Last Yellowstone Day

On Thursday we got in the car and headed out to circle the park on the Grand Loop Road.  This took us up past the north rim of the Canyon where we got more views of the Falls and even spottted a young eagle on a very protected pinnacle-top nest.

We drove on up through heavy bison land to Mammoth Hot Springs and marveled at the palette of colors produced by generations of calcium laden hot water as it evaporated leaving behind pools of wet color.

Mammoth Hot Springs.

Then it was down the west side of the loop with a very fortunate stop at Artists’ Paint Pots.  Many people miss the sign and drive past this short walk to a cluster of bubbling pools of great color variety ranging from pure white to pinks and blues.  We felt that we had found a secret favorite spot.

Just one of the Artists’ Paint Pots.

Our last stop of the afternoon was at the Grand Prismatic Spring, a gigantic circular pool that not only  displays its own range of yellow-orange-brown-blue colors but also sends a multicolored waterfall down into the Firehole River.

Grand Prismatic Spring.

We ended the day with dinner at Old Faithful Inn and our last great campfire back at the campground.  Tomorrow we are off to the Grand Tetons.

Yellowstone Geyser Day

Wednesday was our geyser day at Yellowstone.  We spent the entire day in the Old Faithful Geyser Basin and during that day we saw Old Faithful erupt three times, but, the highlight was, we managed to see major eruptions of seven other geysers.

Old Faithful is the easy one to see.  It is close to the Visitor Center and the times are very predictable (and posted both at the Center and in the Old Faithful Inn lobby).  When we arrived it was due in twenty minutes, so we lingered there for the first big show.

It is Old Faithful.

Afterwards we walked big big circle loop all around the geyser basin and took about a hundred photos.  It was a gorgeous day with beautiful clouds to compliment the steam of the geysers.

Surprise eruption of Beehive Geyser.

Our next goal was Riverside, a geyser that projects out over the river and lands sparkling in the river itself.  On the way there we suddenly saw a big surprise eruption: it was Beehive Geyser beginning a full ten minute tall, spurting eruption. If that were not enough, suddenly Aurum Geyser began to erupt, with the two of them finishing simultaneously.

Riverside Geyser.

After Riverside and a short walk to Morning Glory Pool, we headed up to wait for Grand Geyser, one I had never seen in eruption.  While we were walking there, Daisy Geyser went off.  This was unexpected as Daisy had erupted early the same day and was not predicted.

Morning Glory Pool.

We waited about twenty minutes for Grand Geyser, being told by Park Rangers and volunteers that it would be worth all the wait.  It certainly was!  We were told that this Geyser goes up to two hundred fifty feet while Old Faithful barely hits one hundred.  In addition, it is a massive eruption coming out of three openings and lasting about twenty minutes.  Any sort of wait is worth it if you have a chance to experience Grand Geyser.

Back to camp for fire and rest before another anticipated day.

Yellowstone

On Wednesday we arrived at Yellowstone for our three-day visit there.  With no internet connection, the posts from there are delayed until we re-enter electronic civilization.

The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone was our first stop.  The yellow and ochre canyon walls are the obvious source of the Yellowstone name.  But, the canyon is so dominated by the two great waterfalls, Upper and Lower Yellowstone Falls that one could be forgiven for not noticing the coloration.

Lower Falls from Artists’ Point.

As we left the Canyon and headed toward our Grant Village campground, we first began to encounter the Yellowstone bison.  It is truly the land “where the buffalo roam” as their numbers seemed to multiply around each curve in the road.  It is lovely to see this growing and healthy herd after the devastation of nineteenth-century slaughter.

Since they were here first, it is right for the, to still have the right of way.

Camp was made in the afternoon with big plans for the following day.  It was a great campfire and early to bed as we look forward to tomorrow.

The highlight of each day is our campfire evening.

Into Idaho

Seventeen days from home we have now traveled 4,347 miles and are in Idaho.  Here it is time for digging potatoes, harvesting corn, and making hay.  There is hay everywhere with gigantic rectangular bales that are so large the length of one totally crosses an eighteen-wheel flatbed trailer from side to side.  We see the endless fields being baled and keep meeting dozens and dozens of triple-trailer trucks hauling their magnificent loads.

Much of the hay looks like alfalfa, but a lot also looks golden like wheat straw.

We’ve never seen haybales this size!

