Letters from...Yellowstone (part 6)

   (text in ENG)

Castle Geyser

   Our last stay in Yellowstone Park was in Old Faithful, rather far away from Mammoth as we had to go south all the way on the outer loop. On the way to Morris Junction, there were two interesting spots, one the Obsidian Cliff – what we hadn´t found. We found a sign to the place explaining that the whole cliff is made of obsidian (a black, shiny stone, produced from lava), but the stone “collectors” had destroyed it, chipping off stones from the cliff… anyway, we hadn´t find it so went to the next attraction, the roaring mountain. 

 

Sheepeater Cliff

   On the way we found a smaller attraction, the Sheepeaters Cliff. This was a huge wall of hexagon shaped granite. In the front there were huge rocks fell down from the wall, and as the cliff is made of hexagon shaped columns, it looked like a giant had knocked over some of these columns. Regarding the sign there, Sheepeater was called the Indian tribe that had lived here before, therefore the name. Nearby the cliff there was a river running, so it was a perfect picnic stop. Suddenly, a squirrel (golden-mantled ground squirrel) had appeared from the rocks. First I thought it was a chipmunk, as it had stripes on its back, but searching on the internet, it turned out it was a squirrel.The squirrel was running around, stopping suddenly (like all squirrels), then running again, standing to his hind feet to look around… it was so cute, I could hardly leave him. 

 

golden-mantled ground squirrel

   But as my husband got eager to go further, we left Sheepeater Cliff and drove further.  Not far from the next attraction, Roaring Mountain, I spotted something on the field that turned out to be a sandhill crane. There were actually two birds, the second (maybe the female?) was a bit shy, hiding behind a smaller bush. A bit further, we spotted some geese grazing from the tall grass near the riverbank (I called them Niels Holgerson Goose, but they are “officially” Canada Goose). 

 

sandhill crane

   Roaring Mountain was easy to spot, especially in the morning when the steam coming from the holes and gaps of the mountain was seen more clearly. It made the mountain look like it was sweating. It is called “roaring”, because sometimes the water leaving the ground makes a hissing sound.

Roaring Mountain

   We stopped at Norris Jct. to see the Norris Geyser Basin and the Artists Paintpot. The Norris Geyser Basin seems to be a quite new discovery and a hotspot for the researchers as the view in the basin changes every year, showing the actual volcanic activity of the area. The people around here (in the western side) were much more than what we´d seen in the eastern area, forest area and it was frustrating to line up for parking. At Norris as well, we had gone there a few days ago, but it was so full, we gave up. This time, we were relatively early (around 9am), so we still found a parking space relatively fast.

   As the basin is quite big, my husband stayed outside in the museum (which, by the way shows the different volcanic activities very picturesque) while I “ran” around the basin. Here, the entrance is very dramatically made, as you first face a huge steam vent. 

the entrance of Norton Geyser Basin

    The basin further is full with holes filled with bubbling water or mud volcano and some more steam vents. Overall the hot water flows across the whole basin, creating small creeks of green, orange, brown colors.

Norton Geyser Basin

    Norris Geyser Basin is huge, there are many trails, but as my husband was waiting for me outside, I just took the smaller loop and went back to meet him in the museum.

   Not counting the smaller stops, we directly went from Norris to Old Faithful. Just as the Mammoth area, Old Faithful was as well rather a touristic spot than a national park – very well organized, nice and neat place. As it was lunchtime, we went to have lunch in the Inn´s buffet. The variation of the food was plenty and the seats were looking directly to the Old Faithful Geyser (it is called so as its eruptions are relatively reliable and on-time; about every 80 minutes or so). After lunch, we stopped at the geyser to see its eruption. As it was “smoking”, I thought it would erupt in any minute, but we had to wait about 20 minutes. Altogether the eruption took a few minutes, so it was like in Disneyland: you line up for hours for a 2 minute ride. The attraction at Old Faithful was like a sport event: there were benches around the geyser and it was completely full when the geyser erupted. This scene was just as interesting as the eruption of the geyser…

The crowd to see Old Faithful Geyser...

...and the show!

    As the geyser-show had finished, the crowd dispersed and we also headed to the reception to check-in. Although it was before 4pm, we could check in our lodge. As the Old Faithful Geyser, the lodges and other shops and restaurants were all in one place here, the parking lot was huge and the place very crowded. Fortunately, there were parking spaces at the lodges, so we didn´t have to carry our luggage.

