August 11-13, 2014 Yellowstone National Park and Hanging Out

On Monday, 11th, we woke to a beautiful blue sky day so away we went to Yellowstone National Park.

Coming into the Midway Geyser Basin:

Most of the water you see flowing into the Firehole River is from Excelsior Geyser.  Its output is nearly constant, pumping more that 4000 gallons of boiling water per minute into the river – WOW!

Excelsior Geyser Crater:

Check it out here:  Excelsior Geyser

On the way to Prismatic Spring:

The above picture is that of the spring but today it was all steamed in:

The runoff from the spring:

Almost looks like lava, doesn’t it!

A view of the Excelsior Geyser:

Opal Pool:

Turquoise Pool:

Walking back across the bridge, we noticed how the stone is eroding away – possibly due to all the hot spring/geyser water?:

We then made our way to Biscuit Basin:

Part of the Sapphire Pools – notice the milky water:

Geyser runoff – how about those colors:

More geysers:

We arrived just in time to see Mustard Spring bubbling:

Check out the video: Mustard Spring

And then it slowed down:

And stopped:

THEN…the water started to disappear:

How strange!

What an eerie landscape:

On our way back we went by Sapphire Pool again and the steam was clearing up – how beautiful:

Our next stop was the Old Faithful Inn.  When Andy was here with his family in 1951, they were going to have breakfast here.  However, the night before a bear got into the kitchen and did some destruction so it was closed.

Well, of course, we had to have breakfast there now – and it was VERY GOOD!

What a grand place – Some inside pictures of the 84’ tall lobby:

Just as we were leaving, Old Faithful went off again – WOW!

Our next side trip was:

Cliff Geyser:

Rainbow Pool area:

Emerald Pool area:

We continued our road trip to the

Fountain Flats area:

Gibbon Meadows:

This basin is home to year round herds of elk and bison (we didn’t see any – ).  In August of 1988, the huge North Fork Fire passed thru here on its way northeast.

Our last stop before heading back was Beryl Spring:

It was very loud – check it out: Beryl Spring

This will be our last time this season to visit Yellowstone National Park.  We will be back – !  There is still so much to see and do there.

When we were in Casper, we met a couple, Jan and Dave, at the National Trails Center.  Well, they are here in the park and invited us to happy hour.  We had a great time – and still marvel – what a small world.

Tuesday, 12th, found me doing laundry in the morning.  Then Nora joined for supper and a great campfire.

Wednesday, 13th, was our last day in Gallatin National Forest – Bakers Hole Campground.  So we started doing some packing up and hanging out and this evening we went to the Wild West Restaurant with Nora for pizza and beer – YUM!  Great time!  We hope to see Nora again this fall in Yuma.

We have had a great time here and just love this campground.  It has been wonderful to spend time in the forest.

Tomorrow we are heading to Missoula so stay tuned and enjoy today.