cloud in sight ! We had pretty much decided to do a driving loop of the park today – which doesnt sound much but it is a BIG park.
First, we headed west toward Madison and then north along a section of road which was closed last time we were here toward Norris. We stopped along the way at a few spots we hadn’t seen before.
Above the Artist’s Paint Pots
One was called the “Artist Paint Pots” which are just like paint pots with muddy blobs bubbling up from them. There was lots of steam rising from all the geysers and features in the cold morning air – slightly below 0 again.
As we drove along, we came across a couple of lone bison off in the distance and were commenting that we felt we had seen more larger groups of animals last time- especially around Old Faithful itself which had been void of activity yesterday afternoon.
Close Encounter !
We had then come to a pass through the mountains called Golden Gate which opens into the Mammoth Hot Springs area when suddenly, right in front of us on the side of the road ahead, was a bison – lone again thankfully – but heading our way. I stopped the car and the bison moved into the centre of the road heading straight at us.
I had seen a Youtube clip a few weeks before we left Australia of a bison coming walking along the road at a car and headbutting the car and now I was starting to wonder if I was going to have to explain the peculiar damage on the car to the rental car people when we took it back ! Thankfully, our bison decided to overtake instead and he headed off past us in the direction we had come from – with the cars approaching from behind now facing the foe – and we were again on our way unscathed !
Mammoth Hot Springs
Mammoth Hot Springs, right in the northwest of the park, does not have geysers but with the heat in the water bubbling up, the bacteria living in the warmth create the colour in the sediment expelled from the flow and creates terraces depending on the directions of the flow.
It was then on to Tower Falls where we had a bit of lunch – we had booked dinner late in the Old Faithful dining room so we thought we would need a sandwich to hold us past our normal 5pm dinner !
The crowds seemed to be getting bigger everywhere we went – eventhough it was the last day of the long weekend – as everywhere we stopped it was pot luck getting somewhere to park. We pretty much decided that when we got somewhere we were proposing to stop, we would only do so if that luck prevailed – rather then drive round & round in circles.
Yellowstone Falls
After a stop at Yellowstone Falls, on the way back to Old Faithful we came upon a section of road where the traffic was basically stopped. We crawled along, eventually coming to a “bison jam” – a herd of bison, easily 50 or more had settled themselves beside the road.
Bison Jam !
There was a pull out section holding only about 4 cars in this section of the road so all the others were slowing down – either to try and get a spot in the pullout if it came up, or if not, take photos as they drove past.
A ranger was trying to do traffic duty and move on anyone stopping.
Part of the Geyser walk
Back at Old Faithful we setout to walk the geyser basin nearby, keeping an eye on the expected eruption time of “Old Faithful Geyser” itself. There was another “bison jam” near the Inn, this time mainly caused by the pedestrians as 2 Park Rangers tried to keep people from getting too close to a lone bison grazing near the general store.
We wandered the boardwalks around the basin then headed to the viewing area in front of “Old Faithful”.
Old Faithful
Photo time !
It was packed with people. The viewing area would be the size of one side of a football stadium. The 4 rows of seats were all packed and there were rows & rows of people standing behind. After a number of false starts, and various groans from the crowd, the cheers and cameras went off as “Old Faithful” provided yet another scheduled performance – every 90 minutes – plus or minus 10 minutes. As the crowds dispersed we decided it was time for some blogging before we went to dinner.
After a few “fast food” meals recently, tonight it was nice to get a chance to sit and take in the granduer of the Old Faithful Inn dining room as we waited for our meal. But only by accident. After we had given our order, about 10 minutes passed and we were having a glass of wine when our server came and asked if we were ready for dessert ! When we said we hadnt even had our starter, he rushed off and came back profusely apologising that it would be right with us. He didn’t actually say but we think her forgot to put our order in. In all, our wait would have been less than we would be accustomed to at a restuarant at home. But a lot of Americans would have been complaining about the time it took to get their meal !
Anyway, when it came it was all excellent. We shared Trout Cakes for starter and then Adrienne had Montana Homemade Meatloaf and I had Grilled Sockeye Salmon.
So our time in Yellowstone again is nearly over. The weather is looking good for our short journey to new territory and the Grand Tetons tomorrow.