Geysers and Mud Volcano

Geysers and Steam

Yesterday we traveled back into Yellowstone, this time going to the Norris Geyser Basin then over to the east side of the park to the Mud Volcanic Area.  Pretty impressive.  This is surreal - you are walking/driving your car on an active volcano - the steam vents, the bubbling of water and mud, the hissing of escaped steam, seeing explanations of how the earth below your feet is so hot that by touching it you will scald or severely burn, seeing how the landscape is bubbling up from the pressure below.  You would wonder if the volcano will blow again while you are there.  And the smell.  Sulphur smell gets in your nose and you taste it for hours afterward.  Yuck. But on the other hand, the buffalo and wildlife roam freely, too free where it causes traffic to come to a fault not because they are picture taking but because they just won't move off the road.

Hot Spring - notice the dead trees, ground so hot

Geysers are amazing to see, hot springs and lakes are beautiful with their various colors - depending on how hot is what grows in it, bubbling mud, roaring of a cave where steam is venting up and echoing in the cave forcing the water to come rushing out, feeling the heat while standing on boardwalks.  Amazing to see.  We have not visited Old Faithful yet, wanted to wait until the crowds of Labor Day subsided, as a matter of fact - some of the campgrounds around the park have now closed and the rest will close by the 29th of September.  Frost was on the ground yesterday morning when we ventured into the park.

Beautiful landscape - buffalo roaming

Beautiful landscapes - you just can't imagine.  To see what the original pioneers saw - and it looks just the same as then - beautiful.  Nights are now down to the low 40's here in Gardiner but inside the park it is in the low 30's.  Day temps in the park about mid 60's.  Difference in temps is because elevation is much higher, we are camping at roughly 4500 feet where most of the park is at 6000 to 7000 feet.  And on top of all the geysers and springs is a beautiful lake, Lake Yellowstone, not hot but cold and deep.  And it is gorgeous.  We saw the famous Fishing Bridge where up to 1973 people would come and fish, elbow to elbow, casting their lines into the Yellowstone River, depleting the trout population severely that in 1973 the park officials said no more and do not allow any fishing for one mile inland of where the lake and river come together - to allow spawning of fish to happen.  Saw bear tracks in the mud right by the bank of the river where we walked - pretty fresh. Nice day in the park.

Fresh bear track in mud by Yellowstone River

Famous Fishing Bridge over Yellowstone River

Lake Yellowstone - Rocky Mountains in distance - looking east

Our new grass cutter by the truck

Then last evening while sitting watching the world go by, we got our own personal grass cutter.  Yep - these elk are every where - and they poop every where!  Have to watch where you walk.