Day 6 (Yellowstone Geyser Basin)

Here are some pics from West Thumb Geyser, Old Faithful, and Norris Geyser Basins (copy and paste the link)...

http://www5.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=1605534026/a=3145779026_3145779026/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Day 6 (June 15) proved to be an extremely busy day. Julie and I got things going at 8:00 with breakfast and coffee. Collin woke up shortly after we had started eating, but, once again, we had to wake sleeping beauty (Bryce) from his slumber. We finally got rolling around 10:00 and headed southwest to the West Thumb Geyser Basin. The roughly 30 minute ride didn’t provide the most spectacular scenery—mainly we rode along the shoreline of Yellowstone Lake. Upon entering the basin area however, we noticed several people congregated just off the parking lot admiring an elk munching on some meadow grass. After snapping a few pictures of the beast, we headed out on the boardwalk trails to view the geysers and hot springs. Because this is technically the wet season in the park due to the snow melting and filling the rivers and lakes, some of the “must see” thermal pools were covered in water and weren’t really active. After finishing up our 45-minute walk, we once again headed out to the Old Faithful Basin. Yet again, though, we were diverted momentarily by a small herd of elk grazing off the road. After a few pictures, we were once again on our way to Old Faithful. Upon entering the basin area, it is apparent that this area is highly commercialized as evidenced by the Lodge, restaurant(s) and shops, and the shear numbers of people there solely to witness the geyser erupt. As I parked the RV, we assembled a lunch to take with us on the trails and headed for the storied geyser. Just as we arrived, we learned that Old Faithful would erupt at any time, so we weaseled our way in amongst the multitude of people there for a better view. Quite honestly, it really wasn’t much of a display, but we can say that we have witnessed it in our lifetimes. After the show was over (it really only lasted less than 2 minutes), we took to the paths to take in the many other geysers and springs in the basin. The first part of our walk took us to the Observation Point, which is a small, 200-foot ascent to a point that overlooks the entire basin. Here, we got some breathtaking views and even got to witness a couple of marmots frolicking in the rocks while we ate lunch. After descending from the Observation Point, we started out on the path for the rest of the area. After about half-way through, a rain shower popped up and made us head to the RV for shelter. Thinking the storm was going to hang around for a while, we headed north to the Madison region to view the stunning Firehole Falls in the Firehole Canyon. During the drive up, Bryce felt the need to resume his beauty sleep and missed out on the spectacular exhibit. After a few snaps of the camera, we headed out the Norris Geyser Basin. This area, which is literally in the middle of the park and a result of at least 3 different volcanic eruptions over the course of 6 million years, is a very impressive area. The whole basin area looks like a vast wasteland (think pools of gargling hot water on white rocky/sandy terrain, with scorched pine trees as causalities of countless eruptions. After a relatively short 1-hour tour, we headed back to our “home site”, Fishing Bridge via the Canyon Village loop in the hopes of seeing more wildlife. Only herds of bison dotted the 20-minute drive, which is probably for the better since we’re all pretty exhausted at this point. Upon our return, I served up some BBQ pork chops and grilled squash and zucchini, had some strawberry shortcake for dessert, and then played a quick family game of Mexican Train dominos. We’re heading to bed early tonight in anticipation of our whitewater rafting excursion tomorrow along with a stop at Mammoth Hot Springs…