   Later we looked around the area – there were souvenir shops, restaurants and on the other side of the village, the Old Faithful Inn, a huge, wooden inn. It had about 5 stories and the interior was all wood and logs, it looked beautiful. Unfortunately, not only the building, but its price as well is high, so we stayed in the Lodges, which were just as nice and clean as in any other part of the park. 

inside Old Faithful Inn

    We parked at the Inn to leave for the upper geyser basin. As well, we had only walked a small part of the basin (about 2kms), but it was the most fantastic hike we´d had in the park; the road is full with geysers and hot springs, so with every step you can see something new. First we went to see the Castle Geyser, but we had to take a smaller loop on the road as a bison had selected his spot to rest right next to the trail. The Castle Geyser is the biggest cone geyser in this area erupts the water up to 27meters high for about 20-30 minutes! We were lucky as the eruption just started in a few minutes after we had arrived, although the eruption is in every 10-12 hours. As for me, the cone geysers seem more interesting as the water here erupts in on, powerful jet. 

Castle Geyser

    Walking further we passed the Crested Pool (a 13m deep, turquoise blue pool), Sawmill Geyser as we arrived to the next big attraction, Grand Geyser. As the Grand Geyser is said to be erupted after the Castle Geyser stops, we stopped at the geyser to wait for the eruption. There are signs at the geysers saying the approx. time (in about 2-4 hours span) of the next eruption. The one at Grand Geyser said to be erupted around 3 and 6pm. It was around 4pm, so we waited. Unfortunately, finally we had to wait more than an hour under the hot sun… after about 20 minutes, I went to look around a bit: right next to the Grand Geyser were 2 little springs that started to bubble heavily, which I thought might be a sign for the eruption, but turned out not to be. A bit further was a pool called Belgian spring – regarding to a tour guide, it is called so because a Belgian scientist “discovered” this spring by falling into it when running towards the Castle Geyser. It was before the boardwalks were set up in the park. The pool is nicely blue, but I wonder if this Belgian guy had survived soaking into the hot water… A bit further were a twin-pool, called Liberty Pool.

 

Liberty Pool

   The wait was like waiting for a bus: “shall I wait or shall I go? If I go, it´s for sure that the bus will come in a minute and I won´t have time to run back to it… If I stay…how long do I wait?” Finally we gave up and were about to leave when finally the eruption started. It was huge! Apparently, it is the largest predictable (eruption in every 7-15 hours) geyser; the water reaches 60 meters (!) and lasts for a long, 15 minutes. It was interesting as there is another, smaller geyser (that apparently has the same canal as the Grand Geyser) that started erupting a few minutes after the Grand Geyser. The Grand Geyser was erupting water perpendicularly, while this other geyser shot the jet of water in an angle. As it was bright, shiny day, the water spray created a beautiful rainbow as well. The two geysers and the rainbow altogether looked like a spectacular water show of the nature. 

Grand Geyser

    After the “show” had finished, we continued our way towards the Morning Glory spring. On the way we had seen many other geysers and pools, like the Chromatic Spring, Beauty Pool or the Grotto Geyser. 

Beauty Pool

  We also had seen a beautiful footprint of a bear. A bit later we saw a handwritten sign, informing that there had been sightings of a grizzly with cubs, so it must have been a grizzly footprint. As any other animal, grizzlies as well are the most dangerous when they are with babies. Actually, the next day in Jackson Hole I saw an article in the local newspaper about a bear-attack (the first one in the park in this year); apparently, August is the most dangerous not only because of the cubs but as well because the bears become more anxious and easily irritated as the time is closing up to look for food before the winter.

grizzly footpring

    Morning Glory Spring is like the smaller version of the Grand Prismatic Spring: its colors vary from yellow to deep green. Moreover, as its name says, this spring has a shape of a morning glory as it narrows down from the surface. According to the sign, the spring had been originally turquoise blue in the middle, but due to vandalism (people throwing cans and coins into the spring), the color of the water has changed to green. Even so the spring is beautiful, but it is said that it might never change back its color to its original blue.

Morning Glory Spring

    The trail from Morning Glory Spring continues further, but from this point we headed back to the lodge. The trails are creating loops, so we didn´t have to go back on the same way, we could take another trail with some other more geysers.

