Yellowstone – part 1

I spent last week in Island Park, Idaho which is just outside of West Yellowstone.  Most of the week I spent my days in Yellowstone Park.  They have closed one road so what would normally be a 1-2 hour drive from one part of the park to another is almost a day trip.  So I decided to spend most of my time on this side of the park and then next week I’ll go to the north and east side of Yellowstone.  I think I have the names right on the geysers and the springs, if you think I have one wrong let me know.  This one is Old Faithful.  By the way, I have a self portrait of myself at the end of this blog!  But you have to read the whole blog before you see what I look like.

I actually waited a couple of hours to see Grand Geyser erupt (There is a prediction window of 4 hours for this geyser).  During  that time, I meet some interesting people and the 2 hours went by very quickly.   I only waited about an hour to see Great Fountain (pictured here).  By that time I had learned ways to read some of the geysers, or more importantly who to talk to about a closer time for the eruption – not necessarily the park rangers.

 

In addition to the geysers, I enjoyed the colors of the springs.  Actually most of the color is bacteria and other organisms that grow in and around the springs.  Morning Glory is one of the more well known colorful springs.

One of the boardwalk trails went by Grand Prismatic Spring.  It’s a huge colorful spring, but difficult to see from the boardwalk because it is so large.  One of the days I was there even the steam was blue (I am guessing it’s just reflecting the water in the spring).

While there, I learned that the best view of this spring was from the hill behind the spring.  So I went to that trail and scrambled up the hill for a better view.  I think it was one of the best views in the park.  You can enlarge this picture to get a better idea of the size (there are people on the boardwalk).

I also went on some hikes in the national forest around Indian Park.  One of them was around Mesa falls. 

Back to Yellowstone, I was intrigued by the boiling mud.  I’m wondering if I would be as impressed if I put some mud in a pot and boiled it.  I have to admit that I took about 50 pictures (thank goodness for digital cameras) so that I could get pictures of the bubbles breaking and flying mud. 

Another small geyser by a river -

And now for my picture.  For those who know me, you may know that I don’t like to have my pictures taken.  They say the camera adds 10 pounds and I sure don’t need any additional pounds!  Actually I am posting 2 photos--

Ok, it’s my shadow in the steam from a spring.  When I saw it, I thought it looked like I had a halo around my head!

I almost didn’t post this next one because of the way my backpack is it adds much more than 10 pounds, but I liked the picture anyway.  The formation that the spring had made was very interesting.

Now that everyone knows what I look like, I’ll sign off until next time!!!!