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| Sunrise Over the Absarokas |
Though colder than the past few nights, my down booties and footwarmers along with the fact that I was exhausted helped me sleep well so I was wide awake by the time the alarm went off to capture sunrise.
Nature did not disappoint this morning. We set up on Lily Lake Road facing west with a view of the Absarokas and, specifically, Pilot and Index Peaks. Aside from the fact that Pilot seemed to be generating its own cloud bank covering its signature peak, conditions were pretty perfect. Clouds to the west, clear to the east and we indeed had a gorgeous sunrise. Wished the aspen in the foreground had changed a little more to their golden yellow but that's just getting greedy.
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| Lamar Valley |
After packing up and fixing a blown fuse (essential to keeping our cooler functioning and charging all of our electronics - so much for "disconnecting") we headed down to Cooke City and had a yummy breakfast sandwich and delicious coffee at the Lovin' Cup Cafe, a funky joint with jazz lp album covers lining the walls and good literature (Wallace Stegner) on the bookshelves. We then made our way to Yellowstone.
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| Aspen in the Lamar Valley |
Nice to be back in the park when it is much less busy. Always loved the Lamar Valley, its wide-open expanse making me think of Smetna's "Moldau" every time I make the turn from Soda Butte into the valley. Saw our pronghorn and bison. One poor bison had a damaged leg and was clearly not going to make it this winter. With this wildlife was the requisite bison or pronghorn car jam but nowhere near as bad as what occurs during the summer. We then headed to Tower Junction, making our way through construction delays generated by yours truly's place of employ, and then made our way down to Canyon Village. After checking in with Mom and my sister (Mom is to be discharged from Rehab tomorrow) we cut across the Park to check out Norris Geyser Basin and an area that we hadn't seen before, the Gibbon and Firehole Rivers in the greater Geyser Basin found in the southwestern quadrant
of the park.
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| Lower Falls of Yellowstone |
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| Psychedelic Colors of Geyser Basin |
It was fun to see Norris again and tour the Porcelain Basin. The incoming storm (winter storm warning for Wednesday and Thursday) made for great contrast against the turquoise waters and the stark white geyserite mineral that coated the ground. When I visited before we were always on a strict schedule so I had little time just to sit back and look. Rick seemed to feel the same way and we took our time checking out and marveling at the surreal landscape.
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| Firehole River in Geyser Basin |
We then began to head south with our intending Old Faithful to be our final destination. However, we got a bit distracted by the beautiful Gibbon and Firehole Rivers. These are the gorgeous, perfect fly-fishing rivers that one sees in "A River Runs Through It". The Firehole River, in particular, was very picturesque. A side road took you on an intimate tour of the River's box canyon, cascades, and waterfalls. As you progressed south into the upper, middle, and lower geyser basins you traversed fumeroles, mudpots, geysers, hot springs all adjacent to the aptly named Firehole River. The Nez Perce Creek, an idyllic tributary to the Firehole, meanders through a lovely meadow and is just begging to be fly-fished.
Rick wanted me to note that we saw some serious elk porn with a whole bunch of repressed voyeurs enjoying the display WAY too much. No pics. This is a family-friendly blog. Also saw some trumpeter swans being far more elegant, swimming along the river.
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| Grand Prismatic Spring (R. Dunn) |
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| Me at Grand Prismatic Spring (R. Dunn) |
The combination of the beautiful rivers and the unique geothermal features of this area made for an afternoon of wonderful discoveries ending with a visit to the "The Grand Prismatic Spring". While the spring itself was a little disappointing in that we could not see it in its glorious entirety, it was still a magical experience walking through the steam and catching glimpses of the vibrant orange, red, green and turquoise colors.
We then headed back to Madison where our campsite awaited and, given the ran, we had a quick and simple dinner of cheeses, meats, and wine. Because of the rain and chill (snow tomorrow) we spent dinner in the cab reviewing the events of the day in the light of little camp lantern and listening to Rick's Mellow Mix on the I-phone.
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| Stormy Sunset at Grand Prismatic Spring (R. Dunn) |
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