   The next day was our last in Yellowstone and our hotel was in Jackson Hole, so we took the whole day to drive back the about 120km road without any rush. This day the only destination was the Grand Prismatic Spring, but as we´d seen the day before, it was completely packed, so we decided to go early in the morning (before checking out) so we would be able to avoid the crowd. It was a bad choice… as the spring is hot and the morning is still cold, we couldn´t see anything from the huge steam coming out from the spring. 

Grand Prismatic Geyser in the morning

   Disappointed we went back to the lodge, packed our stuff, checked out and went back again. (The spring was on the way anyway.) This time the view was better, but to be honest, I was still a bit disappointed. As it can be shown in the postcards, this spring is so huge (about 60ms in the diameter), that it really looks great only from above. I was wondering why the park can´t make an outlook for the spring on the nearby hill, because from the boardwalks, only the massive size of the spring can be experienced, its real beauty can´t be enjoyed fully. Anyway, it was very impressive, but we didn`t stay for long - after taking some pictures we left to head to Jackson Hole.
 

one "leg" of the Grand Prismatic Geyser

   The weather was still beautiful, so we took our time to stop by at the outlooks, especially in Grand Teton National Park. Those sharp rocks of the Grand Teton are just breathtaking; no matter how many times one sees them.

the beautiful Grand Teton National Park

    We arrived to Jackson Hole around noon, so after check out the location of the hotel, we drove around in the downtown. We found a Japanese restaurant and had lunch there – the owner was Japanese so, the food was authentic and delicious. After lunch, we strolled around the downtown; it´s a few blocks, so really easy to walk around. The center is the main square, with antler arches, nice lawns and benches. 

antler arch in the main square

in Jackson Hole

    People were resting in the park with their dogs, or sipping coffee on the terraces of the cafes and restaurants… the town felt very peaceful and overall it had a great atmosphere. The shops around the main square were mainly restaurants and souvenir shops varying from the usual “mass” souvenirs like T-shirts, toys, calendars to hyper-exclusive and expensive clothes or cowboy boots shops. There were some shops with stuffed animals, for me these were the most impressive: from animals living in the surrounding area, like foxes, raccoons or bears, wolves, cougars to exotic African animals like buffalos or antelopes, one could find everything here! 

For more pictures, click here! → Yellowstone (part 6)

Letters from... Yellowstone (part 5)

 (text in ENG)

Mammoth Hot Springs

  On the fifth day our destination was Mammoth Hot Springs. We moved from the western, mountainous, lake covered side of the park to the “real” Yellowstone, the land of geysers and hot springs.

   However, before departing towards Mammoth, getting excited from our good luck the previous day seeing two bears, we took a round early in the morning looking for wolves or moose. As for the moose, unfortunately we haven´t seen one in the whole trip (why is it that you can´t see one even in zoos?), and we just  missed the wolves as well… we still saw the crowd and the park ranger, but seemed that the wolves had already left. But it seems that it is not rare to see wolves in the park, as we were told the other day that the bison the bear was finishing off was taken in the morning by wolves. And the next day they show up again! But it seems you have to be an early bird to catch the “wolf” – later we heard that the wolves showed up around 6:30, and we went to Lamar Valley at 7am… what a pity!

   With a bit of disappointment we returned to Roosevelt Lodge as at 10am I had a horseback riding reserved. (As my husband still had a catheter inside, he could hardly walk, not to mention riding, so it was only me going.) It was a one hour ride with about 20 people (plus 4 guides). As it was for beginners, there was no need to be able to ride – the horses were already used to the route and the pace, the ride was very peaceful and easy. We took a loop at the hills nearby Roosevelt Lodge. It was interesting as we could take a route with the horses that we´d never take on foot – we saw bison bones and skulls, evidence of the very existence of the bears and wolves nearby. Then we saw a pronghorn family and had a bit of adventure with a bison: there was a small bridge over a creek that we had to cross, but also a bison found his place there to rest. So, our tour guides showed their cowboy skills, maneuvering the bison out of the way with good horse handling and shouting, waving. After the bison was gone, we could follow our route to climb up a hill and turn back to the village. 

 

horseback riding in Roosevelt (unfortunately camera on the horse was prohibited...)

   Although there was not much excitement (except of the bison, which was quite spectacular adventure), it was a good to experience how the cowboys and trappers were traveling in the old days. Today it is 20-30 minutes to go around an area here, but on horseback the pace and so the view is completely different. Although, I have to mention that even the bison are fond of the improvements of the civilization – I am sure they walk big distances on the fields as well, but whenever we saw one near the road, it was without exception walking on the asphalt rather than next to it on the soil. It seems, they also noticed that the smooth road is easier to walk on.  There was even one who followed the yellow line in the middle (just like Dorothy in Oz) making the cars stop in both lanes. 

