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We actually went into the park once checked in to our hotel, it was a great idea as we avoided the crowds that would come in the morning. But I am including the experience with today's.
The volcanic activity has created the most amazing pools of water and geysers,
some of the pools have spectacular colors, also the trees that were effected by the intense heat have been standing there as reminder of who it used to be, standing for so many years.
Fir,Pine and spruce trees are all around us, so many beautiful yellow,blue and white flowers are carpeting the sides of the road as well as the fields or by the rivers. Even in areas where the dead trees were a touch of color
from the wild flowers, a breath of new life.
The hot springs create this, paints pots as they call them, the minerals look like a palette of someone who has spilled their paint over this white canvas. The color of the water is magical.
Some of the oranges have an iridescent hue, glistening copper.
Just another breath of life in these strange environment.
We saw a young elk, only during taking his picture he decided to pass a tree hence the following picture!
We arrived at Old Faithful geyser, they say it shoots over 8.000 gallons of boiling water up to 150feet high, every 90 or so minutes.
We took our rain jackets and went along with ...literally hundreds of tourist from all over the world, mostly China. It was set up like an amphitheater in front of the
Yellowstone lodge. We were told that the geyser will start shooting the water in 10
minutes! How odd to be given a time frame for something natural to happen.
To our awe and unexpected surprise at 6.00PM sharp it started, Wow, everyone
exclaimed Ohhhh! while the water was showering some and eventually with the wind change us as well! Fun experience as well as unexpected.
That is a picture of our night outside the Yellowstone Park area.
12 July, Thankfully the weather was bright and crisp filled with promise this morning, we bypassed the areas we covered yesterday and went to see the rest of the park.
Yellowstone lake was so grand and filled with so many stories.
We stopped by the Yellowstone lake took our lunch and sat on a lagoon the black
volcanic sand to enjoy the peace and quiet of this wonder. So vast so hard to explain to someone, so hard to describe it’s serene beauty. Of course we kept our eyes
and ears on alert, in case one of these gigantic bison decided to taste our turkey with roasted pepper sandwich and whatever else he wished.
We saw bison, they are indeed huge, some by the side of the road within 2-3 feet from us, some in large herds in the fields
Saw some more amazing sulfur lakes and more geysers.
Filled with incredible colors that have been created with the chemistry
from the bottom of our earth.
The depth of these holes was amazing.
And then a few yards away in this alpine tundra one could find these sweet reminders of summer.
We ended up at the Continental divide, what beauty, some of that water flowed East to the Missouri and Mississippi River while the other part of the water flowed West to the Columbia and Snake river.
An amazing sight and process of Nature, considering it was a calm glass like pool of water with the most unique yellow lilies floating all over it, surrounded by the forest, glistening in the morning light yet we were at 8.391 ft. elevation.
At the Yellowstone lake after walking all around the different geysers.
This is Painter's point, an amazing sight we were able to get to and watch this powerful waterfall
going down between huge rocks that had been painted the most vivid colors.
The hills above, were so incredible, covered in this soft beautiful green velvet like grass , so wishing I could reach out and touch it.
We left Yellowstone via the N.East exit and came upon a very rustic tiny area called Silver Gate, resting bellow 11.000 ft granite peeks that surround it, with a few small beautiful log cabins an adorable restaurant and a couple of stores, a perfect afternoon stop. To the right was Montana’s highest mountain
In order to get to Billings we elected to take to scenic route via the “Beartooth highway” on this high high mountain. This highway was considered by Charles Kuralt (a CBS correspondent) the most beautiful drive in America. It divides Montana from Wyoming.
In order to do that one has to go up to the most spectacular mountain with indescribable vistas, we were at 12,656 ft. The snow still laid on part of where we were. As we passed by it, one could see it had been there for years as one saw the layers of color created by new snow. The sky was spectacular blue with beautiful cloud formations.
Some of the peaks in the distance had strange formations. The two lane road
was turning in and out of the narrow hairpin curves and I was so grateful Ron was driving!
We stayed overnight in Billings Montana.
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