Yellowstone

Marty is trying to keep up a daily record of our travels. He thinks that things will blur together and memories will get mixed up. Days blend into each other on the road. So I will write about Yellowstone.

Yellowstone was partially closed when we arrived due to road damage in the northern part of the park from torrential rains in June. The southern area was open. It's where we camped and where Old Faithful is. We left the Tetons and went directly to Old Faithful. There are seats all around the geyser and the predicted time it erupts is posted. It goes off about 20 times a day. We took our seats about 30 minutes before the geyser was to go off. A young couple sat beside us. We struck up a conversation. They were from Israel traveling around the western United States. The conversation made the time pass quickly and lifted our spirits. The young man hadn’t seen a bison yet. He saw a moose at the campground but hoped to see a bison. Old Faithful went off and we went on our way. 

Old Faithful

We drove to the geyser sites. Nature has a sense of humor. Bubbling mud spit up from entrails of the earth. Sulfur fumes permeated the air. Our clothes smelled of it. (Traveler's Tip: When walking through a cloud of steam from a hot spring, take off your glasses, or clean them right away. The acidic steam could damage the lenses if left on for a long time.) The colors from the minerals were more than any Crayola creation. The bison could turn up anywhere, One was relaxing next to a roiling mud pond.

Bison at the spa

Crayola hot spring

Above: Steaming cauldron
Below: Devil's Jacuzzi

En route to the geysers we had to wait for a bison to cross the road. Farther along we saw many bison close enough to view. We hoped that the young couple followed our route and saw the bison. A couple of stops down we ran into them again and, success! He saw the bison.

The northern part of the park was going to open the day after we left. I was amazed at what we did see.