The Lower Loop (The Rest of the Tour)

Tonight we are in Cody WY with cell service and WiFi, and TV. The two nights we spent at the east side of YNP at Fishing Bridge was very quiet. No TV. No internet. No cell phone. We enjoyed the full hook-up campground and being on the east side of the park, but we did not realize we would not have ANY of the techie services. We survived and only missed one phone message, so all was well.

Some of my photos and science lessons from Thursday's Lower Loop or Grand Loop tour of YNP.

not a forest fire...

geysers

our bus tour of the Lower Loop 

with Jay as our tour guide

bobbie socks trees

trees died from standing in the water

the roots soaked up the alkali from the hot springs

one of the more colorful hot springs

flowers growing in the dried residue from the hot springs

mud pot

hot, bubbling mud

this is a jet geyser

it releases steam from numerous holes,

not the typical one vent

in front of Red Spouter 

in our new YNP attire

interesting tree roots

just shows the root are wide and not so deep

the original touring bus in YNP

refurbished and still in use, not by us

this is for Jon & Sherry

another Xanterra Park?????

Grant Village hotel

on the shores of Yellowstone Lake

that was our tour bus

fireplace in the lobby

it had a great gift shop

Lake Yellowstone 

elevation of 7000' 

largest, highest, fresh water lake in North America

20 miles long, 14 miles wide, 141 miles of shoreline

deepest canyon (geyser) 390'

Lake Yellowstone drains into

Yellowstone River

its only outlet

Lower Falls of Yellowstone River 

in the Grand Canyon

of Yellowstone National Park

beautiful colors

and if you are into geology...

I posted photos of the north side of the Grand Canyon

and of the Lower and Upper Falls in the 

post of the The Upper Loop Tour

Old Faithful Geyser

We drove through the Lower Geyser basin and the Midway Geyser Basin to reach the Upper Geyser Basin and home of the most famous geyser in the world, Old Faithful. Old Faithful is not the tallest geyser in Yellowstone; Steamboat Geyser shoots water three times higher, but it is unpredictable in its  showy display. Thus everyone flocks to Old Faithful because it erupts every 40 to 126 minutes. The rangers have it timed to a ten minute window each way. This morning's show was scheduled for 11:32 AM. (The other place on earth with geysers is Turkey.)

Jay was our tour guide today. Jay was into geology. Matt was yesterday's guide and his expertise was animals.

There are steam vents or fumaroles, all over this area of 16 miles. The white crusty areas silica from the magma underground.  As the silica cools once it reaches the surface, it become geyserite. It is also called sinter. The Upper Basin has the largest concentration of geysers in the world.

if the water is bubbling, its temp is 212º or higher

sometimes the sinkholes have vibrant colors

this is called Blue Star

Microorganisms called thermophiles survive and thrive in the active volcanic environment. community shapes, colors, and locations vary depending on the types of microbes, the pH (acidic or alkalinity), and temperature affect the color of these features.

a Sandhill crane was standing in the warm water

of Firehole River

water from the fumaroles descend the hillsides into the 

Firehole River, warming the edges of the river

and then cooling as the warm water mixes with the 

cooler river water

there are no fish in Firehole River

this diagram explains the difference between fumaroles,

hot springs, cone geysers, fountain geysers, and mud pots

we saw them all today

Old Faithful is a cone geyser

this is how she looked when our tour bus arrived

at 11:00

people were lined up all around the geyser, waiting

at 11:32 she began to erupt

a magnificent display

shooting hot water 106-184' into the air

3700-8400 gallons of boiling water

lasting anywhere from 1.5 to 5 minutes

today's eruption was several minutes in length

the show is over; everyone leaves

when the show was over, I entered the historic

Old Faithful Inn

designed by Robert Reamer

and built in 18 months

it boasted its steam heat and electric lights

the lobby is four stories high

so is the stone fireplace (500 ton, 85' high)

it is the largest log hotel in the world

constructed in 1903-1904

lodge pole pines were used to build the original part 

of the Old Faithful Inn

at lunch we sat with some ladies from Minot ND 

this was in their sack lunch

made in Grand Rapids MI

this is the Visitors Center at Old Faithful village

it also has a general store and a gas station

and housing for the workers (foreign students)

the back east side of the inn

a number of people stayed on the balcony to watch Old Faithful

we sat there at lunch and ate our tour-provided sack lunch

gives an idea of the size of the

 Old Faithful Inn

Castle Geyser in the same area

More photos from the Lower Loop tour of YNP in another post. 

Upper Loop in Yellowstone National Park

Neither Hubby nor I have been to Yellowstone National Park. Too far. Not enough time. Too many mountains. The list could on and on. Whatever. We are here now and loving it. First, we are in an awesome RV park. The spaces are wide, level, have a small patio, and have parking for the truck. It is clean and big. As we were researching this destination, I read there were tours of Yellowstone National Park. You know how I feel about tours. Perfect.

When we checked in on Tuesday, I asked about the tours. The company offered two; one to the Upper Loop and another to the Lower Loop. There was a price break if one purchased both tours. We did and I am so glad. Someone else does the driving and stops at all the interesting places. He gave so much interesting (but useless) information and knew all the wildlife hangouts. Wednesday, today, was our first tour. Here are some highlights from our "Eight Hour Tour."

river otters, the first wildlife sighting this morning

a family of six

our guide had never seen a family of six

and rarely sees the river otters

two coyotes or red fox

at that distance he wasn't certain

far away sighting of geothermal activity

bison just did a roll in the dirt next to the road

water rushing over the ledge at Upper Falls

river prior to Upper Falls

Lower Falls

much bigger waterfall

Lower 'cause it is lower in the river

and after the first Upper Falls

osprey sitting on its nest in the Grand Canyon

of Yellowstone National Park

one of many awe inspiring views

lots of small group and single bison sightings

cowbirds hanging on the bison

pronghorn

another one that posed for us

Lower Terrace at Mammoth Hot Springs

found the colors and textures very interesting

Devil's Thumb is the gray structure

bird entertaining me while we ate our box lunch picnic

flower carts all had wire to protect them from the elk

we did not see any in the village of Mammoth Hot Springs

but we did see lots of evidence of them when they

wandered through the former

Fort Yellowstone, now Mammoth Hot Springs

we bought Huckleberry ice cream at the General Store

a lot like blueberry, but a MT must taste

the Upper Terrace of Mammoth Hot Springs

it was about 80º when we stopped here

geothermal water is much hotter

another colorful hot springs

our guide called it Chocolate Springs

loved all the colors

water temp could be 170º as it bubbles out

it bubbles all day, every day

Gibbon Falls

we spent a lot of our day along the Gibbon River

last sighting of the day...elk

no bear, no moose today, maybe tomorrow

Old Faithful tomorrow