Bison, Bears and Wolves, Oh My (We hope)!! - TR UPDATE!! 8-19-14 - Page 9 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.
We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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Originally Posted by chezp
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.
We bought that DVD and brought it home. I've watched it a few times. Now we just need to plan the how and when of going back in the winter. It will be a very different plan than summer since it will not involve us driving vehicles, etc.
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Day 5 - Old Faithful Inn.
Today was to be Geyers Galore Day. We also planned on trying to take the free walking tour of the Old Faithful Inn.
We started with breakfast in the Dining Room and while we were there - it started to SNOW!! I was happy - although worried that this was a sign of things to come - and if the snow stuck and froze - getting out of this area tomorrow could prove challenging at best.
If you go to Yellowstone (or any National Park) in the winter and they have signs up that say you must have snow tires or chains... you must have snow tires or chains to be allowed to drive. Well, guess who had neither? Yep - we had a rental with all wheel drive... but that didn't count. As of this morning - they were recommending, although not requiring snow tires to get through the pass to the south. If that changed we would not be driving south to Grand Teton the following day... ... but we will play that by ear.
I walked around a bit right after breakfast and took more photos in the lobby.
I loved this clock - it told when the next eruption of the Old Faithful Geyser would be. There are more than 500 geysers in the park, and they can predict the eruptions of 6 of them....
Its snowing... really it is.
Painting over the fireplace in the dining room
Backside of the Inn
The backdoor
The bar. Being non-drinkers, we never made it in here.
The fireplace (with no people around it and in much more light than the day before)
We decided to try and be back for the 330pm walking tour
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Geyers Galore (and some paint pots too)
After breakfast - we bundled up (it was still cold, windy and switching from rain to snow) and headed out to the Fountain Paint Pot Area. I had picked up one of the trail guides and still have it, if you go, be sure to pick them up. Most of the large geyer basin and trails have them.
One of the things I really enjoy about Yellowstone is the elevated walkways through the geothermal features. It allows guests to get very close, without the damage that feet, etc can do to the features.
Our first stop was the Celestine Pool. One thing that was bad (well not bad, just frustrating) today was that since it was so cold... the hot springs, etc all were giving off steam, which blocked your ability to really see them.
And then we walked through an open, flat area where a large number of lodgepole pines had been killed by the hot, mineral laden water of the springs.
Next up was a cluster of geysers - Clepsyrda, Fountain, Morning, Spasm, Jet and Twig. All clustered together in the corner. While we were there - Clepsydra began to erupt. Jet truly sounded like a jet engine. It is amazing the variety of these features.
Now things began to change a little - away from geysers and into hot springs, pools and pots.
First up - Leather Pool
This pool used to be the color of dark leather and had a "skin" of bacteria on it. However in the 1890s there was a hotel in the area called the Fountain Hotel and they ran a pipe from the Leatherpool into the hotel to offer the hot mineral water to the guests for their baths. This resulted in damage to the pool and the leatherlike skin of bacteria no longer forms on the pool. The hotel burned in 1927 and was not rebuilt. I found a picture of the hotel looking from leather pool toward it.
Next up was red spouter -
It is a fumerole that spits of red claylike material. It was very active while we were there. It formed in the 1959 earthquake that hit this part of the park. In the spring and summer it seems like more of a muddy hot spring hat splashes red muddy water around. In the fall and winter it seems first like a large mudpot, and then as the water table continues to drop, a fumerole.
Just past the red spouter - we came to the Famous Fountain Paint Pots. These were also used at the hotel. The mud was taken from them and used in spa-like health treatments for guests.
Chris and I both zoomed in close to the mud pot to try and capture the bubble of mud exploding on the surface
The paint pots DO remind me of the mud used in spa treatments, but it really bothered me to hear that people were that short-sighted in respecting and treasuring these unique environments.
Our last stop on the trail was Silex Spring - and it was beautiful! I can only imagine how it would look without all the steam. I kept waiting for the wind to blow the steam out of my way so I could take photos.
One other thing that fascinated me... and here is where the biology geek takes over... was the bacterial mats that grow in the hot water draining out of the springs. I warned you... science geek. I took lots of photos - even posted a few to Facebook and tagged some of my former students - since we talk a fair amount about evolution and unique creatures who have figured out how to live in less than hospitable environments... like acid laden extremely hot water.
Here we finished up Fountain Paint Pot Trail. Next we had two options... head back to Old Faithful and walk the trails there OR we could double back and drive the Firehole Lake Drive - a one water 3 mile long road while more geysers and hot springs. We decided to drive the Firehole road.
Wow, it was cold that day - I can't believe how wrapped up Chris was... and I never thought of the impact that could have on the hot springs - interesting. How sad about the hotel and the damage it did to the environment.
Wonderful photos, steam and all. I love all the science facts and I agree, how many times do people need to hear what happens when you mess with mother nature to learn the lesson?
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