Last night was soooo cold! Neither of us slept very well, but we were both really excited to explore the park today. We left the campsite around 8:30 am to beat the crowds and to see some of Yellowstone’s most famous sites. Not sure if you know this, but Yellowstone is basically a volcano. The geyser basins throughout the park look otherwordly as steam spews from various cracks and holes in the ground.
First stop - Lower Geyser Basin. The area is covered with boiling pools of water that are various colors due to the mineral deposits. A wooden boardwalk meanders around the basin, keeping visitors from contaminating the area (and falling into a slow, boiling death). Next, we stopped at the Grand Prismatic Spring, which wasn’t as grand or prismatic as we had hoped. As another visitor pointed out, there was a lookout a bit of a hike away that gave more of a birds eye view. We took his word for it and can confirm that the view from the Fairy Falls lookout was much more grand and prismatic.
Continuing the southern park loop, we stopped at Old Faithful. It was extremely crowded as many of the park's amenities are located near the Old Faithful Visitor's Center. A sign informed us that we had about 30 minutes until the next eruption, give or take 10 minutes. We made our way around the geyser and settled in a spot to the right where we had a great view. Sure enough, Old Faithful erupted on schedule to the delight of the crowd. The geyser spewed water for about two minutes and then, just as quickly as they had filed in, the crowd dispersed, taking advantage of the onsite cafeteria and gift shops.
We decided to continue along the south loop to the West Thumb Geyser Basin and, eventually, to Grant Village for lunch, laundry, and showers. Along the way, we crossed the Continental Divide (twice), stopping the second time to snap a photo. West Thumb sits on Yellowstone Lake, giving the geyser basin a beautiful backdrop. It was one of our favorite spots of the day.
While doing laundry, Chad inquired as to where the best place is for seeing bison. We were given several locations and decided to continue on the southern loop towards Hayden Valley. Sure enough, we eventually saw one standing about 5 feet from the side of the road, cars all slowed to take pictures. As we rounded the corner, we realized it wasn’t just one but an entire herd! After that, we started seeing bison everywhere. It was cool! On our search for bison, we also came to an exit for the Yellowstone Grand Canyon and thought we would check it out. The view from the south rim was absolutely stunning. Now, we have been to both this one and the PA Grand Canyon (and Chelsea has been to the real Grand Canyon).
In 12 hours of exploring the park, we completed the entire southern loop, saw numerous elk, herds of bison and a coyote. We visited geyser basins, drove through endless forests and were finally able to clean all of our clothes (it’s been awhile). Overall great visit to the park.
