We've returned to Yellowstone after 16 years. When we were last here, Sarah was 6 months old. It had only been 6 years then since the 1988 forest fire than was so extensive in Yellowstone. Things still looked pretty grim then. Now, the natural reseeding that forest fire brings has worked its magic. New trees are everywhere, 8-12 feet tall and up. It's looking good.
Today was walk-until-you-drop day. Did we see every geothermal feature the park has to offer? It certainly seemed like it! We basically covered the southwest section of this very large park today.
Fumeroles were everywhere – holes in the ground with steam rising out, but not much in the way of liquid. Some of these are close enough to the side of the road to send steam in front of the car.
Hot springs abounded, too. Some were clear, some white with calcium deposits; others were colored red from manganese oxide, yellow from sulfur, or beautiful sapphire blue. Bacteria live in some, adding to the colorful array.
My glasses actually fogged up from time to time from all the steam emanating from the thermal features!
We saw numerous geysers, starting with Old Faithful – pretty underwhelming once you've seen some others.
Outclassing it were Riverside (continued for 20 minutes), Daisy, Grand, and Fan and Mortar. Those last two were absolutely amazing. They'd been waiting at the park 4 ½ days for it to erupt. We happened upon it at just the right time, and watched it start from one orifice, then spread to another. It was so powerful, it soaked the spectators. It, too, lasted 15-20 minutes.
Not all were active while when we happened by.
We only saw a few mudpots today; I hope we see more as time goes by, as I have a fond memory of them from our last visit.
One of our last stops held an eerie visage of steaming rivers running through the landscape. The water is hot, to be sure!
No luck connecting to the internet tonight; I'll have to post this later. We're all ready to crash now...
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