Geysers, pools, and hot springs, oh my! Off on our second full day of exploring Yellowstone.
But first, Helen and I left for Murphy’s morning walk in 30° temps. Brrr. The frost on nearby Fishing Bridge with the Yellowstone River running below was an awesome scene for some great photos. Helen captured an especially beautiful scene as our feature photo. But Alas, no Billy the Bison. Maybe he was still curled up in his bed of pine needles. We did see a group of 5 deer in the campground as we left for our day of fun and then we saw two bucks on our way to our first stop.
Speaking of Fishing Bridge, we chuckled when we first arrived in the area and drove across the bridge. Look at the sign below. No fishing on Fishing Bridge? At the Fishing Bridge Visitors Center, we learned this was one of the first areas developed. In the 1930’s cabins and a campground was built. However, due to overfishing, the numbers of native Yellowstone cutthroat trout, were declining. The cutthroat trout, which can live up to 12 years and weigh six pounds, serve as a food source for birds, bears, and river otters as they dwell in the shallow waters near the lake surface and spawn in its tributaries. The park officials ceased all fishing within a several miles of the bridge in the 1990’s. If overfishing wasn’t enough, the non-native lake trout invaded Yellowstone Lake, which can grow up to 40 pounds and live for 40 or more years, living in the deep waters and not serving as a food source. The lake trout are predators, eating dozens of Yellowstone cutthroat trout each year. The National Park Service is removing lake trout through gillnets. Luckily, the numbers of lake trout are decreasing and Yellowstone cutthroat trout increasing. Yay! ( This fun fact was for you Ron.) 🙂
We started our second full day in the vicinity of Old Faithful and guess what? She erupted not long after we arrived. Very cool! The 4 pictures below of her eruption. Much of Yellowstone sits inside an ancient volcanic caldera (the exploded crater of a volcano), with last eruption causing a caldera formation about 630,000 years ago. The subsequent lava flows slowly filled in most of the caldera, but molten rock (magma) sits as little as 2 to 3 miles beneath the surface. Hence, the ground water is heated and creates the thermal features. The hydrothermal features are concentrated in 7 basins within Yellowstone.
Old Faithful is located in the Upper Basin where we walked along the boardwalks, past unpredictable geysers percolating away but no eruptions, various hot springs, and colorful pools. Helen did have one geyser, the Sawmill Geyer, spit out some nice warm water as she was nearby and got her quite wet. That darn geyser.
Next, we drove to see often photographed Grand Prismatic Spring, the largest hot spring in the United States, and third largest in the world. We learned a better vantage point was from an overlook, less than a 1-mile hike to get there. Dave stayed in the car with Murphy, his ankle still a bit sore. Greg, Helen, and I hiked to the top for the view. The beautiful blue color is caused by sunlight being scattered by mineral particles in the water and the vivid colors around the edges are from microbial mats.
We then drove on a couple loop roads for more views of these unique hyrdrothermal features. Since there are 500 geysers and 10,000 thermal features in Yellowstone, we saw a lot of them. Our last loop, along Firehole canyon, led us to a beautiful waterfall. Notice the color of the leaves…they are a changing! The aspens are a beautiful bright yellow.
After returning to our campground, Greg & Helen ventured out near sunset to see what wildlife may be out. Little did they know the treat they were in for.
Spotting an elk herd, they walked about 100 yards up a slope from the road in a spruce grove. There they watched a giant bull elk defend his herd of 50 cows against multiple challengers. The bull was at the top of the hill and the challengers came up a ridge from the right. The noise of bugling and antlers crashing as they fought was exciting. What an unbelievable experience!
I learned the elk’s mating or rutting season takes place from mid-September to mid- to late-October. The Bull elk makes a bugling sound to attract mates and warn other bulls. They swing their antlers to attract cows (look at my big rack!) and compete with other bulls. The rut is held during this time to ensure the calves are born in the spring where there is more food and milder weather.
Thanks for following along. Stay tuned for more Yellowstone adventures.
With so many hot springs in Yellowstone, why don’t they have hot springs to soak in Brenda, So much to see Dave, why do I have to stay in the truck all the time Murphy
I saw the comment. And the story about the cuthroat trout and the Lake Tfoiy. I wonder what they do with the lake trout they catch by net ? I would love to hook into a 30 to 40 lb lake trout. I wonder if they know how the lake trout rntered Yellowstone
The geysers are always interesting. You never know when they are going to erupt
The Elk Herd viewing was an awesome treat. I bet you were glad to catch that window. I’m sure you all know that venison, Elk Meat and many other wild animals , birds, and fish. If prepared correctly is very enjoyable. Each has their unique taste and texture.
I am so glad you are enjoying your trip.
I hope the ankle is getting better. You still have a few days left in beautiful Yellowstone Park
Our nephew, who graduated from U of Montana, spent a summer as an intern netting the lake trout. Glad to see they’re making some progress! We loved Yellowstone, hope to get back there soon. Continued safe travels to all of you.
Hi! I hope you guys fared okay during Helene. We were lucky in St. Pete, many of our friends that live near Tampa Bay had major flooding.
So great to hear about someone doing the Lake Trout netting. It’s amazing how much we’ve seen the invasive species hurt environments throughout our travels.
Take care and thanks for following along.