Wonders of Yellowstone, Part 3b: Biscuit Basin

There's no gravy here (or even any biscuits, since the 1959 Hegben Lake Earthquake*, as you can learn in this Inside Yellowstone video). But, boy, is there out-of-this-world scenery!

Biscuit Basin, with bridge over the Firehole River

Imagine what you would have thought, if you had been wandering around the mountains 300 years ago and just happened to come down into this valley! What an amazing place!

Of all of our stops, we saw the most features-per-yard in this basin. The 2/3 mile loop trail, on sturdy boardwalks, lets you get up close and personal, reasonably safely, to all kinds of pools, springs, geysers, and seeps. And they provide identifying signs that should enable bloggers to positively name all the sights for which they have photos. 

Black Pearl Spring

And I did pretty well, but was not able to match up all the following photos with feature names. Of course, not all the features have names, since there are hot holes in the ground all over the place in the basin. 

Henry took a great video of one of the geysers (I think it was Mustard Spring) that shows a good panorama as well. Here's a still shot that I'm also pretty sure is Mustard Spring...

...and another one that might be...

Not as much steam, and no bubbles, so it's hard to say. It might have just quieted down.

The most amazing quality of the pools is the clear water, allowing you to see down into the depths...

the water's so clear you might think it's not there at all!

relics of old trees in this pool...they didn't have a chance!

In between some of the larger features were lovely terraces, somewhat reminiscent of the much larger ones around Mammoth Hot Springs...

As is often the case with spectacular scenery, it's as fascinating on a small scale as it is in panorama. Here's a closeup of some of the geyser deposits...

And the colors! Not only the incredibly lovely turquoise of many of the pools. But take a look at the palette exhibited by this runoff! Somewhat psychedelic!

If I can trust the photos I took of the identifying signs, this is Wall Pool, probably the largest feature in the basin. My photo doesn't even hold it all...

But the prettiest is Sapphire Pool. Henry got a much better picture of it than I did, so I'm using his...

Isn't that gorgeous!? I'm glad it eventually cleared back up after its 1959 eruption (learn about that by following the Inside Yellowstone link at the top of the post).

---

I think we might not wait another 25 years before returning to this fabulous place!

That finishes up my Yellowstone reports, but I've got lots more to show and tell about our trip north. Hard to believe we were only gone for 10 days!

---

*Since I was living in Montana in 1959, only about 250-300 miles from the quake's epicenter, I think it's possible that I didn't just imagine feeling it in bed that night. When I found out about the earthquake the next morning, I told my Mom I had felt a bump during the night but she was skeptical. I've always maintained that it was the quake and that's the story I'm sticking with!

Wordless Wednesday: R-rated bison

Wonders of Yellowstone, Part 3a: Forces of Nature

The most famous features in Yellowstone are, of course, the geysers, pools, and steaming springs made by the hotspot. We didn't have time to see all of them (since we spent the morning taking in the Canyon). In fact, we skipped stopping at the Midway Basin, one of the main park attractions; the picture above shows the basin in the background. But I think you'll agree we saw a lot of really neat features! (Two blog-posts-worth, in fact.)

Our first stop was the Mud Volcano area, which is between the Canyon and Yellowstone Lake, and is a veritable smorgasbord of steam...

...that you could, actually, use to cook a smorgasbord, if you didn't mind the tinge of H₂S flavoring your meat!

The trees on the hillside ringing the valley are lovely, but the unlucky ones closer in haven't fared so well...

The eponymous "volcano" is not even the main attraction here, although it's an interesting bubbly mud-pot (the name originated, as I learned from the video linked above, from early explorers; when they saw it, it was capped by a cone of mud that has since been blasted away)...

tourists taking in the Mud Volcano from boardwalk safety

Another example of the fine network of boardwalks the park provides...

The big gout of steam in the picture above is coming from the very aptly named Dragon's Mouth Spring, one of the highlights of the area...

