Yellowstone 6/29/24

We were quickly blown away with all the things to see in Yellowstone National Park!!

In addition to the famous Old Faithful geyser, and all of the attractions in that area, there are 8 other "centers" of sights and activities inside the 2.2 million acre park shaped by a super-volcano, geysers and other thermal features, earthquakes, glaciers, and fires. It is "one of the most geologically dynamic areas on Earth due to a shallow source of magma and resulting volcanic activity" (from nps.gov).

I'm ready!!!

Our first experience in the park was an "animal-jam" (as our audio guide calls it)...people stopping to view wildlife. Delayed us >30 minutes.

On the way to the Mammoth Hot Springs area, "Guide Guy" as we call him (from our GuideAlong app) recommended we stop at the Artist Paintpots area.

After a short walk, we saw all four types of thermal features (hot springs, geysers, fumaroles/steam vents, and mudpots)

The Mammoth Hot Springs terraces (formed by minerals from hot springs) are behind us. They are huge!

We hiked 4 miles (and up 1800 ft) to the top of Bunsen Peak

Then we watched Old Faithful, which erupts about every 90 minutes

Afterwards, we had dinner inside the Old Faithful Inn (finished in 1904). This is a picture of the area above the lobby. Due to our early tour the next day, we asked if they had any rooms. "Yes, we have two for $500 or $1000." We drove home!

We saw a lot of bison on the way out