Yellowstone has a charm...

Yellowstone:  the National Park with Charm

Yellowstone has a charm that I've not experienced in any other National Park to this point.  Maybe it's because it was the first National Park or maybe it's because of the diverse features with all the animals and geyser fields.  Then there is the architecture of the Park's lodges and other tourist service structures that set a new standard for primitive style.  They, too, are most certainly charming.  Until recently I didn't realize that Yellowstone has, so they say, half of the geysers in all the world.  I think Iceland might have the rest.  That's something to Google, eh?  The caldera of the inactive super-volcano is what creates the thermal features of Yellowstone.  It's about 50 miles in diameter and when you drive around the park it's amazing just how many geysers there are.  You can round just about any corner in the road and reasonably expect to see some thermal feature.  It might be just a tiny plume of steam coming from under a single rock or a full blown field with dozens of plumes.  And there are signs everywhere warning us of the danger associated with the Park's thermal features.  I can't help but wonder if anyone has ever REALLY fallen through the earth's crust to be scalded and boiled to death in a geyser basin?  Maybe it has happened, but I suspect the Park Rangers are just trying to save people from their own stupidity and, at the same time, keep human footprints off the sandy ground around the thermal features.  The geysers would lose some appeal if there were Nike basketball shoe footprints everywhere.  Also in this particular collection is a pic showing a man on the wrong side of a bison.  What you can't see is two other men in front of a trotting bull who were, albeit unknown to them, running for their lives.  That's when I drove off.  I just didn't want to be a witness to what could possibly follow.  Please understand there are signs all over the park warning, "Do not approach wild animals" or "Wild animals are dangerous".  Some even show a pictograph of a buffalo flinging a human being way up into the air.  You can almost imagine the gore.  These are animals of enormous power, still, you have people who are so dim that they believe they can pet the unusual looking "cattle".  They believe they are gentle because they approach cars on the roadway.  I don't know if it's true, but I've been told or I've read that more people are hurt/killed by bison than by bears every year.  That said, there were, in fact, two people who were killed by bears in 2011 inside the Park.  The bison bulls are truly huge creatures and when they are close by there is a sense of power not associated with any other animal I've ever been close to.  I expect a big bull moose or a grizzly would give off the same vibe, but I've not been up close and personal with them, yet.  The bottom line I'm searching for should be obvious to all my friends because all my friends are smarter (I hope) than the average tourist.  Anyway, I'm convinced you can't overestimate the public's capacity for doing really stupid stuff.  Sorry for the rant and all I can say is you'd be ranting too if you had seen what I've seen along the roadways of Yellowstone.

I think the simplest way to chronicle my personal Yellowstone experience is to simply tell it in pictures.  I'll do my best to remember all the places, but first we need to leave Grand Teton NP with some parting pics.

Bye Bye Grand Teton National Park, Hello Yellowstone

If you can ignore the asphalt scenic turnout and look at the horizon the pic has some character.  This is the view straight
down the valley.  It's almost like those interesting pics we've all seen taken on a railroad track illustrating perspective or depicting distance.  The assumption is the mountains on both sides run parallel to each other, which they do.  

This is the buffalo herd I saw while leaving Grand Teton National Park.
There were about 50-75 animals in this particular herd.

Another last look at these dramatic mountains.  What's interesting is that no matter how long or how often I gazed at this view I never got tired of it.  And the closer you get to them the more hypnotic they become.

Storm clouds were moving into the area from the north.  I wish I had gotten
to see the Tetons with snow capped peaks, but Yellowstone was calling.

Arriving at Yellowstone's South Entrance

I was well into Yellowstone when this sign gave me a final bearing.  I was destined for West Yellowstone where I'd stay the week at Lion's Head RV Park.  It wasn't fancy, but neither was the price.  I only care about full hookups.

Pic taken from the motor home.  It's the middle geyser basin.  I should have stopped to investigate this field, but didn't.  I was struck by a sense of awe when I came upon this geyser field.  I was here back in 1958 as a kid.

Not enough contrast and taken at the wrong time of day, but since I was actually there I must say it was quite dramatic.

Romeo's reaction to Yellowstone was simple.  Show me some animals to bark at and where can I mark with my pee.

Check out the sheer scale in this picture.  That geyser plume is a LOT bigger than Old Faithful.  The whole caldera of central Yellowstone smells of sulphur.  If you like the smell of 4th of July fireworks then you'll love Yellowstone's thermal features.  It would take a very long time to visit up close with all the geysers in the park, so some pics are taken out the window, instead.  I'm happy with the pics and videos I've taken, but maybe next time I visit I'll be more involved.

Same geyser field as above, but pulled back on the zoom.  This was really fun stuff to see.