---

After driving around the west end of Yellowstone Lake, a very impressive and interestingly-shaped body of water, we opted to pass up Old Faithful, preferring to stop at some less-traveled features on the road north to the park exit.

quick scenic stop on the Lake

First up was Biscuit Basin, where I took so many photos I'm going to have to make it Part 3b, on its own.

But then we took a little bonus loop, Firehole Lake Road, where there are some really spectacular features. And where I got the idea for my post title. 

Because the road, which looked like this when we were there...

Firehole Lake Drive with White Dome Geyser in the distance

...looks like this today:

melted road, looking at White Dome Geyser in the distance

You can read about it here, but the upshot is that the drive is temporarily closed because thermal activity in the area was intense enough to melt the roadway! One article I read reported that they are even warning hikers to stay away, since they could crash through seemingly solid ground into boiling, stinky water! Wow! Talk about geology in action! It reminded me of our memorable 2006 visit to Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, where they also have to be flexible in their road maintenance:

First up on the road we were lucky to be able to travel, is Firehole Spring, which is a pool that features photogenic big bubbles coming up from the depths. Henry took a great video that shows the spring and surrounding area very well; I've put it on YouTube here.

The big attraction on this drive is Great Fountain Geyser, next to the road, right where the melt happened. The geyser erupts once or twice a day, but predictions are only estimates. There were people in the nice seating area by the geyser who'd been there for hours, but fortunately we only had to wait about 30 minutes, and it was worth it!

Here is a pre-eruption shot...

Bonus: gorgeous clouds in the sky, as backdrop to the steam

Unfortunately none of my still shots of the eruption itself do it justice. But I was able to get a pretty good video, which is here on YouTube. The excited kids' voices in the background belonged to a family that had been there for hours...more time than I would have spent waiting with 4 kids, no matter how spectacular the show eventually was!

I did get a good view of the still-erupting Great Fountain when we stopped down the road at the next attraction, White Dome Geyser, which was just smoking rather than erupting for our stop. As you can see in the Wikipedia images I linked to, an eruption there would be pretty cool!

looking back at Great Fountain Geyser [note Spurs flag on car]

---

Although there were more attractions along the road (you can see pictures of them by following the Firehole Road link above) we were just about sight-seen-out at this time, and had to get into a totally different state by nightfall!

But you have more Yellowstone photos to look forward to. Bring a healthy appetite next time, as the delicacies of Biscuit Basin will be on offer!

Wonders of Yellowstone, Part 2: Grand Canyon

Contrary to the stereotype, not all of Yellowstone's wonders involve hot water. One, at least, involves very cold water!

I've never been to the other Grand Canyon, and I'm sure it's spectacular, but the one cut by the Yellowstone River has got to be at least as photogenic.

It's a place where you've never been more thankful that we've moved beyond the world of film and into cheap, easy electrons. I just couldn't stop taking pictures here.

We spent a wonderful, if chilly, morning (we even had some snow flurries!) on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, listening to an informative and entertaining ranger talk, and taking a couple hundred photos.

Although the Canyon walls are wonderfully beautiful, the big draws are not one, but two, fantastic waterfalls. The one above is the upper falls, which is the "little brother" of the two. But as you can see, there was serious water coming over that drop! Our ranger told us that the flow was about twice normal even for this time of year (when it's usually pretty high anyway). They had a heavy snow season, then a quick warm spell pretty much filled up Yellowstone Lake, the river's source.

Here's the lower falls, which is almost twice as high as the upper... 

...and a close-up shot of all that water...isn't it a gorgeous color!?

(See the folks on the north side overlook? To see what this platform looked like in 1955, go about half-way down this page. Plus there's a picture of me and Hal there in 1988, towards the bottom.)

The waterfalls are so impressive it's hard to take your eyes off them. But if you can manage it, you're rewarded with views of the gorgeous rock walls of the canyon (more precisely, the beginnings of the canyon; it goes on for more than 20 miles).

I mean, the canyon would be spectacular without the waterfalls, really...

But those waterfalls...geez, I just couldn't stop snapping views.

