Day 08 Summer 2010 Park to Park Road Trip

We left our hotel in West Yellowstone Montana and headed back into Yellowstone National Park. We are going to visit a couple of areas of the park that we did not visit last year. The first area to visit is The Norris Geyser Basin. But before we can get there, we have to wait 20 minutes in a line up caused by road construction.

The Norris Geyser Basin is the hottest and most changeable thermal area in Yellowstone.

The following are a few of the features that we photographed and took video of along the trail. It would be impossible to post all the photos and videos in the blog so be sure to visit my FLICKR site to see all the photos and videos from today.

Emerald Spring

Steamboat Geyser

Fearless Geyser

Minute Geyser. The eruptions of this geyser used to be every minute or so, however past visitors to the park had thrown rocks into the mouth of the geyser and really ruined it for everyone else to see and enjoy. Now it just sputters and hisses. There are signs everywhere that tell you the geysers are not “wishing wells” or “garbage cans” and to not throw things into them. This is a perfect example of what happens when visitors do not obey the basic rules. I have included a photo of the geyser as it was, and as it is now.

Porcelain Basin.

We drove through the Hayden Valley of YNP and saw several Bison along the way.

We then visited the Mud Volcano area of YNP.

First stop on the hiking trail is Dragons Mouth Spring.

Mud Volcano.

Churning Caldron.

Black Dragons Caldron.

As we were leaving Black Dragons Caldron and walking along the pathway towards the parking lot, we encountered a blockage in the pathway. 2 Bison were on the pathway. We watched and waited for them to move away from the pathway so that we could proceed safely.

After leaving the Mud Volcano area we drove back through the Hayden Valley and spotted this Bison swimming across the Yellowstone River.

We stopped at Artist Point to view the Lower Falls.

Then on to Uncle Tom’s Point to view the Upper Falls.

We were leaving Uncle Tom’s Point and heading to the Petrified Tree when we spotted this Elk laying in the shade of some trees. I don’t think I have ever seen one with such large antlers or been this close to one.

And a bit further along the road we spotted a Black Bear. The only photo we got to take was just as the bear turned to move away further over a rise and out of view.

That concludes our 2 day visit to Yellowstone National Park, we got to see lots of wildlife and new areas of the park. We will be back again another year, there is still lots to see and do in this park.

We headed for Bozeman MT where we will take a break for a day and catch our breath before heading further North towards our next National Park.