Old Faithful and the West Side of the Grand Loop Road

We had lunch at the deli of the Yellowstone Lake Hotel, right by, you guessed it, Yellowstone Lake. We then headed toward Old Faithful for the 3:10ish eruption of the geyser.  The loop road followed the lake for quite long time, during which we napped or dozed.  

We made one stop at the Continental Divide, where a small lake drains both east into the Mississippi (via the Missouri) AND west into the Pacific (via the Snake and Columbia).  That woke us up, and we drove into Old Faithful (the parking area, not the actual geyser).  

Though we were tired, after we arrived 

here, we were no longer feeling drained

(get it?).

We had time to kill, so we explored the Lodge a bit (bought a Yellowstone Christmas Ornament!) got some ice cream, and went upstairs to to the second level to go outside and wait for the show.  

(The Lodge is quite something -- it's the pride of the Park Service lodges, and it is easy to see why!  I didn't take any photos inside because I didn't think they would turn out well.)  

We grabbed a third row bench, ate our ice cream, talked, and waited.  Once Old Faithful went (pretty much right on time), it was not what I expected -- the natural show was much more impressive.  Old Faithful lasted much longer than I expected, and went higher than I realized.  

I had set the camera to speed shutter, figuring it would happen quickly and I would only get 4-5 shots.  Instead, I stopped taking pictures because I took so many.

Afterwards, we were all pretty quiet -- at a loss for words.  Carol noted that she never thought she would get to see Old Faithful -- and here it was, her birthday!

Our penultimate stop was at the Grand Prismatic Spring, but alas the higher up viewing area is being rebuilt.  

Cool pictures of the

Grand Prismatic Spring

Before heading out, we drove through the Firehole Canyon road, seeing the falls and the swimming hole (which was packed!).

Firehole Falls

Geysers, Mud pots, Hot springs, & Fumaroles: Geothermal areas of Yellowstone

Fumaroles at our first stop

Kind of wild to watch cars drive right

over a bridge with the gases venting.

Norris Geyser area is other worldly.

The gates of hell itself.

It's not Mars, even if it looks like it.

It's amazing these trees even got this tall.

Video of Dragon's Mouth at Yellowstone

Shot by Carol on her iPhone

The famed Dragon's Mouth Geyser

Some Saturday photos

These are some photos taken by Carol and Maddy on their iPhones.

Julia giving it her best shot.

Never bet against Torie.

If you can't tell, this is NOT a selfie!

A nice hiker took this for us.

Basin Selfie!

This was Sunday on the gondola -- first day

in Jackson.  I was cranky till dinner!

Wolves, and Bison, and Coyotes, Oh My!

We were up early on Friday morning with several goals in mind -- making it to Running Bear Pancake House for breakfast, getting a tour of Yellowstone Park, and celebrating Carol's xx birthday in style (I'm smart -- no way I'm filling in her age, despite her youthful look and lack of wrinkles, I'm still not tellling!).

(Life advice to young guys reading this -- it never hurts to suck up to your wife!)

Even though we had driven up to Big Sky yesterday in the afternoon, the drive back down to Yellowstone in the early morning (we left around 6:15 am) was pretty neat.  We didn't see any wild animals (Carol and the girls pretty much slept, and I was driving), but there was the beauty of about 30 horses running along the fence line next to the highway.  The chill of frost on the ground at 32 degrees.  The sun slowly making its way up into the sky, unveiling the beauty of the cliffs and mountains to the west. 

Breakfast at the Running Bear Pancake House was tasty (not as good as Carol's pancakes), and we got over to meet our guide, Gibb Snyder, at Alpen Guides just in time at 8pm.  

Gibb is totally different than the guides we had in Jackson Hole for our various activities.  First, he's probably twice their age (my guess is 55), and he's much more the grizzled vet.  At the same time, like those younger guides, he's very friendly, easy to talk to, and full of interesting information about the park, the animals, and the various features.  He drove our Suburban, which was good, because he knew where he was going.  This way I could listen to him without having to focus on driving.

Our first stop was at one of Yellowstone's thermal areas, with fumaroles spewing steam and gases right by the side of the road.  It was pretty amazing, and given the early morning, we had the place to ourselves.

The next stop was much bigger, and shows how wild Yellowstone is.  Norris Geyser Basin is like nothing I've ever seen before -- and may never see anything like it again.  It's like another world, with nearly 200 geysers spreading across the hillsides and vales.  The photos below don't completely do it justice, so if you haven't been, Norris is more interesting than Old Faithful (no disrespect).  It looks like the earthly entrance to Hell.

The place was crowded with tour bus groups, but at the same time, we had parts of the boardwalk to ourselves.  By the way, don't leave the boardwalk, as morons occasionally get badly burned or even die when they get too close or fall into the geysers. 

We traveled east in the park, with a drive through the Virginia Cascade on the old road.  The next stop was the Lower and Upper Falls of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River (that's a lengthy name!).  Like everyone else, we marveled at the grandeur of the two Falls, including the iconic view from Artist's Point. 

The sun through the long pines.

Upper Falls from the Brink.

The Bolger family, and some

 dude's butt, at Upper Falls

The Lower Falls &

The Grand Canyon

of Yellowstone From

Artist's Point

Traveling south along the eastern part of the Grand Loop Road, we saw a bunch of what Gibb called "wolfies" -- people hanging out near the road watching for wolves.  And sure enough, there was a pack way off in the distance on the other side of the river.


There were at least three black wolves, one white wolf, and two yearlings.  They were visible to the naked eye, but easier to watch through the binoculars or my giant camera lens.  The pictures below, taken at a 600mm focal length, shows just how far across the river/meadow they are.  Very cool -- even grizzled Gibb was excited to see the wolves out and about.

Great White Pelican, Feeding

on the Yellowstone River

Click on the pictures. . .

to see the wolves in the distance.

The wolves cooperated -- they moved behind a stand of trees just as we got there, but then came back out and started playing in the open meadow.

Next up were bison -- probably 70-80 or so.  That involved a hike down towards the river to get closer for pictures.  They were still some distance away, but majestic to watch -- especially when they rolled in the dust to cool off. 
  

This guy was on our side of 

the river, but paid us no mind.

A Dances with Wolves vibe.  The

"smoke" isn't a vent, but just

a Bison rolling in the dust.

Some day, when these baby buffalo

get dropped off at college,

their dads will say, "Bye Son!"

The road follows alongside the Yellowstone River, which created the stunning Hayden Valley.  Our last stop before lunch was at the Dragon's Mouth Spring (of Geyser, depending).  Again, more thermal features, including a huge mud pot of note.  The sulfur smell was strong (here and at the other stops), and it's funny, because young kids all had to comment on how bad it smelled, while the adults just got used to it.

The famous Dragon's Mouth Geyser

Heading toward lunch, traffic moved slowly, but Gibb was able to get us into a turnout right next to some bison -- literally just out the door.  After seeing them several times from far away, it was very cool seeing them right up close and personal.

Objects out the window are

closer than they appear.

My daughters thoughtfully implored me not to get out of the SUV.  I appreciated their concern, but it also strikes me that they must think I am a bit of a moron, because that's the only kind of person who would get out of the car right next to a 1,500 lb bison (he was not fully grown).  Eventually the bison wandered away, because he was hanging out with a female bison who might or might not have been interested in him (there were some 2,000 lb. bison bulls there as well).

Later, although I'm not sure when, Gibb and the ladies in the car saw a coyote, but I never could pick it up and see it.  We also saw Sandhill Cranes, which are huge, beautiful birds.