The weather is getting warmer today - it's only 3 degrees this morning, with light snow - and off we go toward Flagg Ranch, just outside the south entrance to Yellowstone National Park. We first headed north, through Grand Teton National Park - arguably the most beautiful mountains in the world. We were delighted to spot a moose (cow) right along the roadside - of course, she didn't stay there long.
We rode by Jackson Lake, frozen solid, and on into Flagg Ranch. At first the place looked deserted, but we soon found the filling station was open - we just didn't recognize what the little wooden buildings were!
Our snow coaches were waiting, so we loaded our gear into these strange vehicles and headed north along the Snake River and into the Park. These vehicles are made by Bombardier as a specialized passenger transport vehicle; they are designed to operate over snow or ice. They hold 10 passengers and they are quite noisy as they plow along the snow-packed roads.
Plenty of snow here, so we stopped for picture-taking to document our official arrival (for the second time in a week).
A few miles in, we stopped at Moose Falls, where our driver/guides had thoughtfully cleared a path for us to have a look at a beautiful waterfall.
The next stop was Lewis Canyon - not so pretty, but a grim reminder of the power of forest fires. This area was burned over by the big Yellowstone fires of 1988. Today, more than 20 years later, there are lots of new little trees, but it will be many more years before mature forest is re-grown here. Overall, the 1988 fires burned over one-third of the Park - we were here in 1989 and can say for sure it looks better now than it did then!
Now we're driving along the Lewis River and we stopped for the short walk to Lewis Falls - another beautiful snow scene.
And one more geographical feature named after Meriwether Lewis - this is Lewis Lake, covered by about 2 feet of ice and another 2 feet of snow. Our guide says this lake spends more of the year frozen than thawed. We walked out onto the ice, hoping our guide was right that it was safe.
We stopped for a break and short hike at the West Thumb Geyser Basin. This is located on a little piece of Lake Yellowstone - a bay that looks a bit like the thumb of a mitten. We had some snacks in the warming hut, talked to the ranger a bit and then headed out on the boardwalk loop trail to see a variety of hot springs and geysers.
The West Thumb Geyser Basin overlooks Yellowstone lake, the largest lake at high elevation (7733 feet) in North America. It's frozen surface extends for miles and there are active thermal features along the banks as well as under the surface.
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Two hot pools side by side are known as the Blue Pools - Seismograph Pool and Bluebell Pool. Heat-loving micro-organisms produce the bright colors. These are hot springs, with underground water circulating to the surface where the heat escapes through evaporation or runoff. The cooler water returns to the underground system, keeping it in equilibrium.
Lakeshore Geyser boils vigorously all year round, but it hasn't had a major eruption since 1970. In a geyser, constrictions in the underground plumbing prevent the water from circulating freely to the surface. Pressure builds up until it reaches a critical point that causes the geyser to overflow.
Way back in the 1800's, mountain men told of a geyser along an alpine lake where one could catch a trout, swing the pole around, dip it into a boiling pool, and cook the fish without taking it off the line. This cooking-on-the-hook led to the name of "Fishing Cone."
Abyss Pool, one of the deeper hot springs in the park, has a depth of 53 feet. It varies in color from turquoise blue to emerald green to various shades of brown. An early park visitor described it as 'a great, pure, sparkling sapphire, rippling with heat.'
Fumaroles are commonly known as steam vents. Fumaroles are Yellowstone's hottest surface feature. This one didn't seem to have a name, but it let loose a steady flow of steam.
Rabbit tracks - snowshoe hare?
We were pretty cold after this walk, so we loaded back into our snow coach and continued north. The road crossed the Continental Divide three times - all at about 8000 feet. The final crossing was at Craig Pass, near Isa Lake; the lake is frozen now, but in summer, water from the lake is said to run in both directions - east and west - just a little strange.
We drove on to Old Faithful Snow Lodge, our home for the next couple of nights. It's one of the newer park lodges, very nice - still no tv, internet, etc.
Fortunately, we arrived just before time for Old Faithful to erupt - we dropped our luggage and hustled over to the viewing area. Old Faithful is Yellowstone's 'flagship' geyser, located the area known as the Upper Geyser Basin. This is literally a hotbed of thermal activity - the basin contains the largest concentration of geysers in the world.
In the case of Old Faithful, it's big and predictable - on average, it erupts every 92 minutes and discharges up to 8,000 gallons of superheated water 130 feet into the air for two to five minutes. It's quite a show.
Today's performance was right on schedule - it was amazing to watch this spectacle with only five other people anywhere in sight - not what you'd call a mob scene around here in winter. There was a strong wind blowing, so the eruption was a bit more horizontal than usual - the ranger told us it reached about 120 feet. Click on the video below to watch a little of the action.
The weather is getting warmer today - it's only 3 degrees this morning, with light snow - and off we go toward Flagg Ranch, just outside the south entrance to Yellowstone National Park. We first headed north, through Grand Teton National Park - arguably the most beautiful mountains in the world. We were delighted to spot a moose (cow) right along the roadside - of course, she didn't stay there long.
Today's performance was right on schedule - it was amazing to watch this spectacle with only five other people anywhere in sight - not what you'd call a mob scene around here in winter. There was a strong wind blowing, so the eruption was a bit more horizontal than usual - the ranger told us it reached about 120 feet. Click on the video below to watch a little of the action.