August 27

Yellowstone is a wonder. One can easily understand why this area became the world’s first National Park. It is sad to think that sometime in the near future, from a Geological Time Frame, the land will be blasted to smithereens. It has been 600,000 years since the Yellowstone Caldera exploded. That is the interval for the event. But it could be another 10,000 years… no one knows. So, enjoy it now while you can. I started today in the West Thumb Geyser area. Get the picture? This a hydrothermal area, with lots of geysers, vents, and hot water. Geysers here, there, and everywhere. West Thumb Bay is special in that it is a crater within a crater. This “new” crater was formed 125,000 years ago due to a massive explosion, making this area of Yellowstone Lake deeper than the rest of the lake.

I noticed the car’s thermometer registering 55deg F. This was a bit warmer than yesterday’s Eskimo-balmy 43deg F.

A bit later I was in the Fishing Bridge area. Keep in mind, with the speed limit being 45 mph and 35 mph around the Park Loop Road, it can take more than a few minutes to get from one major attraction area to the next. Thankfully for today, the traffic was excellent flow, and with no waiting at any parking locations (except maybe the North Rim Drive at the Grand Canyon). Fishing Bridge has a storied history. The original bridge was built in 1902, but completely replaced in 1937. My parents brought Mike and me to the bridge in 1979. Further north on the loop road is the Mud Volcano section, in Hayden Valley. If you want to see bubbling gray gunk (no, not bubbling crude, or Texas Tea, per Jed Clampett), this is the place. A boardwalk makes access to the gurgling holes in the ground easy. I said hi to a fellow Virginia Tech graduate, from the class of 2017.

Then it was time for one of the park’s gemstones; Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls. There are two rim drives, one each for the south and north sides of the canyon, so be sure to drive both. Plenty of parking at the various viewing areas. Each rim has a long hiking trail if you prefer. I drove to the end of the South Rim Drive, to Artist’s Point. Then rain began to pour. Folks went looking for shelter under evergreens, or hurried back to their cars. I met a couple from Sacramento who were better prepared than most, with rain jackets. With the rain having stopped, I drove over to the North Rim. A family at one of the viewpoints said they saw me yesterday at Black Sand Basin, near Old Faithful. Yes, this Quest shirt is a good visual cue. The mother mentioned Indiana. I replied I had lived in West Lafayette for five years. My father worked at Purdue. As I mentioned back in the Alaska daily trip reports, I was in the Harrison High School district, having gone to Klondike as the feeder school. A lady who was walking by us heard me mention Purdue and stopped to give a plug for the Boilermakers. Turns out her daughter is teaching in the West Lafayette school district. Or it may have been Lafayette Jeff High School. Regardless, Lafayette Jeff, West Lafayette, and Harrison are mortal enemies when it comes to sports. She said her daughter had done her student teaching at Harrison. By the time all the kids graduate as seniors it does not matter since many become friends as Purdue Boilermakers.

Since the Norris Geyser Basin is only 12 miles to the west from Canyon Village, I headed to that thermal area. Besides, Steamboat Geyser, the highest spewing geyser in the world, is over there. It took ten minutes longer than normal for the drive because a lone bison bull decided to make the road his own. He leisurely plodded along on our side of the two-lane road. Maybe he liked the solid surface instead of stepping on dirt and grass. With cars coming from the other direction, we had no opportunities to pass this laggard. Finally, we had a straight stretch of road with no oncoming traffic. I have not seen so many cars move so quickly in such a short period of time. We all went well to the left to avoid the beast. I will laugh about this for a long time to come.

Steamboat was disgorging water spray, but no eruption. No one knows when it will happen next. A sign on the boardwalk read the interval between events can be four days to 50 years. I was not going to stick around.

A quick plug for the Canyon Lodge. This is nice. The lodge has five different buildings, all three-stories tall… and with elevators. They were built in 2014. The original Canyon Hotel was one gigantic single structure, with 400 rooms. That was built in 1910. So, brand new lodging accommodations. This is great. The look is still Yellowstone-ish, but everything is modern. And the WiFi is working, though the desk said it can be iffy. Will be checking out the northern section of the park tomorrow.

The photo for this blog date is of one of the Continental Divide signs. When driving on the main park road, you cross the Divide three times. I did that on Saturday. An interesting fact.