 

"Dorothy" bison following the yellow line

   Not to mention the herd that found the road easier to get back to Lamar Valley from the Tower Falls on the paved road rather than in the woods. 

bison family on the road

   After the horseback riding, we checked out of the lodge and headed to Mammoth Hot Springs, which again was quite close (about 30kms away). On the way to Mammoth, we were now hunting for animals to see. And we found a badger! It was running across the road so we pulled out at the next stop (fortunately there was one close) and went hunting for it – the badger was about 40-50cms long, brownish with white stripes on his face and white spots on his back. As it run into one of the many many holes these animals dug into the ground among the short bushes, we first only saw the badger´s face which was something like of a squirrel-mouse-cat mix. As we were just standing a few meters from the hole, the badger was a bit shy, but came out of the hole and ran into others many times, so we could “chase” it for several minutes. When it got fed up with us, just jogged away under the short bushes. I was amazed during this trip from time to time, how fast the animals really are and how much human is fragile and vulnerable without its gadget (cars and so). I couldn´t even chase up with a little badger in the wild, not to mention a bear or a wolf!

badger in the bush

   Anyway, happily to see such a badger in the wild, we drove directly to Mammoth. Arriving to the “village”, our jaws dropped. Got used to the moderate villages on the east of the park, Mammoth was like Monaco after being in Albania. Green, smugly cut lawn, huge, colorful houses and hotels after the brown little cottages and lodges we´ve seen so far in the park. As we have descended from the mountains, the weather was extremely hot, making the whole place a real tourist paradise. Also, the main entrance of Yellowstone Park, the North Entrance is very close, only 10 miles. According to this, the people were different here as well – tourist-like, with skirts and high heels, something that definitely wouldn´t serve at the Lake or Canyon Area.

the nicely arranged Mammoth Area

   As it was past noon when we arrived, we first went to a restaurant, the Mammoth Dining. As everything here, this dining was as well posh and more elegant than the diners we had eaten in the other areas. It was however a great change to eat “normal” food after the sandwiches and burgers and French fries. Although the price was a bit high, the quality of the food was excellent! Not only compared to a dining in a national park, but such quality could be sold in any place.

in the Mammoth Dining

  Happily and full after the delicious lunch, we went to see the Mammoth Hot Spring. This huge hot spring/calcium-carbonate hill is only a few minutes’ walk from the diner. We made a bad decision walking from the diner and right after lunch, as it turned out we had chosen the hottest time of the day and the boardwalk around the spring is huge, so even without that few minute´s walk, this can be quite a hike (especially with a freshly operated person). There are 2 main attractions here, the first is the Liberty Cap. This 11ms tall column is the symbol of this area. It is the remaining of a once was geyser. As it stands just right before the Mammoth´s terraces, I first thought it was fake and was put here, but turned out to be real, showing that Mother Nature has a style as well. 

Liberty Cap

   Just as we finished taking pictures of the Liberty Cap (actually, a good name as the shape of the column looks like the mushroom named after), we could still catch a glimpse of a snake disappearing in one of the holes that can be seen around here in the ground. 

   Right behind Liberty Cap is the other attraction of this area, the terraces of spring. There were 2 or 3 different names to it, the one I liked most was “Devil´s Thumb”. The hot spring apparently delivers 2 tons of calcium carbonate every day, which slowly accumulates on the ground, finally making a hill of minerals – or terraces as in the case of Devil´s Thumb.

 Although the mechanism might be different, such hot spring terraces can be seen in Turkey or Hungary as well. But it was really spectacular to see this monument that is hard to believe to have been formed naturally – the top of the terrace is flat with a small pit to collect the water so from the top it would all down as a waterfall. During the centuries, the minerals have accumulated creating the white terraces that transforms the hot spring waterfall into a natural fountain, allowing the hot water to descend from the height gently to the ground. Thanks to the white calcium carbonate precipitated from the water, the ground and the terraces around are smooth and with the water flowing, it sparkles like diamond. To make it more interesting, the different microorganism feeding on the eutrophic water the calcium carbonate are colored to orange, brownish or greenish, yellowish at places. 

