home stretch

Day #9: the last few hundred miles. I found it hilarious that our longest delay was that we had to wait for a cattle drive. I didn't know that cowboys drove cattle down the highway, but it turns out that they do in Colorado!

Our last stop: just one more aspen photo....

another lucky find

After dinner, we set out to find lodging for the evening. Since it's the off-season, we didn't think this would be a problem. Oops!

As it turns out, there was a (running) race in town the following day, as well a church convention going on... so the first two hotels we tried had no vacancies. We were getting a little weary when we tried the Big Posh Resort on the hill: the Steamboat Grand.

Oddly enough, they have "parlor rooms" available for only $129 (let's hear it for the off season!) which include breakfast the next day. We'll take it!

The "parlor room" designation means that technically, there are no beds. However, there's a pullout couch, as well as two day-beds (meaning two twin futons). We put the futon mats on the floor, made them up with sheets & blankets, and were comfortable as could be. And by the way: these rooms have a full kitchen (full sized fridge, oven, etc. etc.), full sized dining area (could easily seat 10 for dinner), couch, fireplace, TV, etc. etc. We are going to remember this for next summer for a little getaway for sure!

I highly recommend....

We pulled into Steamboat Springs around 8p. We decided to stop at this restaurant on the main drag: Mazolla's. What a treat! The wine list was good; they served hummus with a homemade flatbread instead of the usual french bread -- and it was delicious; the pasta was home-made (and excellent); the cioppino was fantastic. If you ever find yourself in Steamboat Springs, I would highly recommend this place for any meal.
Sorry about the lack of pictures (the meal was really worthy) -- by this point, I was having camera-battery issues.  Next time.

the drive home

We decided to take the "scenic route" home, which included driving south again from Yellowstone back through Grand Teton. Tom agreed to stop so that I could take this picture of the amazingly perfect aspens on the north side of Jackson Lake. I don't think I will ever get tired of aspens.

my next stop: Storm Point

I walked as long as I cared to on the Howard Eaton trail, so I went back to the car and drove to Mary Bay (only about 2 miles away on Lake Yellowstone). The start of my next walk was delayed by a large herd of buffalo. I must admit: up close, they are pretty intimidating, even if they are vegetarians!

I did a loop hike out to Storm Point. It was pretty windy out on the water, but beautiful in the trees.

I enjoyed the butterflies along this hike.

Tom's giant cut-throat trout

While I hiked, Tom fished. He caught this one gigantic fish (about 20 inches). Since I had the camera, he took this picture with the cell phone. Not bad.

hiking the Howard Eaton trail

These photos are from a dayhike that I took along the Yellowstone River, to the LeHardys Rapids.  And yes: those are bear tracks.

last stop for the day

Our final stop for this day was the Artist's Paintpot area. Since the sun was getting low in the sky, there was a very cool vibe about the place -- very Hallowe'en-ish.

fumaroles

This is Red Spouter -- which can exhibit the behaviors of all 4 thermal features (geysers, hot springs, mudpots & fumaroles).  The day we visited it was definitely a fumarole: hissing as the steam + carbon dioxide + hydrogen sulfide were venting from the earth.  I thought the hissing sounds were really cool, which is mainly what I wanted to catch on the video.

next stop: Fountain Paint Pot area

By the late summer, the mud in the paint pots gets quite thick. The mud is composed of clay minerals and fine particles of silica. The Crow tribe used to paint their tipis with this mud.

checkin' out more cool landscapes

We got off the beaten path for a while, and came upon this geyser -- which had no placard information, and no path defining where we should walk... so we walked right up to it. Cool.

I loved taking close-up pictures of the thermophiles, and of the landscapes in general.

and more geysers

This is Giant Geyser -- which was dormant from 1955 to 2007, and now erupts sporadically.

This is Grotto Geyser -- I'm guessing one of the most photographed geysers in the park.

Punchbowl spring.

chromatic pool

I love these photos side-by-side, because they're the same pool, with the photos taken about two minutes apart. The only difference was that the sun was behind a cloud during the first photo, and then had come back out by the bottom photo. Cool, eh?

you guessed it: more geysers

Castle Geyser -- the cone alone is thousands of years old. It erupts about every 14 hours.

I liked this view of the river because of all of the venting that was occurring nearby. I'd like to think that the trout in this stream come over for a relaxing spa-day every now and again...

I don't remember the names of these geysers; I just liked the pictures...

Old Faithful

Of course, we made sure to see Old Faithful... as long as we were in the area! Old Faithful erupts more frequently than any of the other big geysers, although it is not the largest or most regular geyser in the park. Its average interval between eruptions is about 90 minutes, and lasts from 90 sec to 5 minutes. Each eruption expels 3,700-8,400 gallons of boiling water, and reaches a height of 106-184 feet.

more from the Upper Geyser Basin

I don't remember the names of any of these geysers, but I was really impressed by all of them. They are so beautiful!

The really cool colors are created by a variety of bacteria, called Thermophiles (heat loving bacteria). The green, brown & orange colors are mostly cyanobacteria, which can live in waters as hot as 167 degrees (F). The rusty colors usually signify slightly cooler waters (in the 160s); the yellow-green colors are usually hotter temperatures.

where to start?

Our first full day in Yellowstone we went to the Old Faithful area -- as this has the majority of the world's active geysers. We started out on Geyser Hill. This first picture is the Anemone Geyser.

Along this one mile (or so) loop there are so many amazing "hydrothermal features" that it is mind-boggling. This next photo is of the Beehive Geyser; you can see why it is a cone-type geyser (rather than a fountain-type geyser). The temperature of the surface waters here tend to be about 200 degrees (F).

This is Heart Spring.

This is the Lion Group. From left to right, the four geysers are Little Cub, Lioness, Big Cub & Lion.

hello, deer!

We saw lots of mule deer in Grand Teton. This one greeted us on the trail near String Lake. We also had a nightly visitor to our campsite at Jenny Lake, who seemed completely unfazed by us humans.

more views of Leigh Lake

While Tom was fishing, he lost a lure. He could see it in the shallow waters, so he decided to go in after it. I took some pictures because I was amused by the whole affair, but I ended up liking the pictures because you can see how amazingly clear the water was.

I took more photos of Leigh Lake than String Lake or Bearpaw Lake because I thought that Leigh Lake was so beautiful. This was our only day of temporarily sketchy weather -- later on during this afternoon, it clouded up & thundered, and rained (only lightly) for about 30 minutes. As this was our last day of camping (we were heading from there to the Yellowstone Hotel, on Lake Yellowstone) we didn't worry about the rain very much.