Lower Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park

After the Firehole Lake Drive, we proceeded to the Lower Geyser area.










The spouter becomes a steam vent by this time.

White Dome Geyser, Firehole Lake Drive, Yellowstone National Park

From Midway Geyser Basin(link), Firehole Lake Drive (one way, northbound) loops off the main road to many other geysers.


White dome geyser




Caught in action - we were lucky!

Midway Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park

It was still Saturday. After setting off at 5am early morning from Utah and with gas stops, we stopped by Jackson, Wyoming for lunch, then set off to Grand Teton about 12.30pm. We managed to catch the Old Faithful Geyser at 1610hrs. Thereafter, we wanted to see more geysers since they are "new" to us and they are such interesting phenomenon. Since it's already September (late summer), we don't get super-long days. However, we felt fortunate that it only started to turn dark at about 1930hrs. After Old Faithful, we continued our journey to our motel stay for that night at West Yellowstone, Montana. From where Old Faithful is (Upper Geyser Basin), we were able to make Midway Geyser Basin and Lower Geyser Basin our attractions stops before checking in the motel.




This is the Excelsior Geyser. Excelsior Geyser pool discharges 4,000 to 4,500 gallons (15,100–17,000l) of 199°F (93°C) water per minute. A powerful eruption near 1890 damaged its internal plumbing system, and it now BOILS as a hot spring most of the time.




As the steam blows on my face, I felt my face steaming in a steam humidifier (Phillips brand?)


Look like a piece of textured art.

Game burger lunch at Jackson, Wyoming

Do you know Wyoming is the least populous U.S. state?


At the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar, you will be riding on these while guzzling your beer.



What shall we order?


Check out what we ate.

Old Faithful Geyser, Yellowstone National Park

What is Yellowstone National Park famous for?


What is the first thing on our minds when we enter the park from the southern entrance, from Grand Teton ?

OLD FAITHFUL!!!

The Yellowstone Caldera is the largest volcanic system in North America. It has been termed a supervolcano because the caldera was formed by exceptionally large explosive eruptions. There are 300 geysers in Yellowstone and a total of at least 10,000 geothermal features altogether. Half the geothermal features and two-thirds of the world's geysers are concentrated in Yellowstone.The most famous geyser in the park, and perhaps the world, is Old Faithful Geyser, located in Upper Geyser Basin.


See the crowd ? We were lucky as when we were there, we heard it'll be 5-10mins before the next eruption. Yay!

We were lucky as the eruption at Old Faithful is about every 90mins. If we had just missed an earlier one, we might not have time to wait for the next one at 90min interval based on our tight schedule.


Few minutes before "action"...we were still waiting...

Then, GOTCHA!

Old Faithful in action, 1 Sept 2007, ~1610hrs


Interesting facts.


Once again, nature at its work.

Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

Grand Teton National Park - the abrupt vertical rise of the jagged Teton Range, what makes it different.

Grand Teton National Park is named after Grand Teton, which at 13,770 feet (4,197 m) - the tallest mountain in the Teton Range. Teton Range - the youngest range part of the Rocky Mountains. The Tetons are famous is because of their great elevation above their base. Unlike most mountain ranges (such as the rolling foothills we see as we approach the Canadian Rockies in Banff National Park, the Tetons lack foothills, or lower peaks that obscure the view. As such, the Tetons rise sharply from 5,000 to nearly 7,000 feet above the surrounding terrain.


Shot taken at the Visitor Center, totally unblocked.


Jackson Lake Dam, Grand Teton National Park

The Canadian Rockies we saw in Banff and Jasper are definitely much BIGGER mountains, but these in Grand Teton are much jagged and vertical. Has it got to do with age? Since they are younger, they tend to get less erosion throughout the years ?

Like humans, as we age, we tend to get shorter ? :P

Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana - four states in 2 days

Oh, transversing 4 states in 2 days is an achievement! What did you do over the Labor Day weekend? Well, we went for a trip again! But this time, we SAVED a lot...redeeming hotel/motel stays and redeeming car rental. Yes, indirectly. Hotel/motel stays were FREE using Priority Club Rewards (hoobie accumulated many points from all his business trips), FREE car rental too(another of hoobie's points - Advantage car rental, chalked up from his biz trips) -other than us, topping up for auto insurance. We have wanted to fly straight Jackson Hole and take day tours to Yellowstone, but the trip would have cost us more than $2000. :O

With all the redeemable points, what we need to do is just to get ourselves air tickets! :D ..and our trip turned out slightly less than $1000 for air tickets, one night stay in West Yellowstone where we could not find a Priority Club Rewards hotel in that area, and auto-insurance. Including meals, the trip cost would have been no more than $1200.

Utah - Idaho - Wyoming - Montana: Four states in 2 days and the purpose was just to visit Yellowstone National Park - the world's first National Park. Yellowstone National Park is different from the rest of the national parks we visited before - national parks in New Zealand, other national parks in the US including Yosemite, Banff and Jasper in Canada. Different because of the abundance of active geysers and hot springs in the park.

Now, I'm thinking how to update my trip - shall I do it by chronological sequence or landmarks or states...just how should I categorize them? Maybe I will just do so by landmark and location where ever possible, and maybe by theme such as food, wildlife, interesting finds.