Miles Driven: 81.5 September 13th Fishing Village to Old Faithful to Mammoth Hot Springs, WY Yellowstone National Park, WY
Total Miles: 2928.8
Camping Fees: $0
Yes, it was very, very, very COLD all through the night and into the following morning my first night in Yellowstone. Even though I was awake before the sun rose I stayed in my sleeping bag until the temperature had risen. The visitor center was just across the road and was about to open. I chatted with the park rangers and asked what time “old faithful” was due to go off.
What you need to know about Yellowstone is how big the park is in acreage, just over 2 million acres. So getting from one visitor center to another takes a least an hour and that is without stopping or any traffic on the roads. To describe the road system in the park, think of a figure of eight. I entered via the east entrance (6951 feet elevation) just about half way down the second circle of the figure of eight. Old Faithful is on the west side of that same circle about 61 miles away. And of course there were oodles of sites to see in-between. 12:18pm was the time I was aiming for, which give me about three hours to site see along the way and get through the construction on the roads. Finding a nice spot to eat breakfast was not that hard. I drove over Fishing Bridge and sat on the grass next to Yellowstone Lake where the sun was getting higher and higher. (If you look closely, just below the tree line on the right side is a buffalo (bison))
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| Yellowstone Lake at Fishing Village, Yellowstone NP, WY |
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| Yellowstone NP, WY |
Arriving at Old Faithful Visitor Center about 11:30am allowed me time to peruse the stores and read all the information on Old Faithful. Old Faithful is one five geysers predicted by the park rangers and is located in the Upper Geyser basin along the Firehole River. Only four other locations in the world have large concentrations of hydrothermal features - Russia (Kamchatka), Chile, New Zealand and Iceland. Yellowstone has ample evidence of volcanic geology and magma provides the first ingredient for thermal features. HEAT. Rain and snow provide the second. WATER. Water seeps down several thousand feet below the surface where it is heated. Underground cracks form the third ingredient: NATURAL PLUMBING SYSTEM. Hot water rises through the plumping system and to produce springs and geysers.
Finding a good stop after reading up on Old Faithful was tricky. Seeing that all the seats were taken I sat on the ground in front of the wooden benches. There were hundreds of people sitting and standing around waiting for old faithful to blow. I mentioned to the people sitting next to me “I have never seen so many people be so patience in my life“. The crowd was relatively quiet in anticipation. Something you do not see on a regular basis.
Old Faithful had some performance anxiety and some ‘pre flow’ before the big show. Old Faithful was due to go off at 12:18pm but can go anytime within 10 minutes of that time. At 12:20:42pm the real show started just as the sun went behind the clouds. Old Faithful eruptions last anywhere from 11/2 to 5 minutes and are about 90 minutes apart varying from 51 to 120 minutes. 3,700 to 8,400 gallons of boiling water reach heights of 106 to 184 feet. The show I was watching lasted 2 minutes. I can now check that off my list.
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| 12:20:40pm Old Faithful Blow Yellowstone, WY |
Having seen the eruption I headed to my car where I wrote a bunch of post cards for an hour or so. Old Faithful is located in the Upper geyser basin. As you travel north you go through Midway and Lower geyser basins. Think of the figure of eight, Old Faithful would be on the lower left corner of the lower circle and as you move up the left side of the lower circle midway would be in the middle and lower geyser basin would be close to the top.
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Shell Spring, Biscuit Basin Yellowstone, WY
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| Avoca Spring Biscuit Basin Yellowstone, WY |
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| Excelsior Geyser, Midway Basin Yellowstone, WY |
Just before you enter the midway basin region you travel through biscuit basin. This area has a tremendous amount of springs and mud pools each having their own names such as shell pool, avoca spring, sapphire pool, and black opal spring And each one of these pools or springs was unique.
Having driven further up the road I was now in midway geyser basin where Grand Prismatic Spring is located. But first you pass turquoise pool, excelsior geyser and then opal pools. These were bigger than the biscuit basin springs and pools.
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| Grand Prismatic Spring Midway Geyser Basin Yellowstone, WY |
On the road again I was headed toward Canyon Village. On route I encounter a bison just strolling in the middle of the road minding its own business. This was a reminder to keep to the speed limit of 45mph or less. The newspaper given to everyone who enters the park states that about 100 animals including bear, elk, deer, wolves and bison are killed each year due to speeding drivers. I did not what to add to that number.
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| Bison (buffalo) on road to Canyon Village Yellowstone, WY |
If you think of the figure of eight, Canyon village would be on the right hand lower side of the upper circle, 40 odd miles away from the geyser basin regions. The scenery starts to change as you travel around this area. Gone are the springs and pools, enter cliffs and large prairie fields where I spotted another bison.
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| Changing Scenery on route to Canyon Village Yellowstone, WY |
Canyon village is named for the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone river. The canyon is 20 miles in length, over 1,000 feet deep, 1,500 - 4,000 in width (depending on where you are located), 109 feet of height in upper falls and 308 feet of height in the lower falls. Just getting down to the brink of the lower falls trail you descent on a steep trail that drops 600 feet. Before you start to head down the trail there are warnings NOT RECOMMENDED FOR THOSE WITH HEART, LUNG, OR OTHER HEALTH CONDITIONS. The hike down was fine, but boy oh boy getting back up was a major effort, but well worth the effort.
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| Grand Canyon at Yellowstone River Yellowstone, WY |
You can drive the north rim and stop at many points to take photographs, which I did ending at inspiration point.
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| Looking back at the Canyon from Lookout Point Yellowstone, WY |
The sun was setting and I needed to be at Mammoth Hot Springs Visitor center for a camp site, which was another 40 odd miles away. Plus I did not want to drive in the dark again especially with all the wild life roaming around at dusk. And low and behold what should I see around a bend but a bison. Further down the road I almost hit a wolf and elk were running across the road. Neither of these could I catch with the camera. But I did see them none the less.
Getting to the camp site at Mammoth Hot Springs in the dark, I missed the last spot by 15 minutes. Blame it on the wild life. So I found a nice quite place to park close to the visitor center. Another cold night was on tap.
