Yellowstone - Day Two and Three

The following morning we made  a breakfast of eggs, turkey bacon, and wheat rounds over our propane stove. What a pleasure not to fool with filling the tank with white gas and pumping 50 times to pressurize the tank like my dad and I did when I was a kid. I found a new way to make campsite coffee without a coffee pot. I boiled water in a skillet and dropped a coffee filled disc filter that I snagged from a motel room into the water. A few stirs and the coffee was excellent.

Our plan for the day was to drive the upper loop and stop for as many interesting views as time allowed. We won't be able to see it all in one visit. We'll have to return someday. A curious aspect of being surrounded by so much beauty day after day is that we risked becoming overwhelmed to the point that we might lose our sense of appreciation. As we discovered when meeting resident park employees, people can become insensitive to the sights they experience every day.

Mandy looks over the Artist Paint Pot area

Views from the upper loop.

Looks like ice but it's called tavertine (I think).

The park service has reproduced the old White Limos for visitors to enjoy tours of the park.

One our last morning in Yellowstone, we visited more geysers. Above shows a dozen or so belching steam into the air. A few will erupt unpredictably.

The Grand Geyser is the largest in the park and erupts higher than Old Faithful which had lost much of its power due to widening of the chamber opening over the years. New geysers are constantly forming. Yellowstone is a dormant volcano which, geologist say, will someday erupt to create a spectacle many time greater than the Mt. St. Helen eruption.

Another view of Grand Geyser.

This geyser had just shot a narrow blast of steam a few second before I took this photo.

Leaving Yellowstone to the south directs the visitor directly into the Grand Tetons National Park. This was our first view of the massive structures.