Monday, September 8, 2014

Old Faithful

Within a few hours today we were in and out of three states—not intentionally!  We left our lodging in West Yellowstone, MT, to head into the park (Wyoming) to check out the Fountain Paint Pots, Middle Geyser Basin (both pots and geysers, which, unlike Old Faithful, spray all the time), and Old Faithful, itself.

Colorful Deposits at the Fountain Paint pots (next several pictures)

Bacteria mats at Fountain Paint Pots

It was another glorious day—beautiful blue skies with fluffy clouds and all of nature’s phenomena surrounding us.  As we came into the park, we took a side road, known as Riverside Drive, along the Madison River. 

We explored the banks of the river (no moose) and basked in the sunshine and breeze in solitude—a rarity here, even in September.  Reluctantly, we moved on.

Two views of Middle Geyser Basin - crowds were big, so we didn't stay

We had to wait about an hour for Old Faithful to perform its every 90-minute display.  As we waited, I looked around at the throngs of people seated on the benches surrounding it—yet we didn’t seem as if we were in the midst of so many.  The geyser sputtered and hissed a bit in preparation for the grand finale, and we were not disappointed.

One thing we have noticed, as we travel in September, is the “gray” invasion of the Parks—other travelers, like us and much older, whose kids are grown, are vacationing in the fall when the large family groups are not—and there are enough of them to be a problem (hotel reservations, long waits in restaurants, busloads of people, etc.)

 Our intention was to drive south through Yellowstone directly into Grand Teton National Park; however, the road was closed.  We had seen signs that Thumb Road was closed; however, that meant nothing to us.  Consequently, we had to return to West Yellowstone, MT, and take a different route south through Idaho,  

 over Teton Pass, and then into Jackson, WY.

It was quite an adventure and, because of the added miles over mountainous curves in the dark, we were once again late getting to our hotel!  Thus, we ended up sharing an apple, popcorn, and nuts for dinner.