Yellowstone, part 2

Geysers, etc.



We finally trekked over to Old Faithful to get in some of Yellowstone's greatest hits.  While we waited for OF, we checked out the new Visitor Center.  It's in a beautiful, LEED Gold building, and the exhibits are captivating, interactive, and very educational.  The kids had plenty of fun in the regular exhibit hall, and there is a special hall for the young ones, complete with a spurting geyser of its own!

Joe was fighting off a cold, made worse by the damp cold night.  So we left him to explore the Old Faithful Inn and the kids and I started off in search of Morning Glory Pool.  A photo of this pool is on the cover of my guide book and it seemed a reasonable hike.

It wasn't unreasonable, but it was a bit long, and hot, and, well, there's a lot of sulfur in the air...

We finally made it, after a 90-minute trek through the lower geyser basin.  My photo doesn't really do it justice, but it really was pretty spectacular (and odor free).  The walk back was shorter and Joe had us set up with ice cream and awesome seats on the Old Faithful Inn balcony, so all was right with the world.

As we prepared dinner at camp later that afternoon, Ranger Sean pulled up to personally invite the kids to his talk that evening: "Scat and Tracks."  Scat and tracks!  Well, what could be better!  Especially right after dinner!

Ranger Sean really knows his stuff, so to speak.  In addition to specifics on a wide range of tracks, he showed off Gen-u-ine poop from bison (shown here) and a grizzly bear!

After the Tracks & Scat, we scampered down to the marina for our sunset cruise of Yellowstone Lake.

Joe had taken to humming/singing the theme from "Gilligan's Island" as we waited to make way.  Remember the words?  "... the weather started getting rough, the tiny ship was tossed..."  But that's another post.