Yellowstone

I woke up in my tent in Grand Teton at about 5:45 AM, and it was FREEZING! I'm guessing it was about 38 degrees. No more signs of bears.

I made it to Old Faithful at about 7:30 AM. As I mentioned yesterday, I wasn't too happy with this plan at the time, but it turned out great! There was almost nobody else there this early, and the visitor center said the next eruption would be around 7:50. I quickly broadcast a txt msg to a few people saying I was at the geyser so they could check the Old Faithful Webcam if they were awake. Lisa immediately replied back that she saw me, and had me wave for the camera! There I am in the lower left, in jeans, maroon sweatshirt, and white hat. Thanks, Lisa!


After watching the eruption, I hiked around the trails and paths leading to the various geothermal activities. It's rather surreal; each geyser, spring, fountain, etc, is very unique, with its own water action (spray, spout, waves, bubbles), color (brown, gray, red, deep blue, multi-colored), sounds (belching, hissing, gurgling, sputtering), and smell (bad, very bad, even worse, unbearable).

I then drove up to Canyon Village and saw the "Grand Canyon of Yellostone." Here are some pics:


Yellowstone National Park is big. How big? Try about twice the size of Rhode Island. At that size, it's impossible to see most of it, or for that matter, even a large percentage of it. It would have been nice to have a co-pilot, as there is just so much to see, but one can only devote so much perception while driving. Plus, a co-pilot would make sure I stopped when I should. A typical conversation with myself would go something like this:

Brian: Oh look, a moose! Pull over!
Brian: No, I'm tired of pulling over. Must. Keep. Going.

A typical conversation with a potential co-pilot would go something like this:

Alice: Oh look, a moose! Pull over!
Brian: Ok.

Actually, it's an elk. And I didn't have to pull over. Ha!