Yellowstone - Day 4–Old Faithful and a swimming hole

On our trip to Old Faithful on Saturday, we took a quick drive through Firehole Canyon.  There was a spot in the river where people were swimming and jumping from the rocks into the river, and the kids definitely wanted to go back there and try it.

For our last visit to the park, we decided that we would drive down to Old Faithful in the morning, but that we would wear our bathing suits so that we could stop and swim on the way back.

We got to the park around 10:30, and almost immediately encountered a traffic jam.  We thought it was going to be an elk or bison, and were prepared to just keep on driving, but then we discovered that it was a bald eagle.

 

This one was a lot closer than the other we had seen, so I got out of the car to get a quick picture . . . Nice!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We kept moving after that, and arrived at Old Faithful around 11:45.  Apparently, we had just missed the previous eruption, and the next one was predicted for 1:01pm.  We had some time to kill, so we walked through the Gift Shop and the Visitor Center.  The Old Faithful Visitor Center is very educational with all kinds of displays and interactive exhibits to explain the geysers and other geological features of Yellowstone.

Around 12:30, we made our way out to the seating area around Old Faithful, and got seats.  A ranger was giving a talk on the geyser, and we caught the end of it.

 

Looking at the picture from my Grandma’s visit 40+ years ago, it appears that you used to be able to get A LOT closer to the geyser.  There’s a much bigger space now between the geyser and the seating area!

 

 

 

 

 

 

There was just a little steam venting when we first arrived,

 

 

but occasionally there would be little bursts of water and steam.

 

 

 

 

The prediction window is 20 minutes long (1:01pm +/- 10 minutes), and the crowd grew as the time got closer.

 

We all continued to watch as 1pm came and went . . . and Old Faithful continued to tease us with small spurts of water and steam.

 

Finally, at 1:18pm, the real show began!

We watched in amazement as the tower of steaming water grew to over 130 feet in height!

We kept watching as the tower of steaming water reduced in height,

 

and after 2-1/2 minutes it was over!

What a great show!

The crowd dispersed, making room for the next round of viewers, and we went back to the car.  We headed back the way we came from, looking for a picnic area where we could stop for lunch before getting to the swimming hole.

We stopped in the picnic area at Firehole Lake Drive, and then continued around the drive to see the Great Fountain Geyser.

This one wasn’t erupting while we were there, but we could see another in the distance.

By the time we got to it, it was done, though!

The kids had had enough of geysers, hot springs, paint pots . . . and other thermal features, and they just wanted to go swimming, so we made our way back to Firehole Canyon.

We drove through the canyon,

and past Firehole Falls.

 

This is another spot that my Grandma had visited . . . I wonder if they allowed swimming back then?!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It wasn’t nearly as crowded as it had been on Saturday, and we lucked out and got a parking spot right at the top of the steps as somebody was leaving!

We made our way down to the water,

 

and the boys got right in!

After taking their picture, I joined them and we made our way into the current.

The center of the river was moving pretty good, but you could stay near the edges without too much trouble.  The water wasn’t too cold, but just enough to be refreshing!

 

 

 

Despite the warning signs, there was a spot upriver where people were jumping off the canyon wall into a deep pool, so we waded over there to watch. 

These guys weren’t crazy enough to try that, but there was a low rock up further where they could jump into some rapids and ride them back to where I was, so they all decided to give that a try.

This is the spot – I got this picture as we drove out!

They all tried it once, and Tom decided that was enough for his old body, but the boys kept going back for more!  They got a little banged up, but nothing bad . . . Nicolas said he wished we had found this earlier in the week, so he could have spent more time there!

Just before we left, they decided to float over the small rapid at the end of the swimming area, and Nicolas said that was rougher than the big rapids they had gone in . . . he hit his foot on a rock, and made me take a picture of it for the blog!! LOL

Swimming in Firehole Canyon was a great way to end our week in Yellowstone!

Yellowstone–Day 3–Evening Wildlife Drive and an Old Faithful miss

When my Grandma visited Yellowstone back in the 1960s, spotting bears – especially in the campground – was a pretty common occurrence.

 

I like this one of the bear getting into somebody’s laundry!

