YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK

The Supreme Commander waits for the
 old man to pack up and get moving

We packed our bags again and left Jackson Hole for a couple of days in Yellowstone National Park. The plan for the first day was to see Old Faithful and then the Midway Geyser Basin featuring the Excelsior Geyser Crater and the Grand Prismatic Spring. We also stopped to have a look at some bison we spotted along the highway. When the day was done, we drove across the state line to West Yellowstone, Montana where the hotel rates are much lower than in the park.

The Supreme Commander wouldn't mind staying in Jackson Hole longer

The picnic grounds in front of the cabin

We watched the fireworks from here last night

One last time on the swing

Another peek at the Grand Tetons on the way out of Jackson

No clouds in the way this morning

The Grand Tetons and the Grand Casper Ghost fan

Yellowstone at last

Time to see a geyser with the geezers

It's an impressive visitor center

This famous geyer earned its name by erupting at reliably regular intervals

The crowd gathers as Old Faithful erupts

Old Faithful erupts 65 minutes after an eruption of less than 2.5 minutes

Old Faithful erupts 91 minutes after an eruption lasting more than 2.5 minutes

The boiling water shoots up an average of 145 feet 

The intervals have been increasing since Old Faithful was discovered in the 19th century

I shot some video of this also

Runoff from the Excelsior Geyser Crater flows into the Firehole River

4,000 to 4,500 gallons of 199 degree water flows into the river each minute

The cold water from the snowmelt runoff becomes a lot warmer here

Did you notice the colors where the hot water flows from the spring?

The Firehole River flows on below the Midway Geyser Basin

A closer view of the colors. They're the product of pigmented bacteria in
 the microbial mats that grow around the edges of the mineral rich waters

Steam flows from another spring upriver from the Excelsior Geyser Crater

Can you tell I'm fascinated by the colors?

Some yellow to go with the orange

I'd like to see this in the winter

We had to walk over a bridge and up a boardwalk to the Excelsior Geyser Crater

Here is the source of hot water flowing into the river

The bridge and boardwalk

The Excelsior Geyser rarely erupts anymore

I wish I could get a shot from above so all of the colors would be visible

For those of us who forgot our location

Steam rises above the Excelsior Geyser Crater

It was already pretty warm (90 degrees) without standing next to a hot spring

It was getting downright hot up here

And here stands the Supreme Commander in a sweatshirt. Go figure.

It's a pretty, bright blue under all that steam

Next we slide over to the Grand Prismatic Spring

The Grand Prismatic Spring is the largest hot spring in the USA

The bright blue center is surrounded by orange and yellow rings

There are two hot springs in New Zealand larger than this one

The colors become more vivid as one draws near

The Grand Prismatic spring is next to the Excelsior Geyser Crater

This boardwalk allows us to move around the spring

The Supreme Commander enjoying the beautiful colors of the hot spring

From overhead you can really see the colors -- like this

There's not much else to say. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves

The Supreme Commander took lots of pictures too

"This place is cool!"

A smaller spring nearby

We passed by this small one on our way out

A closer look

We passed by the Excelsior Geyser Crater again on the way out

The boardwalk and bridge take us back over the Firehole River

The Supreme Commander on the bridge over the Firehole River

The Supreme Commander and her Uncle George

We found some bison in Yellowstone

Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks are only about 10 miles apart

To think we almost drove these creatures to extinction...

Maybe we can borrow a couple of these guys to trim Nicholl Park

The plains bison have rebounded thanks to conservation efforts

Don't let the bisons' docile habits fool you -- they can easily kill a human

When bison ran the open plains, they were considered more dangerous than grizzlies