A few days of fun in the park
Posted: Thu Sep 05, 2019 7:17 pm
I'm back from my Yellowstone trip and had a great time. Haven't had a chance to go through all my pictures yet but will try to post a few when I get a chance to go through them all.
Geothermal features were my primary interest in visiting the park so that is where I spent most of my time. Visited many of the geyser basins and walked among the various geysers and hot sprints and mud pots and vents. The diversity of activity the intensity the frequency the color the smells the sounds the toxicity of the various features is just amazing. Not to mention the patterns in the bacterial mats in the runoff. Just amazing.
I didn't put a lot of effort into timing to see major eruptions, mostly just wandered around and watched what happened around me. I did get lucky though and was able to get a video of a back to back eruption of Old Faithful followed immediately by the Beehive. Just as Old Faithful was winding down, the Beehive started up and all I had to do was pan over to include it in the video. Another highlight was Castle Geyser which put on a great show for me.
Also did a little hiking in the canyon area and naturally with that came great views of the canyon and the falls. I thought maybe I'd do more hiking, but the canyon area was all I got in. Next visit I'll try to do more of that.
As for wildlife, I saw more bison that you can shake a stick at. Saw plenty of deer and elk, which I always see a lot of when I visit Rocky Mountain National Park. Saw fox and bald eagle, neither of which was I able to photograph at the time. I'd swear I saw otter in Yellowstone River. But with the distance and the lighting it was difficult to tell for sure. I didn't see a single bear and no wolf the whole time I was there. I did go to Lamar Valley, Hayden Valley and Pelican Valley, but no bear nor wolf to be seen. Just lots of bison.
The dark skies at night were amazing. No problem just looking up to see the Milky Way and billions of stars.
When it was time to leave, I left driving East from Fishing Bridge. That drive between Fishing Bridge and Buffalo Bill Reservoir was really pretty.
Geothermal features were my primary interest in visiting the park so that is where I spent most of my time. Visited many of the geyser basins and walked among the various geysers and hot sprints and mud pots and vents. The diversity of activity the intensity the frequency the color the smells the sounds the toxicity of the various features is just amazing. Not to mention the patterns in the bacterial mats in the runoff. Just amazing.
I didn't put a lot of effort into timing to see major eruptions, mostly just wandered around and watched what happened around me. I did get lucky though and was able to get a video of a back to back eruption of Old Faithful followed immediately by the Beehive. Just as Old Faithful was winding down, the Beehive started up and all I had to do was pan over to include it in the video. Another highlight was Castle Geyser which put on a great show for me.
Also did a little hiking in the canyon area and naturally with that came great views of the canyon and the falls. I thought maybe I'd do more hiking, but the canyon area was all I got in. Next visit I'll try to do more of that.
As for wildlife, I saw more bison that you can shake a stick at. Saw plenty of deer and elk, which I always see a lot of when I visit Rocky Mountain National Park. Saw fox and bald eagle, neither of which was I able to photograph at the time. I'd swear I saw otter in Yellowstone River. But with the distance and the lighting it was difficult to tell for sure. I didn't see a single bear and no wolf the whole time I was there. I did go to Lamar Valley, Hayden Valley and Pelican Valley, but no bear nor wolf to be seen. Just lots of bison.
The dark skies at night were amazing. No problem just looking up to see the Milky Way and billions of stars.
When it was time to leave, I left driving East from Fishing Bridge. That drive between Fishing Bridge and Buffalo Bill Reservoir was really pretty.