September 19
We started and ended the day today driving through heavy showers, but from 10 am – 5 pm we had sunny breezy weather with puffy clouds. Besides, we’re from the PNW so we knew a little water couldn’t deter us. We drove the southern loop of the park which has many more views of forests, several huge waterfalls, and a lot more fall colors than we saw yesterday in the north.
As we viewed all that, we also tried to concentrate a lot of our attention on geysers. We saw several different ways the earth can propel water into the air. We learned that the geysers of Yellowstone all need an active heat source, abundant water, and fractures that are kept open by frequent earthquakes. The blend of these elements-heat, water, fractures, and earthquakes is unique.Each geyser has its own underground story and above ground show.
With that knowledge, here are just a few of the geysers we visited.
We saw several other geysers but the steam was so extensive we couldn’t see much. We were told that this isn’t typical- that because it was so rainy earlier and humid after the rain that the steam was much stronger than usual. The big draw was the Grand Prismatic Spring but it was completely obscured. Here’s the photo I took there, because we couldn’t see the real deal.
We did see a few more buffalo today, each of which was eating grass near the road.
Today we saw Swan Lake which had actual swans swimming in it. Yellowstone has been working to improve the swan population in the park and it’s paying off. Here’s a better swan photo than yesterday’s.
This park has so many great parts of the American environment, and we’re so glad it was preserved for everyone to enjoy.
I wish John Muir and Theodore Roosevelt were here to thank personally. The National Parks are their gift to us all.
We ended our day at the southern park entrance and a beautiful cabin in Wyoming. Much more to come!
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