Driving to our campsite within the park we encountered these beautiful mule deer. They still had velvet on their antlers.

back to index

Yellowstone Lake is the largest high elevation lake in North America. The shoreline is 141 miles and the surface area is 132 square miles. The lake sits within a large caldera that was formed by a volcano and then carved and filled by glaciers some 14,000 years ago.

back to index

True to its name, Sulphur Caldron smells like rotten eggs. This is one of the huge areas of thermal activity where you can walk the boardwalks and see the steam and boiling water up close.

back to index

Hayden Valley is quite close to our campground and is where several huge herds of bison hang out. We ventured there this evening to see what we could see and got some up close and personal experiences with these creatures. This one was still wearing part of his winter coat.

back to index

No matter what time of day you drive through Hayden Valley you will encounter buffalo jams. Some are caused because the buffalo are crossing the highway - others because drivers see the buffalo and stop in the middle of the road to take pictures. Because this is an area of huge buffalo herds, it can sometimes take over an hour to get through.

back to index

At this time of day, the bison are crossing the street to get to the Yellowstone River where they'll swim to the other side. We had never seen buffalo swim so this was kind of exciting for us.

back to index

A car alarm woke us early and gave us an opportunity to see this beautiful sunrise. This isn't a time of day I usually experience!

back to index

Waterfalls and cascades are another beautiful feature of this park. Kepler Cascade was the first we got to see as we did our drive of the lower loop today.

back to index

Old Faithful is a must see for park visitors. We had to wait over an hour to see her spout but it was well worth it. This geyser expels 3,700 - 8,400 gallons of boiling water and reaches heights of 106-184 feet. It was named in 1870 by members of the Washburn Expedition because of its consistent performance.

back to index

Yellowstone has many beautiful lunch areas. We were hoping as we sat and ate that we'd see some wildlife but that was not to be.

back to index

Springs are closely related to geysers, but their underground channel systems are not constricted so water circulates to the surface where heat escapes.

back to index

Another incredible waterfall!

back to index

On our way back to camp at the end of Hayden Valley we saw this cute baby bison nursing.

back to index

Norris geyser basin is one of the hottest and most dynamic of Yellowstone's hydrothermal areas. The green color of Emerald Spring comes from the inherent blue of the water combined with the yellow of the sulfur-coated pool. The water in this 27-foot deep pool is close to boiling so only the most heat-tolerant thermophiles (heat loving microorganisms) can survive.

back to index

Steamboat geyser is the world's tallest active geyser. It can throw water more than 300 feet though more commonly it ejects water in frequent bursts of 10 to 40 feet which it did while we were there.

back to index

Minute geyser only spouts 1-3 feet above its crater. Over time, people have tossed coins and rocks in the crater which has plugged the geyser's plumbing and effectively killed it.

back to index

Porcelain Basin is a spectacular area that has some small geysers but some great color. The milky blue pools are saturated with silica, the primary component of glass. The orange color results from minerals containing elements such as iron and arsenic. Thermophiles also create orange, greenish-black and emerald in this incredibly colorful area.

back to index

Today found us doing the north loop in the park. As we were driving along we came upon these two bison being escorted down the highway by a ranger. We had no idea where they came from or where they were going though we do know they were in an area where we hadn't seen any other bison.

back to index

We've seen our share of wildlife while here. We have obviously seen many buffalo as well as elk, deer, Canada geese and cranes like these two that we saw flying above us.

back to index

In the Mammoth Hot Springs area of the park, mineral-laden hot water from deep beneath the Earth's crust finds its way to the surface and builds tier upon tier of cascading, terraced stone. The sculpting of the terraces continues as thousands of gallons of water well up and deposit large amounts of travertine daily.

back to index

Offering one of the park's most breath-taking sights, the turbulent Yellowstone River roars through 20 miles of golden-hued cliffs forming the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.

back to index

As the river flows through the canyon it creates two spectacular waterfalls - the Lower (109 feet) and Upper Falls (308 feet).

back to index

I couldn't resist including this photo of a buffalo scratching his cheek on the ground...

back to index

...and this lovely couple! It was interesting that many of the buffalo seemed to be in pairs which kind of surprised us.

back to index

On our way out of the park in the motorhome we encountered one last buffalo jam. Just wanted you to see how these creatures look outside the front window of the coach. Also wanted you to know that we actually saw a bear but didn't have the chance to get a photo. That made us feel like our wildlife checklist for this visit was pretty complete.

back to index