YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK

Early Wednesday morning and on the way to Yellowstone. A couple of months before the trip I bought a U.S. National Parks annual pass since I was going to be visiting several.
I can only guess that this little present was left by a bison. It was not uncommon to find them on the ground.
I think this was the Madison River that ran alongside the West Entrance Road.
There are lots of hydrothermal areas in the northwest part of the park. After all it does sit on top of a supervolcano.
One must be careful when driving because bison roam around free. Oh and also be careful when walking because they poop wherever they want.
Celestine Pool. There were lots of Asian tourists in the park that day and there were several buses of them at many spots including this one.
My first goal for the day was to see the Old Faithful geyser. There was a sign that indicated an estimated eruption time and it gave me some time to use a restroom. This sign kind of confused me. It has to be intended for foreign visitors. I cannot see any Americans wanting to perch on the toilet seat and drop a deuce from an elevated position.

I and the gathered crowd didn't have to wait too long for the show, which was good because it was quite cold that morning.
Thar she blows! I think the height of the Old Faithful eruption can vary. This one didn't seem to go as high as I was expecting.
There are trails all over that go past some of the thermal basins. This one, called Biscuit Basin, is particularly volatile and unpredictable. On August 17, 1959, an 7.5 earthquake struck just a few miles to the northwest. Four days later, Sapphire Pool began to erupt violently, blowing away large rock biscuits around the crater and giving the basin its name.
Black Opal Spring.
This little stream looked like something you would find on a distant planet.
This is that Sapphire Pool that erupted after the earthquake. With all of the humidity, the wooden boardwalks were a little slippery.
Shell Spring. I wonder who got to name all of these things.
Avoca Spring. Walking along the boardwalk was interesting on such a cold morning. I wanted to stand downwind of the steam coming from the pools and springs for warmth, but the sulphur smell made me want to not do it for too long.
Mustard Spring was particularly bubbly.
A bison just chillin'. It wasn't hard to find where they were. There were usually cars stopped along the road taking pictures.
Gibbon Falls, obviously named for all of the wild gibbons that roam the park.

NEXT