Day 2 at Yellowstone started with a traffic jam.
This fantastic beast was the cause.
We had a pretty view while we waited for the bison to get along on its way.
More hot springs today.
But the big ones!
We took a walk around the Grand Prismatic on the boardwalks, but this image was
taken from the overlook, a short, but somewhat steep hike up.
From the ground, the Grand Prismatic is shrouded in steam, even on the hot August day.
The springs are boiling hot. Stay out of them, mmmkay?
Opal spring. The springs are deep and hot and acidic.
Microbe mat. Along the geothermal grounds microbes actually live!
Kind of like the animals found at the hydrothermic vents at the bottom of the ocean.
As Jeff Goldblum says: Life, uh, finds a way.
The huge spring next to the Grand Prismatic. Also very hot, but not as colorful.
Back in the van, we've got something to see!
They Ol' Geyser itself.
We arrived with about an hour to wait until its next eruption.
It is called Old Faithful because of its predictability.
Depending on how long the blast lasts, rangers can estimate when the
next blast will be due, to within about ten minutes.
When you arrive at the visitor center, you can see on the big board
when the next blast is estimated to go off.
I hung around the shops and the grounds a bit, tasting some huckleberry soda,
when the time came to make my way to the show.
First it starts steaming up. A few spurts blow out.
More steam....then...
...she blows! It was actually kinda moving to see it in person.
I didn't set a clock to it, but I think it blew for about 3 minutes.
After the show and people started dispersing, I watch the ravens argue and play with
each other.
We then piled into the van again and set off for the Mammoth Hot Springs.
Another set of boardwalks snake around and take you down through the springs.
It looks like snow or sand, but it's calcium carbonate.
Water flows over the formations, building and eroding into distinct shapes.
"dead springs"
The day ended with a detour to the arch that was built when the park opened.
On the drive back out of the park, we saw a grizzly bear!
Here is my not so great photo of said bear.
It was walking back towards the trees after causing a traffic jam
of gawking tourists. Apparently, park rangers use bean bag guns to
persuade the bears to move away from the road.
Last night with the whole crew.
Tomorrow we drop them off at Salt Lake City and the
original small group will go on back to Nevada.
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