Day Five - Yellowstone National Park

We woke up the next morning around 6 a.m. to take a walk by the river. The campground staff mentioned that it is a popular feeding place in the morning and evening. At first, we didn't see anything, but as we headed back toward our site, a herd of bison cows and calves were heading down. They must have walked right through the campsites to get to the field, and then the river which they crossed, cold as it must have been.

After breakfast we headed for Mammoth Hot Springs. We watched a short film at the visitor's center there on the creation of Yellowstone as a national park and then hiked around Mammoth Springs. Lots of great hot springs here - unusual formations in the earth and beautiful colors in places.

Our drive continued, with a stop to see Tower Falls. We hiked a little bit toward the base, but the trail was partially washed out and closed so you couldn't get too close. The view from the nearby platform, however, was great.

Following that, we drove around the park a bit, climbing up pretty high so that we could see the mountains even more clearly. There was so much snow up there still and many trails were closed. It was a great view though.

Eventually, we drove back to the Old Faithful area to get some lunch at the cafeteria. We grabbed a seat facing Old Faithful and were able to watch her erupt once again as we finished our lunch. (This would be viewing number 3!) We stopped by the general store and gift shop for some supplies and postcards, and to wait out the heavy rains that began to fall, accompanied by a bit of thunder. By the time we left, the rain had tapered a bit and we started to drive back toward the campsite. On the way, we stopped at more of the hot springs/geyser areas so I could walk around and see more, and so Dad could nap. I got to see another geyser erupting and more hot springs of lovely colors. A little further on, we stopped at yet another geyser/hot springs area, where I saw yet another geyser and hot springs, the prettiest being the Sapphire Spring.

Once I reached the car, Dad decided he wanted to join me for a walk around the rest of the Old Faithful area that we missed earlier. We went back, just in time to see Castle Geyser erupting! It was magnificent and even included a rainbow.

We walked on, seeing many more hot springs along the way. We watched Riverside Geyser erupt (with another rainbow).

A little further down we saw the Morning Glory Pool, which was lovely. The colors are brilliant, though used to be more so. They've faded over time due to people throwing items into the spring. Even while we were there, someone had thrown a coin onto the edge of the pool. Sad.

On our way back, we had a special treat - we had seen Turban Geyser erupting and Grand Geyser next to it appeared to be full, and ready to go, and it did, just as we were heading that way. We continued our walk and saw a coyote on our way! Some others just ahead of us on the trail said they saw a wolf, but I think they probably mistook the coyote for a wolf. Toward the end of our walk, we came to Anemone Geyser, which was particularly interesting because you could see its entire cycle of filling, erupting and draining. (Rather like plumbing, which is similar to how the geothermal activity works anyway.)

Finally, we began our drive back to the campsite, but not before we saw a moose! This is one of the rarer animals in Yellowstone, so we were very lucky. It appeared to be a younger male moose, as he was slightly smaller than most adults, but did have antlers.

Once back at camp, we made a nice, hot dinner (it was cold out and rainy) and settled in to read by the campfire, until the rain became too heavy. Fortunately we had rigged a tarp above the picnic table which provided some cover, but the best place to be on a cold, rainy night in Yellowstone is snug in a tent and sleeping bag, with long johns and two pairs of wool socks!