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<\/a><\/p>\nYou drive a lot in Yellowstone. \u00a0There isn’t one ‘central’ area and no easier way to get to all the spots.<\/p>\n
First destination! \u00a0The famous one!<\/p>\n Parking wasn’t too terrible – we didn’t get in the main lot, but there was a close, slightly-hidden dirt lot that we snagged a good spot in. \u00a0We poked our head in the visitor center to get some maps and ask what we should definitely see in the park over the next couple of days and then headed out behind to wait for Old Faithful to blow.<\/p>\n There’s the geyser. \u00a0It doesn’t seem like much, just a smoking pile of dirt right now.<\/p>\n Since we had about forty(ish) minutes before it went off, we decided to go around the boardwalk a bit and look at other things in the area. \u00a0You can see where the main crowd is gathering to watch – they have some benches set up for folks to sit at. \u00a0We were still irritated with crowds in general, so we figured we’d find a better spot to watch.<\/p>\n The Boardwalk behind Old Faithful. \u00a0Looks like the perfect spot.<\/p>\n They have boardwalks all around the geyser areas in this park. \u00a0It’s due to the questionable nature of the ground – because of all the geothermic activity in the Yellowstone caldera, areas where there are actual open vents are fragile and there’s a good chance that you could fall through the ground just by walking in the wrong spot. \u00a0They have signs EVERYWHERE explaining this danger…but people still ignore them.<\/p>\n …our first sight at Yellowstone and I have no idea why it’s named this way.<\/p>\n It’s super cool though! \u00a0And by cool I mean it’s boiling hot acid water. \u00a0Definitely cool.<\/p>\n …and it drains into the river. \u00a0Pretty sure the river isn’t acidic as a result, but there’s probably better water sources to drink from.<\/p>\n Very pretty! \u00a0This was a pretty decent sized spring. \u00a0The water was boiling in spots here too. \u00a0It’s so pretty!<\/p>\n Upper part of this spring, in the shade, you can see the main vent that keeps this spring fed.<\/p>\n Ok. \u00a0Not enough time to walk the entire boardwalk here – Old Faithful is starting to steam more.<\/p>\n Old Faithful blowing it’s load!<\/p>\n …all over us! Still. \u00a0It was pretty cool.<\/p>\n Also, this place reminds me of the Eternal Bog of Stench from Labyrinth.<\/p>\n Ok, enough of that. \u00a0We drove over to the Upper Geyser Basin\u00a0area to walk around and see more formations.<\/p>\n This river is pretty neat. \u00a0The weather is cool but the water itself is a bit warm, pleasantly so. \u00a0Across the bridge is is the main boardwalk we’re in this area to see.<\/p>\n Smoking land in the middle of mountain tops (we’re pretty high elevation here).<\/p>\n Where the geothermal activity is highest, the vegetation dies. \u00a0So cool. \u00a0Lots of vents, smaller geysers, and springs.<\/p>\n The water is a very pretty shade of cloudy turquoise. \u00a0Ringed with copper, that’s produced by thermoacidophilic bacteria.<\/p>\n It’s a pretty big spring. \u00a0The steam wafting off is probably a good indication of how hot the water is. \u00a0Plus acid.<\/p>\n Bacterial mats! \u00a0All of that orangey stuff is bacteria!<\/p>\n Colonies upon colonies of bacteria! \u00a0They make their own formations! \u00a0This is so gross and cool!<\/p>\n All of that is under water. \u00a0Just so freaking cool. \u00a0I have too many pictures of this.<\/p>\n The trees in the background grew before this place was as active as it is. \u00a0It’s pretty cool to think about – the caldera is active and in a constant state of change. \u00a0It’s hard for us to see on a ‘normal’ basis because it happens slowly, but there’s lot of evidence in the park that it’s different from when my Grandparents came when they were younger than me.<\/p>\n Another pretty pool. \u00a0I can understand the idea that stepping in here might appear nice, if all you can see is a pool of water…but it’s boiling, steaming, and the land around it is dead. \u00a0How those obvious ‘this isn’t ok for life’ signs can be ignored I have no idea. \u00a0Not to mention the numerous warning signs all over.<\/p>\n It’s hard to get pictures of some of these because the boardwalk is far enough away to be safe – necessary, of course, but pictures don’t capture how odd this hole is. \u00a0I guess this one erupts every now and again, but has been somewhat dormant lately.<\/p>\n This wasn’t marked as anything, but I thought it was cool. \u00a0Just a random, open hole in the ground.<\/p>\n A dried-up spring. \u00a0For whatever reason, the water source that fed this was diverted elsewhere underground. \u00a0Pretty neat.<\/p>\n Boardwalking!<\/p>\n More springs.<\/p>\n Not sure how that formed…pretty cool though.<\/p>\n It’s also a geyser. \u00a0Geothermal activity is super cool.<\/p>\n Yay! \u00a0Colors! \u00a0The colored springs are really neat to see in contrast to the dead areas around them.<\/p>\n Back to Portland to Yellowstone<\/a>\u00a0::: On to Yellowstone Day 1 Part 2<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" August 10, 2016 After our first freezing night, we were slow to get going. \u00a0It took some time to completely warm up and feel somewhat alive. \u00a0But we’ve gotta move because we want to hit a big tourist spot before the masses arrive. \u00a0And it’s going to take some driving. \u00a0Our plan is to drive the big loop in the center of the park and hit up as many sights along the way. \u00a0Lots of geysers and springs and other…<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
\nWe didn’t realize the boardwalk we were standing on was directly downwind from the geyser. \u00a0The water it sprayed up blew over us and the other folks watching – there was no warning of acid water or anything like that, so I wasn’t too worried. \u00a0Until the smell hit. \u00a0Farts. \u00a0We got covered in geyser fart water.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n