Yellowstone Redux

This morning I decided to go back to Yellowstone alone and see some areas I have not been to. The week long pass for $25 was also a motivation. I left well before sunrise and headed South from Big Sky to the Western entrance. Arriving alone at 5 am was a great advantage for no one was around. My visit two days ago had me fighting crowds, but this morning there were very few people to fight for the views. Most times I was all alone.

I am most fascinated with the Geyser basins and visited a few in the North of the Park.

The algae and bacteria living in the water create these abstract paintings in the deposits.

The morning was quite chilly at 42 degrees but the heat radiating from the geysers was very warming.

This river is literally boiling as it flows down to the Madison river below.

This one was not Old Faithful, but the force of nature that shoots boiling water out of the ground four feet is very impressive.

This spring is very deep and you can see way down into it.

Another deep one that was boiling away.

Because so few people were around there was a lot of wildlife around. I had a Grizzly bear run across the road in front of me. I also had a huge Elk with a tremendous rack run across the road in front of me before the sun came up.

These Elk were right on the edge of a cliff. I kept waiting for one to fall off. They were very sure footed. Later in the morning I went past a sign warning of "falling rock." I have passed thousands of signs just like that one, but this time a huge boulder fell right in front of the car. Thank God I was not going fast and the rental car only had 690 miles on the brakes. Three more seconds and I might not be writing this. I am guessing I avoided ten tons by three seconds.

This pool was completely empty when I first walked past it. Ten minutes later it was this cool icy blue and beginning to flow over the rim. I think they call this "the wonders of nature."

This is Mammoth Springs in the far North of the Park. The Ranger that I was talking to said these springs change rapidly through out the day. The water is very heavy with minerals and as it makes contact with oxygen it solidifies. She said some pools grow as much as a foot every day. At any time the water can change course and the pool dries up very quickly. Stop action cameras would be very cool to set up and watch this taking place.

These dead trees looked so surreal swallowed up by the deposits. The Ranger said two years ago these were healthy trees. If the spring continues at its current pace they will be full encased in just a few years.

A great day in the Park to say the least. I drove out through the North entrance to take the "scenic route." Scenic route, yeah right, every where you go out here is the "scenic route." That is the edge of the Beartooth Range as I drive North toward Livingston.

Perhaps my next post will be about trailers. Yes, I am all over vintage trailers here. You will just have to be surprised.