Finne's Follies: Yellowstone! Finally.

I don't have too many sight-seeing spots on my bucket list, but Yellowstone was one of them, and last week we got to check it off. What a wonderful place that is! And, we're most grateful it didn't explode before we got to see it...or while we were there, for that matter.

The distance from Rapid City to Cody was too long to make in a day, so we stopped along the way at a little town called Ten Sleep, WY. I asked the lady at their little one-room museum how the town got its name. She told me the area used to be one of two summer hunting grounds for the Plains Indians, and it took ten days (ten sleeps) to get from one to the other. And so the white settlers adopted this unusual but sensible name for the town. We were there two nights, just long enough for a short rest.

Ten Sleep, WY

It was a bit of a struggle finding a campsite around Yellowstone without spending the proverbial arm and leg, but after the second or third day of searching, we came across a little national park campground situated right on the road about fifteen minutes from Yellowstone's east gate, called Rex Hale Campground. It has nothing to recommend it except the price, a beautiful view, and 50 amp service, but it was just fine for a short stay (four days). The regular price at this park is $20 a night; we got it for half price with our National Park Senior Pass. We arrived Friday and spent the afternoon setting up and working out what we were going to do. With only three days to work with, we decided to drive the north loop to Mammoth Hot Springs on Saturday, the south loop and Old Faithful on Monday, and visit Cody on Sunday.

Our spot at Rex Hale Campground

Saturday, we got up bright and early and headed out the door about 7:30. It was a slow drive, hampered by the urge to stop and take pictures of bison wandering around on and by the road, not to mention the slow winding mountainous two lane road filled with drivers stopped to look at bison, geese, and sometimes nothing at all. Mammoth Hot Springs was only one of many thermal areas in the park. We passed dozens of hot pools and steaming vents smelling of sulfur. Mammoth was the only place we saw elk, most of which were lounging around in the grass in front of one of their municipal buildings, not looking very wild. And for all the driving we did, we managed over ten thousand steps besides. Ten hours later, at 5:30, we pulled back into our campground, tired, hot, and dusty. It was an amazing day. Long, but amazing.

Old Faithful

On Monday, I drove to give Mark a break and an opportunity to do some serious sight-seeing and picture-taking of his own. This day we were headed south to see the famous Old Faithful geyser. We arrived with about forty-five minutes to spare before the next expected eruption (give or take ten minutes), and just in time for scattered showers. So we hit the restrooms and then found a couple empty rocking chairs on the covered porch in front of the art center where we could wait out of the rain. About fifteen minutes before the scheduled time, we moseyed over to the viewing area and found a seat at the edge of the boardwalk where I could take pictures without other people's heads in them.

The spectacle was not at all what I expected. It's impressive--don't get me wrong-- it's just a little less impressive than it looks in photographs. For one thing, it started out in spits and starts, with water shooting a few feet in the air and then reverting to steam for a while. For another, I expected it to shoot much higher into the air than it actually did. Anyway, the whole thing took almost ten minutes from the first "spit," with the major eruption lasting a little over two minutes. Still, very impressive given that this activity is happening right under our feet, and we go about our business feeling "safe." Ha! Lucky-- that's what we are. The only thing stopping that whole place from blowing up is the Hand of God. They should make a t-shirt that says, "I survived Yellowstone!" (Maybe they do.)

Grand Prismatic Pool

After Old Faithful, we stopped at the Prismatic Pool. This stop is, hands down, my favorite site in all of Yellowstone. It is absolutely breathtaking, and the photos (at least the ones from my camera) don't do it justice. It is nothing less than a work of art. Even the steam coming off this pool is multicolored. We actually happened on it accidentally. I saw the rainbow steam rising up and decided to stop and see what it was. What a treat! This was the one site I really wanted to see, but didn't do my homework ahead of time to find out where it was. (I actually thought it was at Mammoth Hot Springs and was disappointed when I didn't see it. Newbie mistake.) Right next to this pool is the Excelsior Geyser. Its last significant eruption was 1985, with a further bubbling fit over the years of 2004-2005. But since then it's been mostly quiet. Currently it's considered dormant and there's not much of a "safety" margin built around it. Considering the geothermal nature of the park, I suppose it should be assumed that one enters Yellowstone Park "at his own risk."

Excelsior Geyser

I'll cover our Cody adventure in my next post.

Here are more pictures of Yellowstone...

"Landslide Pass" High Pass coming into the park

Sylvan Pool (this was like a mirror)

Additional note: We saw a lot of fire damage that looks dreadful at first...until you see the areas where new forest growth takes over. Then you see the beauty of God's self-healing creation.