The walk with the ranger took us about 1/3 of the way to Artist's Point, which you just have to get to, assuming that the view there would be the best. And it probably is! Here is a shot from there with no zooming, to give you an idea of the panoramic glory of the falls and canyon:

What a breathtaking spot!

You might have noticed a big hunk of snow just to the left of the falls, yet unmelted and ready to contribute more water to the folks downstream. We actually got to sample the downstream waters up close and personal. I'll tell you about that later, when I gather pictures of all the wonderful rivers we saw, as well as several other very fine falls, into a giant paean to the glories of snowmelt.

---

In case you want to see the wonderful Lower Falls of the Yellowstone in action, I uploaded a short (and rather amateurish, I'm sorry to say) video to YouTube.

Wonders of Yellowstone, Part 1: Mammoth Hot Springs

Get ready for a series of photo-heavy posts. Boy, what a national treasure beyond price is Yellowstone National Park! We had kind of forgotten that, since we hadn't visited in almost 25 years.

And we didn't have too much time on this trip, but we made the most of it, seeing amazing sight after amazing sight. Which isn't too hard, given how many amazing sights are within the park boundaries.

Our first big stop was at Mammoth Hot Springs, a handy few miles from our Yellowstone home base in Gardiner, MT.

I would say that whoever named this area certainly got it right...these are some very large, very hot, and completely other-worldly-looking springs. The photo at the top of the post is a view of the Main Terraces from the road below, and on the left is a close-up of just part of them.

First we saw the "Upper Terraces," nicely served by a narrow road that allows you to get as close to the features as you want to, with few, if any, crowds. Here is the aptly named Orange Spring Mound. I mean, does it even look real?!

Here's another shot of this spooky place, and a second orange mound. Notice the hillside full of flowers in the background. They were quite lovely in this area, in spite of the quantity of noxious stuff coming out of the ground...

The more imaginatively-named White Elephant Back Terrace is another Upper Terraces attraction:

Notice the crack sort of running like the elephant's spine along the top of this feature? At the pullout, the crack extends almost to the road. And when you get close to it, you can hear the water bubbling just under the surface! 

Pretty cool! Or, actually, pretty hot. Although we learned that bubbling water isn't always boiling. Sometimes the bubbles are due to gas escaping from chambers below, and the water isn't at 212°. But it's still hot.

On the right you can see a close-up of the crack. Unfortunately, you can't actually see the bubbling liquid, but it was there!

Our last stop on the Upper Terraces loop was this photogenic Angel Terrace. Although quite frankly, it looks more hellish than heavenly...

The Main Terrace is the truly "mammoth" set of springs, and it has a network of boardwalks that allow you to get as up close and personal, again, as you could possibly want, to these fabulously weird features. Boardwalks like the ones you can see in the background of this shot allow access to all the Park's major geothermal features.

The main walk on this side of the Terrace leads to Canary Springs. Here are some shots I took along the way to show the eerie beauty of the springs' handiwork:

The boardwalks could have been leading you around a landscape on Mars, or, more likely, Io. What beautiful, yet scary and haunting, views are on offer!

Unfortunately we didn't have time to see all of the Main Terrace features. The boardwalks on the other side of the terrace did look somewhat crowded. And we also had a time constraint: we had to get back to Gardiner by 4 to watch the US' first World Cup game. Having seen the Spurs with their championship the day before, we just knew we'd bring them good luck (and we did: they won a thriller, 2-1!).

So back out through the Roosevelt Arch, back to the real world where you can get cell service and TV, and where the landscape doesn't look like an alien moon!

More Yellowstone wonders to come...

The scenic route

The impetus for our trip to Montana was a family wedding in Billings (Congratulations and thanks, Chris and Becca!) but it worked out better for our overall plan to fly into Great Falls. We arrived there Thursday in the early afternoon. Then, to get closer to Billings, as well as to begin our exploration of Big Sky Country, we drove south to Livingston for the night. (It was one of several enjoyable little towns we encountered out west; I'll tell you about all of them in a later post.)