   After the Devil´s Thumb, the boardwalk continues up and around the hill to see more hot springs, but with my husband hardly walking, we had given up on look around. Rather we decided to look around later by car – there is a driveway going around the “outer side” of this huge hot spring “monument”. As it was so hot, we decided to cool down in the car and drive to Gardiner, the entrance town on the north. The north entrance seems to be the “main” entrance with the huge, chancel arch-like Roosevelt Arch showing the way to the park from far away. 

   The way to Gardiner from Mammoth Hot Springs is about 10 minutes, going downhill all the way – the climate and scene is again so different here from the other parts of the park! It is hot here and the vegetation is shorter, poorer, with desert-resembling snakes and cactuses. 

the landscape around Mammoth area

   Gardiner is again a pretty little “park-entrance” town, its main street facing the entrance of the park. We had seen here many tourist offices planning rafting and other activities, as the Yellowstone River is just passing here, providing a great opportunity for extreme water sports. The souvenir shops were extremely interesting here – many “polished” (meaning not mass souvenir products) souvenirs, paintings, pottery, professional photos, shops with huge variety of fossils and stones from the surrounding mountains as well as from all around the world. We even saw shops selling anglers, bear or wolf claws or animal fur. 

Gardiner

    After strolling around and buying some souvenirs (I found some nice square plates with bears and bison burned into the plate), we headed back to the park and took the drive around the Mammoth Hot Spring. Actually there is an upper terrace where you can walk around from the parking lot or you can take another road to drive around by car. The drive took us around nice mineral formations and strange, extraterrestrial places where trees grew among the snow-white calcium carbonate covered ground. 

orange spring mound in the upper terrace driveway

   As we still had time in the afternoon, we decided to go down to the nearby hot spring that people can actually use. This hot spring is on the way to Gardiner, just about 5 minutes from the village. The guide book said to be 10 minute´s walk from the parking lot, but even without an injured person (my husband) it would take at least 20. Now, it seemed to take forever…but we´ve seen elks and freakishly big, black cricket, so it was fun. Eventually we arrived to the hot spring. Actually, the hot spring comes up from the ground and merges into the close by Gardner River, creating a great spot to bathe. This hot spring was the highlight of our stay, and even the high maintenance Japanese, it is an absolute recommendation. My husband loves hot springs next to the rivers (you can find several in Japan), but this one was even better: this hot spring is actually IN the river. 

Gardner River hot spring

    As the almost boiling water mixes with the clear, cool water of the river creates hot spots for the hot spring. There were stones put around the hotter places to slow down the rivers flow and create small ponds to relax in the water. The water here was just perfect, not too hot, not too cold (actually, you could adjust the temperature by slightly changing your position as the temperature in the running water was slightly different in different places). 

 

the hot water flowing into the river from the rocks

   And the view was just in a dream – not only that there was a beautiful river just in front of us, nature and mountains around us, but even we´d seen wildlife while relaxing in the hot water! Just on the other bank of the river there were an elk family having dinner and later we´d seen another elk female passing. Just on the other side, a few meters from us! It was simply amazing!

amazing view from the spa

   Totally warmed up from the core, and full with great experience, the way back to the car hadn´t felt so long. As it was around 7 o´clock (dinnertime for the animals), it was no big surprise to see another elk on the roadside walking home (wherever it was). Turned out, the “home” was Mammoth Hot Springs. As we arrived back to the hotel, we saw 5-6 elks grazing on the fresh lawn. Later, as the night had fallen there were more and more gathering and by night we counted 13 at one block of lawn. Apparently the village is a paradise with the fresh green grass to these animals (to the great delight of the tourists).

elks gathering in the village

    For dinner we again went to the Mammoth Dining and later just watched the elks grazing from our window (it faced right to the front, where the elks gathered). The hotel was again very posh, especially compared to the one we had stayed before at Roosevelt. The Roosevelt Lodge was nice and cozy, but it was with a shared bath and toilet which made it a bit uncomfortable. The hotel room in Mammoth was again with a shared bathroom, but it was in the same building (didn´t have to walk outside) and was more comfy and elegant. Overall, it felt like getting back to the civilization. I loved the eastern part with its wilderness, but thinking about it, it was good that at Mammoth and the next day at Old Faithful we got back a bit to the “civilization” so getting back to Jackson and later to Mexico it wasn´t that big a shock.

For more pictures, click on the link!→Yellowstone (part 5)