Day 32 - June 6thOn our drive from the cabin in Island Pines, we saw lots of deer in various spots along the road. This was a time to look at the scenery in the daytime to see where we had driven the night before.
We spent a little time in West Yellowstone, MT before heading into the park. We spied a snow gauge pole attached to a fire hydrant so the hydrant could be located when snow drifts were piled high. Our next stop was at a bakery and sandwich shop called Ernie's Bakery.. We were hoping to pick up some bakery goods, but arrived too late. Instead, we ordered boxed lunches for our day of adventure. Dean was disappointed when the lunch came in a bag and not a box. He kept ragging Robin that he never got his promised box lunch from Carlsbad Cavern. Whatever!
We left Ernie's with lunches in hand. However, we still hadn't had breakfast! We drove around West Yellowstone and found several restaurants. We chose Timberline Cafe. The inside was simple but had actual bare tree trunks and branches as part of the decor and structure. We had a funny waiter who Richard started bartering with for coffee. The food was good and filled our tummies for a long day.
We took time after breakfast to check out the shops and historic buildings in close proximity. The historic Madison Hotel began construction in 1912. It catered to rail and stage travelers. In 1923, President Harding was a guest. Although it was not the first hotel in West Yellowstone, it is the only hotel that remains from this time period. We also enjoyed seeing the painted bison statues around town.
We drove into Yellowstone National Park and had quite a backup waiting to gain entrance. Once in, we went south to Upper Geyser Basin where we checked in the Old Faithful Visitor Education Center to see the projected time for Old Faithful to erupt. It was within 30 minutes so we made our way to the viewing area. The huge bench, horseshoe seating area was already filled. We found a spot standing behind the rows of benches where we had a great view. We waited for awhile, being teased with little spurts, until the spurts get more frequent and the geyser eruption began. Although it was beautiful, there was so much steam it was sometimes hard to see the actual eruption. What was remarkable, though, was that it was right on time from the prediction.
We continued on the boardwalk until we reached the Grand Prismatic Springs. Its beauty captured in photos we had seen were not visible in real life from the boardwalk. The steam was so great and hung over the geyser that you could hardly see any of the beautiful rainbow colors. The view from the boardwalk didn't get you up high enough to see the full geyser. You could walk up to an overlook in the nearby hill, but it would be a quite a hike. You could see the outside golden edges that were near the boardwalk. However, having seen the beautiful colors from the aerial views publicized, we were able to visualize the colors in our heads to still enjoy the beauty of the moment.
Continuing on the boardwalk, we saw the Turquoise Pool. It, too, was turquoise blue but not as bright as Excelsior Geyser Crater. The yellow mineral buildup along the sides were also visible like the Grand Prismatic Springs. The Turquoise Pool's features seemed to be a combination of the other two geysers in the Midway Geyser Basin.
The sulfur smell was very strong in these geyser areas. The longer we were there, the more we started to feel allergy symptoms and headaches.
From there, we looked for a picnic area where we could eat our bag lunches. We took the Firehole Lake Drive find the picnic area on the map, but everything was wet and not under shelter. We decided to drive the road anyway to see more geysers. We saw Firehole Springs, Great Fountain Geyser, White Dome Geyser and Pink Cone Dome. Some of these were very different. Great Fountain Geyser is supposed to be a wonderful sight, but the predictability is hard. When we were there, the sign said it MIGHT erupt between 11:30 am and 3:30 am the next morning. Some people just come, sit, and wait. We had so many other things to see. We did learn the difference between a fountain and cone. A fountain geyser erupts through a large vent with a wide opening. Their water bursts in many directions. A cone geyser, on the other hand, erupts in a narrow jet of water through a small opening in a cone shaped formation. Well, we decided we didn't see another picnic area closeby and it was raining, so we decided to eat while we were parked at Great Fountain Geyser area. Our contents of our bag lunches were excellent! Since the sandwiches were very thick, we were glad we had chosen to split a bag lunch between each couple.
We drove the Fountain Flat Drive in the Lower Geyser Basin. There was a herd of bison all along a branch of the Firehole River. There were many calves in the herd. We enjoyed watching the calves run and play with each other while staying close to their moms. We also saw a trumpeter swan. There were a few geysers along the way, but most were small.
In this stretch of driving, we also saw bison right up at the road. One was so close eating grass that you felt like you could reach out and touch him. Of course, we just drove by him, but did slow down to take a few pictures.
A little further up the road, we had to stop in traffic for a bison to cross the road. He finally caught up to the rest of his herd.
Once we reached Norris, we continued north to Mammoth Hot Springs Visitor Center. The road was under construction and had parts where the paved road turned to dirt road. We managed through these sections and marveled at the construction design of the rock areas they needed to remove. However, the drive was slow and bumpy through the really rough patches.
After the paved road returned, we saw some really pretty sights. We drove along a valley, a river and some beautiful mountain scenery. We also saw deer and bison in these areas.
As the road began to wind, the rock formations began to change. We saw deep blue lakes and unique mountain sides. A section of the snow-covered Galatin Mountain Range jutted up from behind the trees.
Finally, we drove into the Mammoth Hot Springs area. There in the middle of "town" area were several elk does, grazing on both sides of the road. They continued to eat as people walked right past them, heading to the restaurants, Visitor Center, and gift shops.
We did go to the Visitor Center and explored the exhibits. Then we headed back past the elk and onto the Mammoth Hot Springs Terrace, which was the geothermal highlight of the area. Wow! They were magnificent! We learned how these terraces were formed from limestone. When the thermal water rises through the limestone, it carries high amounts of dissolved limestone. When it reaches the surface, carbon dioxide is released and calcium carbonate (limestone) is deposited, forming travertine, the chalky white mineral forming the rock of travertine terraces. This process continues over and over, adding more and more terraces. The overflow along the side of the terrace formations were beautiful colors as well.
After admiring the terraces, we decided to continue heading north to find the Roosevelt Arch at the North Entrance. It had been moved to a different area of the North Entrance, so there was a huge construction area in front of it. We were able to take a picture of the arch.
State #12 - Montana
We drove through the road detour and into Montana. The town of Gardiner,MT was right beyond the Montana sign. We drove around the town, looking for a place to eat dinner. That seems to be a common thread throughout our trip.
We went to The Yellowstone Mine, which had a mining theme inside. The food was good, but we really enjoyed the decor as well as the company. The Tampa Bay Lightning Stanley Cup Finals hockey game was on in the next room. We tuned in late, but were able to watch the last 5 minutes and watch the Lightning win! Wahoo!