In fact, bears were so active in the park that it was becoming dangerous for campers.  In the early 70’s, the National Park Service instituted new Bear Management Policies and they have been successful at almost eliminating human/bear interaction.  There are warning signs and bearproof food containers and garbage cans everywhere . . . and it’s getting more and more rare to see a bear!

We had spotted a few from long distances, but were still hoping to get a closer look . . . so we decided that we’d try an evening drive this time.  We hung out at the campground during the day and headed into West Yellowstone for an early dinner . . . pizza at the Wild West Saloon.  We thought about using our leftover pizza as “bear bait”, but decided against it! LOL

Our planned route would take us around the southern loop road, with a stop at Old Faithful, and would get us to Hayden Valley (a common wildlife hang-out) at dusk.

It was 5pm as we drove into the west entrance of the park, and we passed a long line of cars LEAVING the park! 

There were still some fishermen left,

sharing the river with the elk.

When we entered the gate, we got the phone number for the “Old Faithful Prediction”, and called to check the expected time of the next eruption.  It was 6:18pm +/- 10 minutes.  We figured we should get there by 6pm to be safe, and that gave us a little less than an hour to drive the 16 miles to the Old Faithful Visitor Center.

We skipped the scenic stops along the way, and arrived at Old Faithful by 6pm, only to see everybody walking away from the seating area!  The eruption had been early, and we missed it!

This was the only picture we got at Old Faithful!

Good thing we’ve got a couple more days here . . . we’ll get another chance to see Old Faithful!

We continued our drive around the southern side of the loop, crossing the Continental Divide twice, and following the western edge of Yellowstone Lake.

At one point, we can across a bunch of cars parked along both sides of the road.  Hoping for a bear sighting, we stopped too, but it was just another elk . . . and he was pretty deep in the woods!

We only stopped for a quick picture, and then continued on our way around the lake.  We wanted to make sure we got to Hayden Valley before dusk!

We reached the north end of the lake, where the Yellowstone River feeds it, and stopped at Fishing Bridge.

This is another spot that has undergone changes since my Grandma was here in the 60s.  Fishing Bridge used to be a place where people could actually fish,

but when the Park Service discovered that this area was an ideal place for Cutthroat Trout spawning, they closed it to fishing.  The bridge is still the same, but it’s empty now!

After a quick stop, we got back on the loop road and soon reached Hayden Valley.

The first thing we saw was a huge herd of bison,

 

and this guy keeping a close eye on the cars going by!

 

 

 

 

We followed the Yellowstone River through the valley, as the sun began to set in the west.

Other than the bison, we only saw these white pelicans,

and we thought the evening drive was going to be a bust!  We were just about to turn around and take another drive through the Valley, when Nicolas spotted a group of cars stopped on the side of the road a little ahead of us.  We stopped, and thought that everybody was just looking at a flock of Canadian Geese, until a boy walking by said that they were watching a black bear across the river!

We found a place to park, and followed along as the bear walked along the riverbank,

and went in and out of the water!

 

We continued to watch him for awhile, until he eventually went back into the woods and we lost sight of him.  It was our best bear sighting, and was pretty exciting!

By then the sun was setting, and we moved on because we had quite a ways to go still.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had just enough daylight left for a quick stop at the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

We missed the turnoff for the Upper Falls, but we did stop to see the Lower Falls, and I think my Grandma’s picture (below) was of the Lower Falls also, but from a different overlook.

We didn’t see this sign anywhere, but it may have been in the same parking area where we stopped because we did see the path to the Brink of the Lower Falls.  We didn’t have enough daylight left to go down there!

 

I think this is probably the Upper Falls (another of my Grandma’s pictures), but since we didn’t see them ourselves, I’m not sure.

 

 

 

 

 

We enjoyed the sunset view from the top of the canyon a little while longer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By the time we left the falls, it was quickly getting dark.  Nicolas was driving, and he had to be careful – constantly on the alert for wildlife!  Sure enough, we were about halfway back to the west entrance when an oncoming car flashed its lights at us, indicating something in the road up ahead.  A mile or so up, we found it  -- a bison walking right down the centerline of the road!  He was not in a hurry, and he had no intention of getting out of our way!

We got to a wider area of the road and were able to get around him, and made it the rest of the way out of the park without seeing anymore wildlife.

It was another great day in the park, and even though we missed Old Faithful, we were happy that we got a fairly close look at a bear!