Grand Tetons/Yellowstone Day 7

We finally entered Yellowstone National Park today! We left earlier than any previous days in hopes to catch some early morning wildlife. We did see some Elk in the River, but no other wildlife that morning.


We first drove to the Old Faithful inn to enjoy a breakfast buffet before beginning a full day of sight seeing.



After Breakfast we began our day by visiting Old Faithful. It was overly crowded and after two days now of seeing many many geysers Old Faithful definitely wasn't my favorite. However, you can't go to Yellowstone for the first time and NOT get a few pictures!




When then took a hike up to Observation Point and Solitary Geyser. On the way up we saw a cute chipmunk (I think) eating on the trail.



Solitary Geyser

Check out this video of Solitary geyser

Solitary geyser was definitely my favorite thing of the day. It was only the four of us up there and watching the geyser getting ready to go off was exciting! First you would see the pool starting to make waves and then all of a sudden a little burble of water would come up. It's not as large or long lasting as some of the other geysers, but there wasn't a crowd of people!

On our way down we saw another animal. We think it's a marmot.


After the Old Faithful area we headed to West Thumb on Yellowstone Lake.
It started to rain on us and it was freezing!

You can see the geyser on the lake bed. Even with all the hot springs the temperature of the lake is only around 38 degrees Fahrenheit in late July.

Black Pool. It was named this because it used to contain a bacteria strain that turned the pool black. However there was an earthquake in '88 that raised the temperature of the pool 40 degrees which was the perfect temperature for cyanobacteria to thrive, thus turning the pool blue.

We then stopped along the road at another waterfall

Kepler Cascades

A pool in upper/midway/lower geyser basin. I can't exactly remember where this one was.

We then headed to the Fountain Paint Pots, which is where the mud boils. It's caused because the bacteria converts sulfide gas into sulfuric acid which breaks down the rock. These videos aren't the best and again some of them are sideways, but you get the picture.








On our way out of Yellowstone we saw our first Bison.

Not our closest encounter with a Bison but still our first so this picture deserves a post!

Next, Day 2 in the Park...Mammoth Hot Springs.