Day 10 - Touring

Yellowstone, 07.10.2017

Got up early (which isn’t hard when the sun’s up at full speed around 6 AM) and drove to the center of all of Yellowstone’s activities: Old Faithful. On the way, spotted a few major elk just feet from the car, kind of like one of those drive-through safari parks.

First up – Old Faithful complex. Beautiful Inn, Lodge and Visitor’s Center. This is where everyone goes because of the notoriety of the Old Faithful Geyser, which erupts about every 90 minutes. Way too crowded, but well worth it. Why? The building itself is first class, Old Faithful lived up to the promised hype and there were scores of others geysers to stroll past of well manicured raised wooden / Trex platforms. Took in a buffet at the Inn, which was Tim’s kind of food: wild game chili, pulled pork and chocolate brownies. Check out the post and beam interior of the restaurant.

In the afternoon, what else but more geysers sandwiched in between hot spring pools. The photos are good, but it’s hard to capture the stunning beauty of the hot springs. The base colors are a rich turquoise pool surrounded by orange/yellow crust.

On the advice of a park ranger, we stopped off at West Thumb, a branch of the Yellowstone Lake. This location presented a series of hot springs and geysers right in front of Yellowstone Lake, which made it even more amazing. The ranger explained that their Inn was the only one in the park that stayed open over the winter months, because it was the only one with adequate insulation. Temps drop to -50 and snowmobilers are most frequent visitors.

On the way back to camp, safari time again: ran across more elk on the roadside and several lone buffalo.

The day went by fast. Grand Canyon of Yellowstone tomorrow.

Our 2017 Northwest USA Adventure

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