Last Day - Floating the Snake

This was an easy and spectacular float down a 10-mile stretch of the Snake River with 'Solitude Raft Trips'.  Highly recommended.  We passed Ansel Adams point where he took his famous photo.  This is just down the river a bit.  Our last day touring the Parks.  Back to the airport in Cody, Wy tomorrow.

Grizzly Bears and Bald Eagles in Tetons

Well, our last official day doing the National Park tour.  Finally we get to snap decent bald eagle standing proud and in flight.  These were taken while floating down the Snake River immediately in front of the Grand Teton.

Just as we were leaving Grand Teton National Park and thinking we would leave empty handed with no official Grizzly sighting, we land a momma and three cubs which all came within a few feet of the van.  It just doesn't get any better.

Old Faithful

A trip to Yellowstone would not be complete without a visit to Old Faithful geyser, or in our case "Marginally Faithful".    The time for our geyser eruption was predicted to be 10:51am +/- 10 minutes, and did not go off until 11:15 am with a lot of little tease eruptions.  However, it went off in style and did not disappoint.

We also toured "Geyser Hill" near Old Faithful.  There are many interesting hydrothermal features in the vicinity, like " Anemone Geyser" which 'kissed' Sophie with hot water even though it only goes up 6 feet.  The real big surprise was "Beehive Geyser" shown above in front of Old Faithful Inn.  This monster went off while folks were just a few feet away.  It is unpredictable and ranges from 10 hours to 5 days between eruptions.  We were lucky enough to be nearby.

Also, the wind was BRUTAL and cold, mid 30's, and it started to snow on us after lunch.  That would be "Geyser Hill" in the background behind the girls.  Is it me, or is our 11 year-old daughter as tall as her mom?

"White Christmas" in Yellowstone and Tetons

So the snow hasn't stopped for two days.  The girls keep quoting "Horton Hears a Who" by saying "It's Shnowing in the middle of Shummer!".    The trees are at Lake Lewis in south Yellowstone Park.  This our cabin and trusty steed "The Scarlett Stallion" in Togwotee Pass, WY near Grand Teton Park.  Sophie built us a fire in the fire place.

Lower falls of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

Words cannot describe this majestic feature.  The Yellowstone river flows over the resistant rhyolites into a glaciated valley formed by the 'yellow' namesake hydrothermally altered rhyolites.  Volcanic rhyolites cover most of the park.  The girls were so excited to spend their first night in an active volcano at Lake Yellowstone.  The hydrothermal features make this like another planet.

Bison Jam

It is common for wildlife to play havoc with Yellowstone traffic.  Most speed limits are 35-45 mph and the park is HUGE so you cannot be in a hurry.  Oh, and it has snowed on us for two-days steady now.  It was awesome to see the Momma protecting her calf.  At Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone we did get charged by a bull when we invaded its personal space with our van.

Our Friend Ashley at Mammoth Dining Room

 

So we met some young folks in Gardiner who work for Xanterra.  Xanterra manages all Yellowstone park concessions and most of the staff are seasonal.  It is fun to meet them and see where they are from and what they do when not serving food.  While having dinner at the Two Bit Saloon in Gardiner, Sophie and Sabrina got to play a lot of good music on the juke box and our new friends Blake and Ashley played some of their selections.  They about fell over when Sabrina played Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall Pt 2".  Ashley is from Indiana and is a server at Mammoth Dining Room.  She invited us to come have dinner in her section so we did!  This is us after dinner.  She recommended a Bozone Heffeweizen from Bozeman, MT which was lemony and delicious.  It went well with my Elk and Bison meatballs.  We had some yummy desserts too, such as ice cream sundae, mango sorbet, and lemon curd tart.  We did not get to see Blake again, but sure enjoyed meeting their crew and buying them a round of Pabst Blue Ribbon.

Bald Eagle

Well, we were driving along the Madison River, and saw this Bald Eagle perched on a log in the river.  He took  off and landed in nearby trees on the mountain-side.  This was as close as I could get with telephoto 300mm.  Yahoo!  This was on the way back from touring the town of West Yellowstone in Montana.

Mammoth Spring Terraces

Travertine terraces formed by hot springs flowing up through limestone.  Many microbial organisms thrive in hot waters and the various spectrum of colors give an indication of water temperature.   In Mammoth, white is 155-165 deg F, orange is 145-155 deg F.  Trees do not survive because root systems become coated and impregnated with travertine.

Roosevelt Arch

Theodore Roosevelt leveled the cornerstone.  This is the north entrance of the park in Montana.

Columnar jointing in basalt

Not sure, but I think sign said these were ~150000 year old basalts.  Columnar joining formed after cooling of sheet basaltic lava flow.

$4.099 for a gallon of gas.

$4.099 for a gallon of gas at the 'Dinosaur' in Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

6239.216

6239.216 feet above sea level at Mammoth Visitor Center near north entrance where we stayed in Gardiner, Montana.

45th Parallel of Latitude

Yellowstone - Artists Mudpots

Artists Mudpots near Norris in Yellowstone.  Hot hydrogen sulfide gases in the steam creates a mixture so acidic it dissolves the surrounding volcanic rock and bubbles up through the resulting mud.

Petrified Tree

This tree was caught standing in an Eocene (~55 million year) volcanic event and was entirely silica-replaced.  Two others use to be exposed here, but tourists chipped them apart looking for souvenirs so the park service fenced this one in to preserve it.  In Petrified Forest, AZ the petrified logs are all laying down.  This is a rare example of a petrified tree still standing.  The volcanics here have simply been prolific.

Canada Geese

Canada geese on lake between Tower and Mammoth.  Photographers with HUGE lenses watching the ducks in mating season.   This little family was of no interest to the big boys, but Connie managed to snap a good one of these geese leading their family to feed.

Hoodoo in weathered volcanics just outside Mammoth.

Elk on the Yellowstone River

Elk cow and calves along the Yellowstone River just inside the NW entrance of the park near Gardiner, Montana.  

Bison

Bison bison.  The scientific name.

Sylvan Pass Snow Climbers

Sophie and Sabrina, our alpine snow climbers in Sylvan Pass (~8500') on the way into Yellowstone from the East Entrance from Cody.  We had to stop and play.  Many snowballs were thrown and a couple of miniature snowmen made.  What is it about snow that gets everyone so excited?

Angular Unconformity at Colter's Hell

Angular unconformity at Colter's Hell in Cody, Wyoming.  The smell of sulfur is in the air.  So is that what we smelled at our cabin on the first night?  We were just down the street from this feature.

Moonrise at Lake Yellowstone

Sabrina and Sophie watching a full moon rise over the Absaroka Mountain Range at Lake Yellowstone.

On the ground in Cody, Wy.  In the background is the gateway to Yellowstone.  We drive there tomorrow!  They only left one of our two suitcases in Denver.  They will deliver it to us at Lake Yellowstone Hotel tonight.

2 check bags, 4 carry-ons, and 4 backbacks for a family of four headed to Yellowstone.  That is our slew of electronic devices on the table: 3 smartphones, 2 ipods, 1 ipad, 1 laptop and 2 Kindles.  No we are not taking the guitar.

Yellowstone

Well, it is 11pm, 5/29/2012, and we are packing for Yellowstone on Saturday, 6/2/2012.  Well, all the shopping is done, and we are mostly packed.  Wish us luck!