One of my favorite days in the park! There is SOOOOO much to see on the West side of Yellowstone, I knew we couldn't get it all in so we did have to skip a few sights. BUT, the ones we got in.... some of my favorite!!!!!
As you head south, you'll get a good view of "liberty cap" - one of the Mammoth features.
What is so amazing is that as you drive by, you can see the ground steaming.... just an amazing sight to see.
We did get to see a beautiful fox slinking through a field.
We really enjoyed driving on the Firehole River scenic drive. This is one of the reasons I'd hate to have an RV here - some of the scenic drives do not allow RV's or busses - this was a beautiful drive. The thermal features were really amazing!
I think my favorite drive was through the Lower Geyser Basin (also a no RV zone) on the Firehole Lake Drive. It was amazing - with several beautiful geysers.
The spring was just entrancing...
And we were sooooo fortunate that we got there right before the Great Fountain Geyser went off. It goes off about every 12 hours. Just awesome to watch! You realize how much water comes out by the waves that begin to come off the geyser platform.
While we were watching the Great Geyser - we also saw the White Dome Geyser go off.
And the Steady Geyser empties water right into the Firehole lake.
And if the lower geyser basin wasn't fascinating enough - then you get to the Midway Geyser Basin.... I think this was my favorite from a beauty standpoint.
It's amazing to once again watch water from this hotspring to flow into the Firehole River. Just a little bit down, there are fishermen in the water.
The first thing you come to on this hike is the Excelsior spring...
Then - the Grand Prismatic! So beautiful. It was super windy the day we were there - so you were constantly trying to stay out of the steam.
Opal pool....
Turquoise Pool....
This is actually the geyser crater - at one time this was more than a hot spring - it was a geyser. Still releases a ton of water - but none is flying in the air.
And finally we made it to the Upper Geyser Basin and home of Old Faithful...
While we waited for the eruption - the girls got checked off on their Jr. Ranger books and earned their badges!!!
Then we went back to watch and wait. Now see those trees across the way....
Now imagine for a moment that you are sitting right there next to Nicole and Megan. And suddenly Nicole says - "Hey, look at that bear!" Well everyone out there grabs their binoculars to look for the bear... and sure enough she does see a bear..... WAY FAR AWAY. How she saw it, I will never know! On the other side of the geyser basin in the middle of a mountain of trees - she sees a bear climbing a tree. The man next to me confirms with his massively powered binoculars that she did indeed spot a bear. Everyone else there was like, "how did she see that?" - no clue - but she's got eyes for wildlife now!
And finally - Old Faithful (who was late, by the way).
It really was an amazing sight - but I can't say that it was my favorite. There were so many beautiful things, it's hard to rate them!
What a great day exploring the geysers and more hot springs! It'll be sad to leave Yellowstone - but we are taking soooo many memories with us!
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