Yellowstone

My fourth trip to Yellowstone.

We start off at the Best Western in Jackson, Wyoming. And pass the Grand Tetons on the way... Our first waterfall in Yellowstone, Lewis Falls, 29 feet. And our first geothermal feature, a mudpot on the West Thumb
Geyser Basin parking lot. One of the best mudpots we saw. Some more shots at West Thumb overlooking Lake Yellowstone. The Kepler Cascades near Old Faithful. As we pulled into the parking lot at the Old Faithful Inn
where we were to meet Bruce, Jan and Cassandra, Beehive Geyser
was just beginning to erupt. As it erupts 218 feet, and Old
Faithful doesn't go over 180 feet, it is more impressive, especially
with its beehive cone and river setting.
The family was not quite excited enough by Beehive to get out of the car. We took the tour of the inn.

The rooms are a little spare.

Our room in the new wing wasn't half bad, and had a direct view of
Old Faithful, but the kids had to make do with handheld games as
there is no TV in Yellowstone. A little later that afternoon we saw Old Faithful perform. Here's a stock photo from the hill looking down at the inn. Our room
is in the wing just to the right of the geyser.

And we set off on our tour of the Upper Geyser Basin.

Bridget, Cassandra, Matty and Chris on the boardwalk. Mary, Bruce and Jan on the boardwalk. Castle Geyser bubbles and boils almost all the time. After a very long walk we reached Morning Glory Pool. Early next morning we took a guided tour, and I saw this little
varmint by the path. Our tour guide was of the old school, a regular Robert E. Lee The upper basin. Some colorful runoff. Biscuits form at the edges of some hot pools.

We waited a few hours to see Grand Geyser erupt. Grand Geyser is the biggest regularly erupting geyser in the world, reaching about 200 feet (which as noted above Beehive can reach, too),

West Triplet erupts in a small way right after Grand Geyser finishes. You can see Old Faithful erupt from the balcony at the Inn. The world's largest hot spring -- the Grand Prismatic Spring. A stock photo showing the pool from the air. We saw the White Dome Geyser erupt! Bridget posed for me during an Old Faithful eruption. Some views along Firehole Canyon Drive. Fire damage along the Gardner River We pass through the Golden Gate near Mammoth Hot Springs The famed Liberty Cap, a long dead hot spring. We make it to Chico Hot Springs in Montana
for our big horseback riding adventure! Back to Mammoth Hot Springs The Orange Mound The boys do some rock climbing. We very quickly stopped at the Norris Basin to see Steamboat Geyser,
the largest in the world. Amazingly, Steamboat is no longer dormant and spouts 10-30 feet quite
often, and we saw it. We saw our first bison on the road to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. Next day we saw the Churning Cauldron. And a bison was guarding the Black Dragon's Cauldron. A nice view of Sour Lake. And the walk back down from Sour Lake and the Black Dragon's Cauldron. The Sulphur Cauldron is one of the smelliest. Shots from our day at the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. The General Store at the Lake Yellowstone Hotel. A view of Lake Yellowstone. The kids pose on Lake Yellowstone. A bison poses with the Lake Hotel. Bridget as we drive out of the park. One more waterfall -- we found Moose Falls with a little effort. Back in Jackson. The slide ride finished off our trip.