Been back for a month already from our trip to Wyoming. Time has really flown! I have only just sat down to go through pictures and I promise that this will be a brief report. In short – an amazing diversity of geography, weather, and terrain in a wild and beautiful setting. I’m going to hit the highlights here with a few accompanying photos.
First up, the thermal features. There are several thermal basins in Yellowstone and I thought if you’ve seen one thermal feature, you’ve seen them all. So not true. Each one was different from the last. The colors were gorgeous, almost tropical in nature, belying the extreme heat of the water.
The azure color indicates that only a very few kinds of bacteria can live at such hot temperatures (above 200 degrees Fahrenheit). You’ll see this better illustrated shortly. More azure pools (this one has a very thin crust that cannot support human weight, yikes):
The Grand Prismatic Spring, one of the most popular of Yellowstone’s thermal pools. The oranges/yellows/browns come from the various kinds of bacteria that can live in the different temperatures of the water (notice the steam carries the color of the pool):
The pool is quite large. Here is a view from a hike up the hill with several overlook opportunities:
Next up: the geysers. There are a crazy number of geysers in Yellowstone. We only saw a few erupt but there are all different kinds, from Old Faithful, to little bubblers, to a geyser that drains and fills in under 2 minutes. Here are the two most impressive. Of course, Old Faithful:
And Castle Geyser:
You can see how close the path came to Castle geyser. We could feel the spray on the path (felt kinda nice in the 90 degree weather!):
We were so tired out from all the walking that we went back to the Old Faithful Inn where we devoured large ice cream cones with names like Moose Munch and Huckleberry and gave each other leg massages:
A few more highlights:
Lower Falls of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone
A hike up in Mammoth through beautiful meadows
Where we also saw lots of these
But thankfully no grizzlies, though there was a grizzly attack 2 days after we left Yellowstone, in an area where we had been hiking. Apparently the two hikers, who survived, used their bear spray and then, that not deterring the bear, threw themselves to the ground and covered their necks, which is what hikers are instructed to do when a bear charges. A cannister of bear spray, which we purchased, is essentially a mini cannon of pepper spray. It shoots a large volume of spray about 15-20 feet in distance. Amazing to think that would do nothing to a grizzly.
The continental divide, which was only interesting insofar as we took this picture and then got to give the kids a geology lesson (there is actually a lake that sits atop the continental divide, whereby half of the water drains to the Pacific and the other half to the Atlantic, but the lake is dry by August).
Travertine pools of boiling water:
Lots of opportunities to cross and play in rivers:
And of course, animal sightings:
Not pictured: grizzly bear and two wolves, one black and one grey, spotted at dawn and dusk with the use of a spotting scope; antelope; herds of bison; bald eagles; and lots of Least Chipmunks (I mean LOTS). Cute, aren’t they?:
(note: this is not my picture!)
One neat thing that happened on this trip was that Lena decided to keep a journal in which she would make drawings and record her observations about all the interesting features she visited (with accompanying photographs):
Finally, onto Grand Tetons National Park:
The Grand Tetons are among the youngest mountain chains in North America. They jut up 2000 feet from the valley floor and there are glaciers year round on the peaks. It will often snow in the summer on the peaks, replenishing the glaciers (it starts snowing on the valley floor in September!).
They really are awesome and majestic to behold:
We took a float down the Snake river and saw a few eagles, but wildlife was pretty much missing for us in the Grand Tetons. We only spent a day and a half here but I wish we had spent several days just hiking and loafing and playing.
Afternoon at Jenny Lake at the base of the Tetons – so beautiful!