Since Livingston and Billings are both on I-90, it was an easy drive east Friday, even after a nice short hike (more about this later). We had time to stop in Big Timber (at the Timber Bar) for lunch and were able to watch most of the Netherlands' World Cup dismantling of Spain. (Keeping up with sporting events in the world outside was an important, though subsidiary, activity throughout our trip.) Then on to Billings and the fun weekend of wedding activities.

Since we had to back-track west from Billings to get to Yellowstone* post-wedding, we were very pleased to learn, of an alternative to I-90. Two of our nephews had been to Yellowstone pre-wedding, and they told us about the Beartooth Highway, US 212, a much more scenic and fun way to get there.

---

What a great road! Although, as you can probably tell from the map linked above, it's a pretty exciting drive. Here's an example of its extreme switchbacks; the red lines point out sections of the road we'd already traversed (click on any picture to see a larger image):

Henry was up to the challenge, though, in our trusty Rogue (which was not to meet its untimely almost-end until a week later).

In addition to the great scenery, and the interesting feeling of having trouble keeping track of which state you are in (on the left is a boundary sign at the top of Beartooth Pass), we got a type of entertainment we weren't counting on in mid-June—watching skiers!

Not just folks at a regular (well, not exactly regular; you'll see what I mean in a minute) ski area, either. We saw kids (yes, they all looked pretty young) getting ready to, or finishing up, skiing down some of the backcountry snowfields that still covered many of the slopes.

skiers at the top of the pass hiking to their run

Now, we know that people do this. We even have some (young) relatives who have done it. But we'd never really seen it, or thought about the logistics and effort that would be required! The young lady taking off her gear below had just finished coming down the snowfield you can see behind her. As you might notice, it doesn't come all the way down to the parking lot. (That last part must have been fun!) She gave us a quick review of what was involved in getting to the field and negotiating her way down; great fun for her, but it sounded pretty crazy to us!

Here are a couple of friends of skiers (see the red line), waiting at the bottom and taking photos/videos of friends further up that incredibly broad field...true friendship, I guess?

As crazy at these folks are, I must say that they've found an absolutely wonderful place to be crazy in. And they were smart to take advantage of this beautiful Sunday...just a couple of days later we saw signs in

Yellowstone that the highway was closed. There was a light dusting of snow where we were, but in the higher elevations they got enough to close the road. In the middle of June.

I did mention a "regular" ski lift operation. Well, it's somewhat regular, in that it has lifts (2 T-bars). But they're buried during the winter and get dug out in the late spring for summer skiing only! (You can't get there in the winter anyway, as the Highway is always closed all winter.) There's a neat video  on Beartooth Basin's website, with some amazing [i.e., crazy] guys freestyling there as well as gorgeous shots of the scenery.

Here is all we could see of this operation and activity from the road and the parking lot, just the top of the top T-bar:

At the risk of repeating myself, what an amazing, wonderful road! 

---

Coming down from the heights, we still had lots of fabulous stuff to see before we found our way to a bar in Gardiner to watch Game 5 of the NBA Finals.

We stopped at this lovely lake; I'm pretty sure it's Beartooth Lake, but wasn't as careful with my note-taking as I should have been. Can you blame me for over-looking such a mundane task amid such scenery?

There was a great waterfall, too, before we even got to Yellowstone. It was also un-noted, but I'm reasonably sure it's Lake Creek Falls...yes, this is a creek. We were there at perhaps the perfect time to see creeks, rivers, and waterfalls at their most impressive. And I will have much more to say on this subject in future posts.

I will need to stop here for now, since the rest of the joys of the day were in Yellowstone and will fill up their own post quite nicely. And at the end of the road in Gardiner, we had even more sweetness awaiting us before bedtime, as our beloved Spurs came through and crushed the Heat for their 5th championship. Joy on all fronts!

Next up: Yellowstone, Part I of many.

---

*Here's a map in case the geography of our comings and goings in the Rockies are confusing.