23 days, 11 states, One minivan, 4300 miles

[WAMUMOF4]

Your pictures are awesome i have never wanted to go to Yellowstone till now. Now i understand what all the fuss is about what a beautiful place will have to go there on the next after this year trip.
That bridge looks scary though!

 

[queenie82]

Next batter up.....More pong.....
This was essentially on the side of the road.
One thing you need to realise that there continue to be earthquakes in and around Yellowstone. It is still a very active area. So things happen and change. Obviously the roads have been put in to 'visit' the sites. But this also means the 'sites' can expand to be closer to the roads.

Anyway...
Side of the road pong

A more enjoyable side of the road attraction...the beautiful rapids

Then we went to the Thermal Gardens. These are also 'bubbling' but the smell isn't the same. This is where those stunning colourful photos come from.
A sign that it isn't so pongy???
Well these guys are happy near there...

Hello DEAR!

Just past these guys you find the Thumb Paint Pots

Next up...the Thermal Gardens....

 

[queenie82]

These Thermal Gardens are also in this area with the Thumb Paint Pots and Deer...
They are indescribable. Stunning...
The depth of colour...
No photos do it justice...

Blue Tunnel Spring

 

[PrincessInOz]

I can almost smell them from here......





...wait.....TMI!

 

[queenie82]

Your pictures are awesome i have never wanted to go to Yellowstone till now. Now i understand what all the fuss is about what a beautiful place will have to go there on the next after this year trip.
That bridge looks scary though!

It's funny. It was on the bucket list...but over the years I was starting to wonder if it really WAS worth all the fuss...

Then I saw the 3 part Yellowstone series on TV last year which reinvigorated the interest.


But reality is different.
It's really quite different to what I ever thought. Not bad...but it's something that it sort of creeps up on you. You gradually get absorbed into it all...

Or was that the gases

hmmmm

 

[queenie82]

Ok just some photos to close out the day...
The sun was going down so we had a quick pit stop into a lovely creek/waterfall
Before getting to Old Faithful at Dusk...

The photos aren't great as it was very hard to focus on with it being at Dusk...
But I have better ones from our second visit...

Waiting...

Bubbling...

Thar she blows!!!

 

[skiingfast]

Quote the Raven "Never more."

 

[skiingfast]

These photos below show a LOT of dead trees...
I'm not sure THESE are technically dead though....I just can't remember their status. They have been doing thinning. But I can tell you WHY there are so many trees that look like this...

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/gre...bark-pine-ravaged-throughout-yellowstone.html

Part of the article

A decade or so ago, big pockets of rust started appearing as the green pine needles succumbed to infestation and disease. Since then, it's become worse: Unable to fend off invading armies of mountain pine beetles, large swaths of the forest have simply died. An alarming part of the high-elevation landscape across the mountains of Wyoming, eastern Idaho and southern Montana is gradually turning eerie and gray.

In spite of this it is still a beautiful park. But it is very sad

In 1988 there were lots of fires. Many of these fires grew until they became huge fires. It burned a large part of the forrests in the park. It also burned large amounts of forests outside the park.

While Pine Beatles do effect large swaths of forest, the fires burned more forest that summer than the beatles have touched in the area. This is one natural way to destroy the beatles.

It's a cycle. Beatles kill the forest, lightning ignites it. Fire kills the beatles and reseeds the forest. New forest grows. Beatles come to eat the healthy forest.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Nice pics of Old Faithful!

 

[queenie82]

We spent the night at the LOVELY Three Bears Lodge in West Yellowstone. This burnt down a few years back but has been rebuilt and is lovely. We had dinner in their Restaurant too. By the time we got there we decided a splurge on this was worth it as there isn't a lot around. Not that it's expensive per se...but we generally don't dine out much. We also had our breakfasts here as you get a discount coupon and it was a lovely way to start the day. Filling up and then not having to worry with for a while.

So...one our way back into the park something caught the eye and a couple cars had also spotted it. MR ELK!!! With the most BEAUTIFUL Antlers
I'm obsessed with Moose...and sadly we didn't see any...but a Mr Elk is next best.

Then onward to Old Faithful to get a tour of the Old Faithful Inn.

The tour was really wonderful and very informative. The lovely clock stopped during an earthquake but has now been repaired.

Getting photos of the inside are difficult as it is very dimly lit and then there is such bright sun piercing through the small windows.

 

[queenie82]

These are photos of a 'classic' room which we were shown on the tour. I'd NEVER stay there. The walls have been left 'as is' and are not insulated (so you can hear everything your neighbour is doing )
AND you only get a sink...no private bathroom.

It's a beautiful Inn...but I was much much happier staying in West Yellowstone

 

[queenie82]

A couple more of Mr Elk

 

[PrincessInOz]

Nice pictures! Love the Elk and your pictures inside the Inn are delightful. I love the rustic architecture details.


Was it warm inside?

 

[queenie82]

This is the Brand Spanking new Visitors Centre at Old Faithful.

After our tour of the hotel we watched Old Faithful go off again!!
The only 'problem' of such a glorious day was that there wasn't as much contrast in the photos. I could go play in iphoto but I'm too lazy for now...

Then it was off to explore some more of Yellowstone...

First stop Iron Spring Creek

Then Excelsior Geyser

Emerald Pool

 

[queenie82]

Nice pictures! Love the Elk and your pictures inside the Inn are delightful. I love the rustic architecture details.


Was it warm inside?

Under the clock is a big fire...so it's warm.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Stinkin' gorgeous photos again!

Loving my Old Faithful tour, Queenie! Thanks for sharing!

 

[queenie82]

Next onto Grand Prismatic Spring

Opal Pool

More Bison.....

Emerald Spring

Steamboat Geyser

Cistern Spring

Veteren Geyser....poor old thing.....bit of tautology too...

Some more pools and geysers...

 

[usnuzuloose]

Thanks for posting the pics they are something to see. I love seeing the wild life. I may never get there so at least I can visit in here.

 

[queenie82]

Thanks for posting the pics they are something to see. I love seeing the wild life. I may never get there so at least I can visit in here.

Thank you for the kind comment.
I didn't expect to get her so 'soon' as we travelled mostly in Winter. But we got amazing weather even at the very end of the season in October.

I hope people to get to visit here. Especially Aussies who often just go to the West Coast and/or East Coast and leave out the middle...

 

[queenie82]

Just some wide shots of one of the fields of geysers