The endless potato fields are beginning to wilt, so, the digging can’t be far behind.  And then there is corn...   It is beautiful farmland worked over by gigantic machinery.  I keep wondering what my farmer-grandfathers would think of all this after their lives with oxen and horses.

Beautiful Farmland seem to have no end.

Along the way today we traveled through Craters of the Moon National Monument.  Established during the presidency of Calvin Coolidge, at that time people thought this volcanic landscape must surely be what the moon looked like.  On the visitors’ record map at the National Park Center no one from Ocracoke had ever added a pin!  We did that and the island is now documented as sending at least two visitors.

Craters of the Moon National Monument.

Tonight we camp in Idaho Falls and tomorrow begin our great adventure in Yellowstone.  Stay tuned!

Finishing Yosemite

This morning we left Yosemite Valley to drive to Sparks, Nevada, thinking that our Park visit was finished.  Not so.  We were taking the Tioga Pass Highway, a route that I had never taken all the way out the east side of the park to Mono Lake.  This road is closed a good part of the year due to snow, and there were still visible patches of snow today.

We traveled up toward Tuolomee Meadows, about nine thousand feet and high above the valley flor below.  Suddenly we could see the back of Half Dome, including (with binoculars) people climbing the cables on the back side up to the top of the dome itself.  If was a beautiful sight on a beautiful day.

The Back Side of Half Dome.

Just past there is Tanaya Lake, blue and clear and snow-melt cold.  The Tioga Pass Highway ends at Lee Vining, California, right on the edge of Mono Lake.

Tanaya Lake nested in the High Granite Domes.

Then we headed north to our campground outside Sparks, but, there was to be one more stop.  I could not resist wanting to visit the National Automobile Museum in Reno.  Trish agreed.  We went there and had a great time with the large collection, including many one-of-a-kind historic vehicles, that came from the estate collection of the late Bill Harrah (yes, the casino Harrah).  Our favorites were the cars we remember from our own childhoods.

Trish with a beautiful pre-war Packard.

Tomorrow we leave Nevada and drive up into Idaho on our way toward Yellowstone.

Another Day in Yosemite

Today was our second day in Yosemite Valley.  It was beautiful and clear with a solid blue sky framing the granite cliffs and domes above us.  We realized when walking this morning that we had recently been looking thousands of feet DOWN into the Grand Canyon, and now we  were looking thousands of feet UP from the Valley floor to the rock peaks and edges above us.

Our Morning Walk around the Valley Floor.

The past several times I have been here were all in the early spring of the year when the tourist population was quite low.  This time, in the midst of busy times, we found that we did not want to take the car out and try to drive and park on our own.  So, we took a Valley Floor Scenic Tour riding in an open tram and hosted by a well-informed Park Ranger.  After this two hour tour, we would both recommend it to anyone coming into the Valley, especially first time visitors.

Bridal Veil Falls, one Waterfall that flows all Year

We got a lot of geological history as well as human history, saw the most outstanding sites from excellent perspectives, and even saw a black bear along the way. I am afraid to even guess at the number of pictures we took along the way.

The First View of Yosemite Valley coming out of the Highway Tunnel.

The day ended with a splendid dinner at the Ahwahnee dining room.  Tomorrow we drive up over Tioga Pass and over into Nevada.  New adventures are in store.

End of the Day in Yosemite Valley.

Yosemite Valley

This afternoon we arrived in magnificent Yosemite Valley, which is spectacular even in the dryness of late summer when the waterfalls do not have much water with which to play.

Even though we love traveling and staying in our Airstream, in Yosemite it is impossible to bypass spending a couple of nights at the lovely and hospitable Ahwahnee Hotel.  Opened in 1927, the Ahwahnee offers the essence of charm and good hosting.  Our room actually looks out directly at Yosemite Falls.

The Beautiful Ahwahnee Hotel

After getting checked in, we went out and walked for about five miles before dinner.  We walked up to the falls and back down by the meadow where our initial views of Half Dome completed the afternoon.  I have been here, I believe, eight times, but Trish has never been.  It is a delight to get to see things through her first time eyes.

Half Dome in the Afternoon Sun.

This evening we were well fed in the beautiful Ahwahnee Dining Room.  Now it if off to bed looking forward to a full day in the Valley tomorrow.  We need good sleep to empty our eyes and minds so we can fill them up afresh tomorrow.

Yosemite Falls from our bedroom window.