One final day at Yellowstone National Park. Having failed the day before to find parking anywhere near Grand Prismatic Spring, we were sure we had this day planned out right. We were up early, and would head straight there to beat the crowds. In particular, we'd get to the parking lot for the Fairy Falls Trail, a hike with an overlook above and behind the Grand Prismatic Spring, where you could take it in in all its splendor.
We did all that. But it turns out that there's a flaw in being too early to see this particular site. The hot water of the spring, with the cold morning air, results in a towering column of steam. It's beautiful in its own way, but totally obscures the thing you're really there to see. We waited around a bit to see if things would warm up enough to disperse the steam, but ultimately decided we'd have to try to come back later in the day for "take three."
So from there, we headed to Artists Paintpots, another of the lesser-known (but there on the Grand Loop Road) places that is a personal favorite for me and my husband. A short hike up a small hill takes you do a number of bubbling mudpots, plus a fantastic view. The loop trail was half-closed on this occasion; parts of trail had decayed and were being rebuilt by a team. (Carrying loads of heavy wood a quarter-mile or more back to where it was to be used seemed like a tough job!) But what was open was as beautiful as we remembered.
We stopped for another lunch picnic and another random picnic site. This one, we had completely to ourselves until near the end of our meal, when a pair of park employees also rolled in for their lunch break. (Here's one of the up sides of the hard job -- you can seek out a different gorgeous vista every lunch break.)
We were now into the afternoon, so took one last try at Grand Prismatic Spring... and succeeded. First we saw it up close, for which we had to park nearly half a mile out on the main road and then hike in. We also ended up having the day's "awkward encounter" as we waited for one of four outhouses at the entrance to the area. The amorphous blob of people waiting their turn sort of separated organically into four separate lines, much to the consternation of one woman who was emphatic that it was a single line, and began railing at the others who she was certain had jumped ahead of their turn. (We also later came across this woman on the boardwalk hike through the geyser basin. And as it's a one-way walk, there was no choice but to push past her and risk a second round of haranguing.)
After seeing the beautiful Spring up close, we went back to that Fairy Falls Lot for the hike up behind, expecting to wait as long as necessary to find a parking space. We lucked out and found one right away. The hike back to the overlook seemed to take two or three times as long in the afternoon heat as it had in the morning, but the payoff was as wonderful as we'd hoped.
From there, we drove to the nearby Lower Geyser Basin, another interesting collection of geysers and mudpots. Among these examples of natural beauty, we came upon a more grisly sight: the decaying remains of some unrecognizable animal being eaten away in the acidic goo. (I think I won't share that photo.) But we also caught the Clepsydra Geyser mid-eruption, and took in the bubbling of the Fountain Paintpots.
We didn't really have enough time left to take off to far reaches of the park for something new. But Old Faithful was close -- and as reliable as the name implies, of course. (Plus, we decided we needed to circle back for some previously passed-up souvenirs.) There was no yammering drunk this time as we watched the most well-known geyser erupt once more, and then we drove back to the hotel dining room near Yellowstone Lake for one final dinner. (And one final "awkward encounter?" A server had a most unfortunate mishap with a serving tray, prompting our server to comment that we were getting "dinner and a show.")
The next day was our drive back home to Denver -- not eventful enough to warrant its own post, but with a couple of highlights worth mentioning. On our way out of Yellowstone, we had a few final wildlife encounters: we saw a porcupine rushing across the road (too fast to capture a photo), and paused to "pet" a bison (shown at left). Later, partway through Wyoming, an accident involving a semi closed the road entirely for a time, sending us back to lunch at a brewery in Thermopolis. But despite at one point being caught in the open during a tornado warning (thankfully, we saw nothing; must have been elsewhere in the county), we ultimately made it back home without incident.
Will I head back to Yellowstone once again in another nine years? Hard to say -- though I'm certainly glad I revisited on this occasion.
No comments:
Post a Comment