YELLOWSTONE - MAMMOTH

MAINLAND ADVENTURE

MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS

Tues Sept. 3, 2013

            Just a protein shake and we left Old Faithful.  We stopped at Black Sand geyser basin, walked the boardwalk and went on to Biscuit Basin.  

Little Firehole Stream 

            Beyond the geyser loop was a trail to Mystic Falls.  Gil did something on the truck and said he would catch up but took a different fork; he missed me.  He was back at the truck by the time I came back.  My hike was beautiful through forest, along the Little Firehole Stream and Mystic Falls were well worth finding.  Gil’s hike was straight up and had we done that, there would have been a view above the falls and views of the basin below.  Next time.

 Mystic Falls

 Mystic Falls Stream

great hike

            We were excited to be driving through the area below Madison known for wildlife.  No pronghorns, no elk, no bear, some buffalo.  We took a loop through Firehole Canyon to see Firehole Falls and turned east along the Gibbon river, stopping at Gibbon Falls.  Along this drive we got a good shot of an osprey that had just landed in a tree top at eye level. 

 Juvenile Osprey

Firehole Falls - stunning

 fascinated by the water 

Next was the Norris Museum.  The museum is just a stone building with incredibly hugh stones and logs in the original style.  Not really a building at all, more like a walk through pavilion with a ranger answering questions before you go to Porcelain basin on the other side. 

Norris Museum

We were geysered out – they are wonderful and we appreciate the difference between hot springs, vapor holes, fumaroles and geysers and the grand scale of how much land these cover in Yellowstone reminding us that we are on an active volcano that could (and will) blow.  Still, they begin to look alike and I, at least wanted to see more critters.  Buffalo seem to be the most visible of the big guys and always amaze with their shear bulk.  We had seen them both in herds and as solitary males that lay in wallows.  Throughout the park, even in grassland, these circular patches of dirt are evidence of napping sites for these guys.

Buffalo in wallow 

We stopped for a picnic at one of the nice sites along the way and finished off our odd assortment of snacks we brought – apples with peanut butter, pretzels with cacao, hummus and carrots. 

            North again from Norris we followed the Gardiner River to Mammoth Hot Springs and as we climbed over the pass and dropped into the valley where the old hotel and fort are surrounded by lush grass it was quite beautiful.  

Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel

           We passed the upper terraces of the hot springs but checked in first and then walked up to the lower terraces.  These are not geysers and form travertine rather than the ryolite we saw in the rest of the park.  They are fabulous. 

Mammoth Hot springs 

hot water

minerals 

                                                       forming a mountain of travertine

We looked forward to seeing elk come onto the hotel grounds in the evening but they did not show up.  The rut has begun and they changed their pattern.  We had a lovely dinner and determined to get up and do a five mile hike through forest and meadow to beaver ponds and the promise of wildlife.

Wed Sept 4

            The five mile hike was great but would have been better at four miles.  It was everything promised – forest, streams, high meadows, streams, creeks, beaver ponds, a beautiful lake with pied-billed grebes.  We saw a couple American Coots on one of the ponds – cousin to the Hawaiian Coot I work with in Hanalei Valley.  No beavers, antelope, bears, or elk – good exercise, hours of visual treats but where are the critters?  We only saw two other lone walkers so it wasn’t due to traffic (refreshing after the boardwalks).

Beaver pond 

Forest and meadow trail 

Lake or beaver pond?

 sage and grasses

last mile back down into valley

             After lunch we drove to the upper terraces and enjoyed even more bizarre formations.   We turned out for Undine Falls and like always, were impressed with the scale of Yellowstone. 

White Elephant Back terrace 

Angel terrace 

Undine Falls

We continued our drive across Blacktail Deer Plateau to Roosevelt-Tower area.  The historic Roosevelt Lodge closed for the season just a couple days before and we went on to Tower Falls after a 25 minute wait for construction that is going from 7am to 7pm daily on the road from Tower to Canyon.  Glad we waited, the tower falls was spectacular and we won’t be back this way on our way out of the park tomorrow.  

another bison panorama 

We never saw a name for this layer of rock - they remind me of piano keys

Tower Falls with rock formations we have seen elsewhere called hoodoos

a closer shot of Tower Falls

            By now we were on overload with the vast landscapes, geological formations and phenomenon, and water – still, running, and falling.  We had a little ice cream snack before heading back – vacation! 

            When we reached Mammoth Hotel the female and young elk had returned to the grounds and it was really fun to watch them coming in from the hills to nibble the lush grass and then lay down. 

Elk in clover 

Female visitor

 Between the hotel and an historic building

From our room which had no real character until the elk arrived

Not quite hungry, we played cards in the lounge then had the best dinner of the trip.  I had Thai curry mussels and a goat cheese salad.  Gil had a large salad with smoked trout and a cup of summer squash soup.  Killer good.  We heard the elk bugling outside our window all night.  I know I slept smiling.