Day 13: Yellowstone by car

Bike Distance	Avg Speed	Total Ascent	Saddle Time	Calories
0 miles	0 mph	0 ft	00:00:00	0 cal

Morning tea:

It was 7:15am when I woke from my slumber. Another cold but clear morning. I wasn't sure what time Swati would arrive so I started preparing hoping for an early start. I organized my tent, bundled up and headed to the restroom to clean myself up a bit. I then made some hot tea with hopes that it would warm my bones. It was now around 8:30am and still no word from Swatz. I decided to call T-Mobile as I've exhausted my domestic data roaming bandwidth and wanted to know what options I had. This past year Swati and I merged to a family account as it was cheaper. Unfortunately I am not authorized to access the account so they would need to call her for permission. In doing so they woke her up and I was granted access. Unfortunately, I would have to "upgrade" my account to receive more domestic bandwidth. I declined.

Time to kill:

Swatz called around 8:40am indicating she had some follow up work to before heading to the campground. She estimated she would reach around 10:30 or so. I suppose these are the side effects of her newish (1.5 years) career as a realtor. I am still adjusting to her dynamic schedule.

I was in the mood for a coffee so I headed to my new oasis the general store. I sat there for 1.5 hours stealing electricity while sipping coffee and eating hostess mini doughnuts. I returned to camp and Swatz eventually pulled up around 10:45am. Already off to a late start...

Old Faithful:

We reached Old Faithful 11:45am and had just missed her fury. We decided to wait her out and dine for lunch in the Old Faithful lodge cafeteria. It was quite crowded but we eventually worked our way through the maze, got our food and found a table. For once I was out chatting Swati! Hard to believe I know! :) I guess being alone for some time brings out the social in me. :)

We finished up lunch and positioned ourselves close to the geyser. She erupted right on schedule for a spectacular, albeit sulfur stinking, display. The wind currents steered the steam vapor our way resulting in a refreshing sulfur shower! Yuck! :)

We then spent another hour or so at the visitor center before plotting our next target. I was really hoping to drive the complete circumference of the park but since it was mid afternoon we decided to stick with the western side and head 50 miles to Mammoth Hot Springs in the northwestern most edge. As time (darkness) permits we would visit smaller sites of interest on our return drive.

Mammoth Hot Springs:

The town of Mammoth has some historical significance in that it used to be a military base "Fort Yellowstone". This base was constructed around 1895 and its main function was to run and protect Yellowstone National Park. The Army managed Yellowstone from this location for some 32 years before they handed control over to the newly formed National Park Service. Today the fort is fully restored and remains as the National Park Headquarters. The hats worn by the park rangers are actually inspired from the hats worn by the staff at Fort Yellowstone. Pretty cool. Mammoth also has a nice concessions area where people can shop and dine. We had already made dinner plans so we opted to skip this portion of the town and head to the main attraction.

The hot springs at Mammoth were created over thousands of years by hot water fed from Norris Geyser Basin. This water traveled along a fault line, cooled and deposited calcium carbonate. Algae living in the warm pools have tinted the stone and rock shades of brown, orange, red, and green. So, if you can imagine, there are these massive colorful deposits or formations of travertine either submerged or surrounded by hot springs. I highly recommend visiting this site if you are visiting Yellowstone. We didn't walk the entire attraction as time was slipping away and we had collection several other sites to see on out way up here. So, we scurried to the car and retraced our steps south towards the Artists Paintpots.

Artists Paint Pots:

After a short drive we pulled off at the Artists Paint Pots. It is a relatively small geothermal area consisting of a gushing geyser, colorful hot springs and steam vents. Along the 1 mile loop path one can listen to the mud pots plop and gurgle. The iron oxide emissions stain the white mud of the Artists Paint Pots into a colorful array of pastels which are quite pleasing to the eyes. The consistency of the mud pots varies from runny to thick and the mud can shoot up to 15 feet into the air. Yikes! :) We spent about 45 minutes exploring the pots and decided it was time to move on to Gibbon Falls.

Gibbon Falls:

We continued south until we reached the pull out for Gibbon Falls. Gibbon falls is, as one might expect, a water fall on Gibbon River. The pull out is quite nice in that one can see the 84 foot drop without restriction. Not much more that I can say about this other than it was a nice and romantic moment with Swatz! :-) Next on the list was Fountain Paint Pot.

Fountain Paint Pot:

The Fountain Paint Pot is named for the reds, yellows and browns of the mud in this area. The heat in the caldera forces pressurized water up and ultimately expels it forming pools. Gasses within the pools cause bubbles to rise to the surface making blurping sounds. While many of these sites initially look the same you do eventually notice differences that make each unique.

Firehole Lake Drive:

We were now 8 miles from Old Faithful and decided to turn off at Firehole Lake Drive. If one is lucky one can actually witness Great Fountain and White Dome geysers erupt. The problem is that they are unpredictable so knowing when is anyone's guess. Today wasn't our lucky day. That being said, Firehole Spring was pretty amazing as it constantly bubbles. Reminds me of water in a pot on a stove just before it reaches a running boil. This drive was a nice find and am happy it made our list of sites to see.

Grand Prismatic Spring:

Grand Prismatic is the largest hot spring in the US. All I can say is this thing is huge! The deep blue springs edges are teeming with bacteria that produce vibrant reds and greens and all the colors in between. It is truly visual eye candy! With the proper wind direction one can periodically feel the heat from the massive steam clouds rising from the pool. It gives you goose bumps as the heat is mixed with the ambient temperature so you get bursts of warmth followed by the coolness of the wind. A real interesting place to visit. The sun was beginning to hang low in the sky and the window of opportunity to see more was closing. We decided to head back to GrantVillage for dinner at Grant Village Dining Room restaurant.

Delicious Dinner:

After a long day of sight seeing we worked up quite an appetite. Grant Village Dining Room is located about 1/2 mile outside the campground and is nestled in the forest near the lake. The ambiance was nice and the view from the floor to ceiling windows was spectacular. Unfortunately, it was short lived as night was soon upon us. I ordered the wild game meatloaf (elk and bison) while Swati had the vegetable ragout. We both thoroughly enjoyed our meals as we laughed and reminisced about the days events. A perfect ending to a special day with my most favorite person.