After listening to the rain all night long, we thought that our day would be rained out. Once the rain stopped, we headed for the park and it turned out to be a really nice day.
Entering the park, we encountered traffic congestion where the now familiar Bull Elk was resting in the grassy area along the Madison River. Everyone is a photographer!
Our first stop was at the Fountain Paint Pot Nature Trail. Here we saw various hydrothermal features; hot springs, geysers, mudpots, and fumaroles. A boardwalk trail begins at the parking lot crossing over the Bacterial Mats. The mats looked like mud formed in into interesting patterns. Ken and I both thought the pattern and color would make a beautiful granite countertop! After viewing all the features and walking towards the Jeep, we heard a Japanese woman screeching something and immediately it began to hail! She must have felt the very first hailstone, because we had no idea what she was yelling! The hail only lasted a few seconds and we were on our way.
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We tried to pull in to the Midway Geyser Basin to view the Grand Prismatic Spring, but, the parking lot was full and cars were parked along the side of the road. Oh, well, maybe later!
We secured a fantastic parking spot in front of the Old Faithful Inn… the kind of space you never want to give up! The Old Faithful Inn opened in 1904 and is the largest log hotel in the world. Looking towards Old Faithful Geyser, we could see that it was erupting! There was no need to venture in that direction.
We entered the magnificent lodge and found some chairs and a bench (each on different floors) overlooking the massive lobby with its massive stone fireplace. A violinist, on the second floor, was playing music that could be heard throughout the lodge. We never get tired of visiting Old Faithful Geyser and the Inn!
Ken’s favorite part of Old Faithful Inn
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Fountain Flat Drive proved to be a good choice. We saw a large Bison Herd near the Madison River along with a large herd of tourists. We pulled over long enough to witness the Large Bison crossing the river. Bison do not move quickly, even when standing in cold river water!
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Our next stop was The Artists’ Paintpots Trail, a 1.1-mile loop. The trail covered a mixture of dirt and boardwalk passing some of Yellowstone’s most famous features. We walked on the dirt portion of the path passing scorched lodgepole pines as we dodged water puddles from the recent rain. Once we reached the boardwalk portion of the path we encountered lots of steam. We passed simmering milky blue pools and small vents. We climbed the steps to the top to view a creamy white mud pot with a consistency of very thick mud. At the top we had a great view out over the hydrothermal area. Descending the trail, we passed Blood Geyser with its red-orange sulphur deposits surrounding the vent.
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As we pulled out of the parking lot, we heard a loud clap of thunder…we completed our hike just in time!
Back at the RV, we settled in for another rainy night!
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