Friday, November 15, 2013

Day 46: Searching for Yogi Bear

Waking up in Grand Teton NP and knowing that in just hours you'd be entering Yellowstone NP was definitely one of the many "pinch me so I know I'm not dreaming" moments on Trip America. we could have spent the whole day in disbelief but then we might not get as good a camping site!


We arrived at Yellowstone early as planned and scored a spot at Lewis Lake (another tent-only loop-success!) Wanting to make the most of our first day we quickly set up camp and headed over to Old Faithful. We parked in the MASSIVE (I'll use that word a lot when talking about Yellowstone) parking lot near the world's most famous geyser and arrived on foot just as an eruption was finishing up.

Old Faithful winding down just as we arrived.
With time to kill before the next eruption we decided to walk down the board walk and check out some of the other two dozen or so geysers in the area.


Primordial landscape



 Every geyser was different and unique and amazing. As we were walking from one to another paying little attention our surroundings we were both suddenly stopped dead in our tracks when we realized there was a full grown male bison, not 50-feet from the boardwalk casually chewing the cud ahead of us. After a few moments consideration we decided that if we didn't bother him, he wouldn't bother us and we slowly walked past him (pausing just long enough to snap a picture, of course). He probably didn't give a damn about us, but we didn't linger too long just the same.



Eventually we happened upon Grand. Grand geyser was scheduled to make it's twice daily eruption between 2:15 and 5:15 (a three hour window!?). As it was already 4pm and hadn't yet erupted we figured we'd stick around for a bit and see it go off. Turbine, the smaller, attached geyser reliably erupted every 15-22 minutes and Grand was almost always set off by one of Turbines eruptions. After 10-minutes of waiting Turbine went off and Lauren and I braced for Grand... Nothing. After a few minutes Turbine ended and Grand gurgled along nonchalantly. 20-minutes later another Turbine eruption came and went with Grand showing no sign of activity. Around this time the clouds that had been coming an going all afternoon darkened and a steady drizzle started falling. We had our rain jackets on but were ill-prepared for the dipping temperatures that came with the rain. We considered heading back to the car but a stranger (we'll call him "mister geyser") chatted us up going on and on about how magnificent Grands eruptions were and that if we had the time, we really should stick around to see it. Fine, we'll stay. Another two eruptions of Turbine came and went both without any sign of activity from it's neighbor. by 5:15 we were both steadily shivering and more than ready for Grand to get on with it "this better be good..." we agreed. We were freezing and it was now 10-15 minutes beyond the 3-hour window. Without warning, or indication from Turbine, Grand geyser suddenly cracked open with a quick, tall, burst of scolding-hot water. For nearly 20-minutes sprays of varying heights and direction filled the sky in front of us. It was like nature's way of saying "you think the Belligio Hotel has a fountain? I'll show you a fountain!" The crowd that had braved the weather with us cheered enthusiastically as Grand sprayed and splashed in front of us. When the eruption finally subsided to the steam-phase and then eventually died down completely we exchanged an appreciative smile with mister geyser and quickly walked back to the car to throw on another layer of clothes, and crank the heater with the hopes of getting some blood back into our appendages.






 
Good but not GRAND

 We had a big day ahead of us so we relaxed a bit in the afternoon and enjoyed a nice dinner at our campsite at Lewis Lake.

-Dan

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