It was only a short drive to the Upper Falls this morning. On our way, we got to see some elk and a great view of the Yellowstone River.
We spent time on the south side of Yellowstone Canyon today. Our first stop was at Upper Yellowstone Falls Overlook. The close up two days ago was very nice. Seeing the entire waterfall was impressive. We also got a different look at Crystal Falls from the overlook.
Artist Point is at the opposite end of the canyon on the south side. The first photo below is similar to a Thomas Moran painting of Yellowstone. It is said that that painting was what sold Congress on forming the first National Park. From Artist Point, you can clearly see the Lower Falls. Whether it is a distant view or a close up view, the view is amazing. Even the canyon without the falls in the background is a beautiful sight.
Our next planned destination was Mud Volcano. We made a couple of stops along the way. The first stop was just off the road at Hayden Valley. This area of the park is a place to see a peaceful view of the Yellowstone River as it flows through the valley. Because of the wide grass filled valley and the slow moving river, it is also a great place to see herds of bison.
We stopped again before reaching Mud Volcano. This time it was a traffic jam. A herd of bison were congregating on both sides of the road. Between bison crossing the road and people stopping to see the bison, traffic was almost at a standstill. It was a perfect time to get some close up photos (from the safety of the car.)
The Mud Volcano hike is primarily on a boardwalk through an area of steamy, churning water, sizzling mud, and hearty plants. In some places, the boardwalk is flat. In other places, it is a steep stairway up and down the hills.
The steam and water present in many forms. Some look like mist on a pond. On Cooked Hillside, the steam comes up out of the ground. In another location, the steam and pressure create waves that carry across the pool. In Churning Cauldron, the pressure is so high that the water and steam bursts forth in mini explosions of water and steam. The variety of pools is surprising.
Mud Geyser is a very large mud pot that occasionally spouts up in small geysers. The area is self clearing because of the mud pot. A little over forty years ago, this picture would have looked like a forest. Mud Geyser would have been hidden by the trees. The trees are now dying because of the toxic environment.
Black Dragon’s Cauldron literally exploded onto the scene in 1948. Before that, this area looked like the treed area behind it. There is some activity today, but it is calm compared to the recent past. It has been known to shoot mud up to twenty feet into the air.
When you move toward the other end of the cauldron, you can see a pool of water nearby. Then you can see that it is connected to the pool of water by a short creek that appears to filter out the mud as the water rises above the mud. Finally, you learn that the pool of water is called Sour Lake. No surprise there.
Grizzly Fumarole is a changeling. Today it was very thick mud with occasional steam venting. During wetter seasons, it changes into a mud pot with more bubbling and possibly living organisms in it.
Mud Volcano is the namesake site on the hike. It is relatively small in comparison to other parts of the hike. However, it has many unique features. First is the lovely aroma of sulfur. Second, while it was very gray with a little bit of yellow today, it is colorful on other days. You can see yellow from sulfur, and green and red from thermophiles living in it. Additionally, the mud is almost liquified here giving it a much more active surface. Sometimes it also can erupt quite high for such a small pot.
Dragons Mouth Spring is well named. The constant steam looks like a dragon’s breath. The water surging from the cave makes loud ominous roaring sounds. We were fortunate that Dragons Mouth has calmed down recently. It used to spout out over the wooden walkway.
The LeHardy Rapids on the Yellowstone River provide a small glimpse into the rapids that trout jump over on their journeys. In this series, the river flows from right to left. In the middle of the montage, you can see the rapids where fish must jump to go up stream.
We did not see any trout jumping the LeHardy rapids, but we did see several ducks swimming in the rapids. It was hard to see how they could sit so still while the water was rushing by. Perhaps their webbed feet were paddling like crazy, or perhaps they can find calm in the middle of the storm of water.
At Fishing Bridge Visitor Center, we stopped to see Yellowstone Lake. It is a huge, gorgeous lake. If just Yellowstone Lake was a national park, it would be larger than 21 of the 63 National Parks.
This second photo of Yellowstone Lake was taken about 15 miles down the road. It was not the last we saw of Yellowstone Lake.
We stopped at Pumice Point on Yellowstone Lake. It is at a narrow point of the lake and is the beginning of West Thumb, an active volcanic portion of Yellowstone Lake. Yes, below that peaceful surface there is volcanic activity.
As we drove toward West Thumb, we caught our first glimpse of Mount Sheridan. The narrow passage of water in the photo is the connection between West Thumb and the rest of Yellowstone Lake.
West Thumb Geyser Basin included evidence of volcanic activity on the land and in the lake. On land examples included Thumb Paint Pots, Bluebell Pool, Black Pool, King Geyser, Abyss Pool, Mimulus Pool and many other pools and mud pots.
If you look at the circular outline of West Thumb on a map, it has the appearance of a caldera of a volcano. Based upon all the activity in this portion of Yellowstone Lake, it seems feasible that it is now, or once was, a volcano. From the bubbling white water out in the thumb to the numerous cones popping up above the surface of the lake, the volcanic history and activity seem obvious.
At West Thumb, we are over 60 miles south of the first steam vents, spouts, pools, and geysers we saw four days ago. The park covers 2.2 million acres. We only saw a small part of it. However, we saw numerous signs of volcanic activity throughout the park. Let’s hope all these vents and other releases of pressure keep the park from ever exploding in lava.
After West Thumb, we planned to hike to Lewis Falls. As we approached the parking area, we entered a construction area.
We snapped a quick picture of the falls because the parking lot was blocked off due to the construction.
Lewis Falls Canyon is just below the waterfall. You can see the Lewis River flowing through the canyon from the road. We did not get to take the hike, but we still got to see the special views of the falls and the canyon.
As we headed south we began to drive down from the high plains of Yellowstone. Our last stop in Yellowstone before we left the park was Moose Falls.
When we entered Yellowstone National Park from the north, we did not see an entrance sign. So as we exited to the south, we stopped to get a selfie of an entrance sign to the park.
On the drive to Grand Teton National Park, we began to see more mountainous terrain.
Fifteen minutes after leaving Yellowstone, we were at the entrance to Grand Teton.
We spent the night at Coulter Bay. The mountains rising from the side of Coulter Bay were spectacular.
Any sadness about leaving Yellowstone was replaced with excitement about getting to see more of Grand Teton National Park in the next three days.