Day 15 A Great day in Yellowstone

  There were so many magnificent sights to see today as we traveled the north, east and south drives of the park.  We'll just jump in with some of them:

This is the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.  Up at this altitude, the temperature was in the mid 30's!  And though it was snowing, this was taken during a break in the snow.

The bull elk relaxing in the grass

Time to get up

A little stretch

 

The girls (cows) head into the woods

The bull elk follows

We got to see a bear!  A ranger was nearby telling people that we're too close and if he tells us to move out, then we need to move NOW.

The Sheepeater Indians that lived in Yellowstone long ago were named this because they used the Big Horn Sheep horns to make better bows.  They soaked the horns in the hot springs to soften them then they would shape them.  They also used the obsidian (glass like volcanic rock from the obsidian cliff in Yellowstone) to make arrowheads and cutting tools to use and sell.  Obsidian is harder than surgical steel.

Sheridan Island in Yellowstone Lake.  

Rustic falls -- a 47 foot waterfall at the head of the canyon near the "Golden Gate Bridge" (shown in the next picture)

The Golden Gate Bridge was once made of wood.  It was constructed to save people a 1/2 day's travel through the canyon.





                                        Roaring Mountain

The land around the "Roaring Mountain"  looks like it's covered with snow, but it's just the minerals that were deposited there that makes it white!!  It's almost an 'other worldly' effect.  

These trees are in the process of becoming petrified.  They soak up the mineral with the water which kills them, but it also preserves them.


Calcite Springs overlook and the Yellowstone River "the narrows" in the next 4 pictures

This 'Gaperguide' on the dashboard is a self guided tour that tells you about the sights coming up and it knows where you are via it's own GPS.  Pretty cool.  We learned a lot about what we were seeing and where the best pull over places and overlooks are.

Tomorrow:  Old Faithful (hopefully) and then on to the Grand Tetons

Day 14 Yellowstone National Park!

We started out for Yellowstone at 6:15 a.m. and were rewarded with a beautiful sunrise along the Madison River just inside the park:

             

Sunrise on the Madison River a few miles inside the West Entrance of Yellowstone

The moon was setting when we looked to the west

The pink sunrise is reflected in the river.  The steam rising was because the air was 34 degrees this morning and the steam was coming off the river because it's temperature was warmer than the air!

The stream at the bottom of Firehole Falls

           Hot Springs and Geysers

This and the next 3 pictures were of a hot spring field with a 1/2 mile boardwalk through them that we walked along

This is a close up of the hot spring pool in the previous picture.  This shows the water in it actually boiling!

This sign along the boardwalk warned against stepping off the boardwalk.  The sign said ". . . some pools are acidic enough to burn through boots.  More than a dozen people have been scalded to death and hundreds badly burned and scarred."

The Old Faithful Geyser shoots up to between 90 to 184 feet and lasts between one to 1 1/2 to 5 minutes.  We decided not to wait the predicted hour before the next one and went to Mammoth Hot Springs instead.




                             Mammoth Hot Springs

These are the Travertine Terraces at Mammoth Hot Springs where the interactions of water and limestone create chalk-white travertine.  Other minerals in the water cause the stones to turn other colors.  (Yellow is from arsenic!)

This and the next 6 pictures are of the Canary Spring

 The expansion of the springs with the high multi-mineral content kills the trees yet preserves them and starts the petrification process.

This close up of part of the terraces shows the layers of the minerals that are laid down over the years of the water running over them.

"There's gold in them thar hills!!"  Well it looked like gold anyway.

This sign showed a picture of the Minerva Terrace in 1977.

 This picture is of the Minerva Terrace today.  Much less water flowing.  Sometimes it is completely dry.

A pretty blue hot spring pool, as we were walking out of the Mammoth Hot Springs area.



A few miles before leaving the park for the day, we got to see this!  

A bull elk and some cows and a couple of calves across the Madison River.  I was glad we were on the other side of the river when I realized that the lowing followed by a high pitched squeal that I heard  3 or 4 times in a row was the bull elk -- a sign that he was disturbed!

This was really special to be able to see them!

Tomorrow -- another day in Yellowstone - even if rain is predicted!