Bison, Bears and Wolves, Oh My (We hope)!! - TR UPDATE!! 8-19-14 - Page 8 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Cool to have been able to touch wolf and bison fur. Nice bear sighting first thing, too. The moment you said sulfur springs, I thought of rotten eggs. Yuck!
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Great photos from the park! I loved the bear shot in particular.
I couldn't help but notice the cuddly toy in your room - did you buy it? We couldn't resist, as it was a bison and, having seen some earlier that day, I was sold the second I saw him!
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Originally Posted by chezp
I couldn't help but notice the cuddly toy in your room - did you buy it? We couldn't resist, as it was a bison and, having seen some earlier that day, I was sold the second I saw him!
Nope - didn't end up with either the wolf or the bison - thought about it, but decided we already had too much stuff to drag around.
Just had a chance to read this TR... better late than never! Sounds like you had an amazing trip with tons of wildlife sightings! I can't believe how many bears you saw!
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In less than a month we will be touring more National Parks - and I realized I never finished this report. I've got some spare time on my hands this weekend (and tonight) since Chris is working - so I decided to knock this out. I haven't been on the boards much with life just getting in the way - so I've decided to make an honest effort to finish this report (and the Apple photobook I started of this trip! Its one of Chris' Christmas gifts... only one christmas late!).
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In our way to the Old Faithful Lodge - we passed by the Mud Volcano and Paint Pot trail - so we stopped to do some exploring.
This area is another high acid area in the park. Lots of sulfuric acid and hydrogen sulfide gas... there are even some warning signs about lethal gases....
This is a 2/3 mile (1km) loop trail - and unlike at WDW, we headed off to the right and started with the Dragon's mouth Spring.
And then on to the Mud Volcano itself -
The Mud Volcano is interesting - because the "volcano" isn't there anymore. Early explorers to Yellowstone described this as a "most repulsive and terrifying sight" with a volcano-like cone, 30 feet high and 30 feet wide. However, when another explorer visited in 1870 - he found a "seething and bubbling mass of mud". So - some kind of eruption blew out the cone, leaving the crater that is still present today.
We passed Grizzly Fumerole -
And then headed to the Black Dragon Cauldron Trail -
First stop - Sour lake
Its "sour" because of how acidic the water is - it is so acidic it would burn your skin like battery acid if you touched the water.
And then we found the Black Dragon Cauldron
This didn't exist before 1948. It burst into existence on a crack in the surface of the earth. It uprooted trees and coated others in thick mud. It has moved 200 feet to the south of its original location along the crack. One interesting thing is that the spring that feeds Sour Lake became much less active after the Black Dragon Cauldron came into existence - so the assumption is that somehow the two events are linked. The name of the Cauldron =- it is a seething mass of black mud - comes from its color and the "apparent lashing of the dragon's tongue."
Another stop on the trail was "Cooking Hillside"
This area once was covered in a forest - and in 1978-1979 a cluster of earthquakes happened here and the soil temperatures rose to 200 degrees F (94 degrees C) killing everything on the hillside. Now only grass grows here.
One of the last stops on the trail was the Mud Cauldron
We finished our exploring and since it was almost lunch time - we decided to head down to Lake Yellowstone and the Lodge to get some lunch.
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An old Disney friend....
We headed to the Lake Hotel for lunch. We were both getting a little punchy from low blood sugar.
This is a very lovely hotel - and one day I would like to stay here.
Sunroom
Lounge
Beautiful fireplace
We approached the podium and were taken to our table.
The dining room is lovely with windows that open to the outside and allow lots of sunlight in.
If memory serves (almost a year later) - Chris had a Reuben sandwich and I had a cheeseburger. He decided he didn't want dessert - but I did!!
CREME BRULEE CHEESECAKE!!
There is one dessert on the Magic and Wonder that I absolutely adore - and they don't serve it on the Dream/Fantasy... Creme Brulee Cheesecake.... and when I saw this on the menu - I had to get it!! Yummy Yummy happy snoopy dance!!
While I ate - someone took a much needed nap. He swears he wasn't sleeping... right - you snore when you are awake....
After lunch (and a nap) - we loaded back in the SUV and continued on our way to Old Faithful. We drove along the lakeshore for a good stretch, before turning northwest instead of south and toward Grand Teton (we'd be doing that later).
We finally pulled into the Lodge parking lot in the late afternoon - and it was dreary, cold and raining.
We got checked in and decided it was important to settle in and rest some today.
We got assigned to room 2035 in the "new" wing (which was built in 1927).
I had picked this wing since it came with a private bathroom and not a shared bath.
The bed isn't as messy this time
We dropped all our bags and decided to find a spot near the fireplace to read, catch up on emails, etc. Chris sat for awhile and I wandered around taking photos.
The fireplace was lovely - however, as the result of an earthquake in 2012 - it couldn't be used. The Park Service was planning on a rehabilitation in the future.
The artistry and craftsmanship of this building is just phenomenal. What is amazing is that you can see whole trees everywhere you look.
The dining room
It was getting close to dinner time - and we hadn't made dinner reservations - so we stood in line and waited about 15 minutes for a table (I was afraid it would be much longer) - and were seated at a table in the corner.
View from our dinner table
I started with a wild game sausage appetizer (I think it was elk and bison)
I was craving soup - and they had a roasted tomato soup - which I got with a side (a huge side) of mashed potatoes.
Chris tried another sausage option which was all made in house
Menu cover with the front of the lodge on it.
We opted not to get dessert (I'd already had cheesecake for lunch, remember?) and went to do some more exploring around the lodge.
The quick service location is the Bear Paw Deli -
they have a couple of tables with chairs - but not much room.
We started our walk back to the room - and passed through the "old house" - which is what they call the original hotel. I was totally in love with the fixtures.
Hallway of the old house
As compared to the hallway of the "new wing"
Staircase to go to the different floors of the new wing
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Ok - Now what do we do??
After dinner and going back to our room - we sat and looked at each other for about 15 minutes before deciding we weren't ready to call it a night yet. Instead we decided to explore outside for awhile...
We found the Old Faithful Snow Lodge - which is the only hotel in the Old Faithful area that stays open in the winter. We've decided we want to visit one winter and stay here.
I love the craftsman style!
The lobby
BTW - this is the only place at Old faithful where you can get Wifi.... so we camped out for a bit to update Facebook and upload photos.
After our round of internet access and lounging by the fire - we finally decided to walk back to the room and get some sleep.
You are bringing back so many great memories - we loved our stay at the Old Faithful Lodge and I remember thinking the same thing about the Lake Yellowstone Hotel as you.
Did you see the series they did on Yellowstone through the seasons? The one on winter was fascinating and we did actually watch it and say to each other that one day we'd love to visit the park in winter, as I bet it's an amazing sight.
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Nice bear sighting first thing, too. The moment you said sulfur springs, I thought of rotten eggs. Yuck!
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We couldn't resist, as it was a bison and, having seen some earlier that day, I was sold the second I saw him! 
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