Yellowstone, Day 3 – afternoon: hot springs, elk, and Tetons

There's a storm brewing...

There's a storm brewing...

After lunch we stopped by several other hot spring and geyser areas near Old Faithful.  We especially like the brilliant blue pools, and the mini geysers.  We could see a storm brewing on the horizon, but were fortunate to avoid getting drenched with rain.  We also learned that tour guides sometimes offer good ideas – we were walking through geyser mist on our way to an active mud pot area, when a tour guide said to be careful of glasses and cameras, as the sulfur in the mist could damage them.  Fortunately, we were able to dry both camera and glasses without any permanent damage.

This elk was hungry.

On the way out of the park, we saw a large bull elk.  We decided to wander through the woods so we could get a good view of him, and avoid adding to the traffic jam / general confusion on the road.

We were told that we had to take the One Ring here...

We decided to take the scenic drive from Yellowstone down to Jackson, WY, and so we also got a nice view of the sun setting behind the Grand Tetons.

Yellowstone, Day 3: Old Faithful Geyser Area

Bright and Sunny!

Bright and Sunny!

We spent the previous night at the Old Faithful cabins.  The cabins were single level duplexes, and were rather old and small.  However, they were also right by Old Faithful and the geysers, as well as the Old Faithful Lodge dining room.  After enjoying a nice breakfast, we decided to spend the day seeing a variety of geysers.

We think this is Castle Geyser.  :-)

We think this is Castle Geyser. :-)

We began our day by hiking down the boardwalk, and were fortunate to arrive at the end (i.e. the last few hours) of the Castle Geyser eruption.  We admired the geyser for a few minutes, and then wandered down and across the river, where we saw sputtering from another small geyser as well as Scallop Spring.  We also saw Sawmill Geyser doing it’s geyser thing, as well as long-distance views of Old Faithful and Daisy Geyser.

Morning Glory Pool

Morning Glory Pool

Continuing on our geyser tour, we then saw Grotto Geyser erupting, checked out Riverside Geyser and Spiteful Geyser, and ended the walk at the Morning Glory Pool.

Grand Geyser Eruption

Grand Geyser Eruption

We then went back and took up residence at the Grand Geyser viewing area.  We got there at the beginning of the eruption window, around 10am, and waited till a little after 1pm.  The geyser was very cool to see, and we enjoyed being about 20′ from the actual geyser.

Inside the lodge for lunch.

Inside the lodge for lunch.

We enjoyed lunch at the Old Faithful Lodge dining room; the interior architecture is also very interesting, with  large chandeliers and rough-hewn logs visible throughout the building.