The subject in this pic isn't really the geyser field, but the geyser fed stream in the foreground.  White mineral deposits were everywhere in the park.  I'm thinking it's calcium sulfate, but I could be wrong.  I should Google that one.  Ok, it's actually calcium carbonate, so sulfur isn't part of that equation.  I got it half right, anyway.

The calcium carbonate is white when fresh.  Here is looks like fresh snow.  This is exactly the kind of place they don't want you walking.  Hard to imagine falling through the crust at a thermal feature, but it must have happened or why else would they warn us at every turn?72  I've got to say I thought all the geyser basins were cool and each was different in 7some way.  The lower basin is also called Black Sand Basin.  Again, too cool...  :)

Taken at Black Sand Basin this "pot" of boiling water was very active.  There is a continuous turbulence in the middle that is the pressure being relieved.  The overflow ran to the right down to a creek.

I wish I had been able to capture the 3d effect associated with this pool.  On some level these thermal features look inviting, but we don't touch or get too close.  They are hot enough not just to scald, but also to keep snow melted in the dead of winter.  Most of us have already seen the Yellowstone videos that show buffalo hanging out in geyser fields.  It just occured to me that if a buffalo doesn't fall through the crust then it's probably not very likely we'd fall through, eh?

This was my first look at the Madison River one of the most famous trout rivers in the world.  I need to get the leak fixed in my waders or else I'd have fished many of the streams.  Fishing became less of a priority when I realized just how much more there was to do and see in Yellowstone.  It's 2,000,000 acres and it seems to go on forever.

Not all that interesting of a pic, but it was taken after sunset.  I was impressed with the sheer volume of steam obscuring the view.  It's ok, but I had to edit the pic to add light and contrast.

Here's the original picture I edited to get the one above.  I can't wait to show you the sunset pics I took over the middle geyser basin.  It's hard to show just how dramatic the environment is with stills, so I've started taking more and more videos associated with these stills.  Once I figure out how to edit the movies I'll upload them to YouTube and provide links here.  There is a lot more perspective when a scene can be panned.  Movement is the key.

This photographer is finally backing off from this bull.  What isn't in the frame are the other two idiots, also with huge lenses and jogging to get away from the other bull that had broken into a fast walk in their direction.  I can't help but wonder what the objective is when such chances are being taken?  Do they expect to get a digital shot that is somehow better than the millions of pics that have already been published in coffee table books?  I say the bigger the lens the smaller the photographer's wee-wee.  It's the same as long barrels on big bore pistols.

This is the 6:53 eruption of Old Faithful.  Since the last big earthquake Old Faithful just doesn't have the same power.  I felt lucky to get this shot because it was big only briefly.  I'll post the video link later.

Part of the "charm" of Yellowstone is the architecture.  This is the lobby of the Old Faithful Inn.  It's a little embarrassing, but I buy T-shirts at all these kinds of places.  The inn was officially closed for the season, but gift shops never close.

What can I say?  I'm fascinated with crows and in this case, ravens.  About twice as big as a crow these are genuinely big birds.  Not the distinctive hump in their beaks.  And you can also see feathers growing on top of the beak protruding out from their nostrils.  

I think I might have a video of these little rascals.  They are accomplished beggars, to be sure.

The next 3 pics are an exercise in exposure settings.  Capturing the sky on fire is one thing, but being able to show details in the foreground at the same time is quite another.  

Just a little different angle.  The saturation of the blue is what made these pics rewarding for me.

Zoom factor also has an influence on the finished pics when taken at dusk.  I enjoy experimenting, especially at dusk.

It's called the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone for a reason.  Part of Yellowstone's charm, eh?

When you play the video associated with these stills you'll see a LOT more color.  The fall is 300 feet high.

The rust color was dominant everywhere I went.  The water is clear and the colors are created by specific bacteria.

Small mud pot, but note the thick layer of Calcium Carbonate.  Most people don't really get the aesthetic of these thermal features, but they are magnificent in their own ways.

There were rock formations along the road to Mammoth Hot Springs.

These buffalo were on the other side of a 30 foot hill.  I hid behind a big rock.  Hard to imagine taking of these animals with a bow and arrow or annihilating whole herds in the name of buffalo blankets.  The herds are getting larger and larger  with each passing year given no natural predators.  

More rock formations on the way to Mammoth.

Mammoth Hot Springs took a big hit after the earthquake of 1959.  It hasn't been the same ever since.  

This guy has a really interesting rig.  He's carrying a Jeep and a boat on his custom made trailer.  Very cool.

Closeup of the trailer.  I want one, but I was told it was about $25k and that's a bit much right now.

This is a shot through the windshield with the exposure picking up on the headlights.  Check out the next pic.

I don't know why, but I think this is a really cool pic.  It's all about exposures and lens speed.  When I turned out the headlights I could see as if it was day time, through the LCD viewfinder that is.