Bison, Bears and Wolves, Oh My (We hope)!! - TR UPDATE!! 8-19-14 About This Page:

[mojjo]

Amazing pictures, so I for one appreciate you hiking that so I won't have to.

[taylan1]

Great update! Great job hiking down those steps to the falls. I don't think I could have done it since you could see right through them.

[shazza]

Caught up with your elk viewing, wolf spotting, pronghorns, and another bear! You guys did well with wildlife.

Enjoyed seeing the photos from Uncle Tom's trail. Kudos for undertaking that,

[Russi01]

Lots of animal you guys saw!! Wow those are alot of stairs. I don't remember seeing those but then again, I don't think I would be doing that!! Kudos for you guys!

[DrDolphin]

Sorry I've been AWOL - work and personal travel getting in the way - but now that school is (basically) over, I can get back to PPer Boards and finish this trip report.
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We drove back to the Mammoth Hot Springs area after our tour of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. On our way back we passed Grizzly lake, and saw this guy.


Grizzly #4

There was no where to pull over to get better photos of him.


Mammoth is the lowest elevation of all the resort areas.

We started our tour of the Hot Springs with the Upper Loop of the Hot Springs. This was a road to drive that you could pull over and park, but not walk. The first spring we stopped at was Orange Spring Mound.




The Guide said that the road was recently moved away from the spring to allow for the free flow of water and travertine formation.

The color of the hot springs come from bacteria (called thermophiles) that live in the hot water, different water temperatures result in different species of bacteria and different colors. Colorless and yellow thermophiles live in the hottest water, orange, brown and green thermophiles prefer cooler water. Colors can also change seasonally. Additionally, you can see the individual little terraces that make up the larger hot spring terraces.

The large terraces are formed when subterranean limestone is exposed to extremely hot water, it dissolves the limestone and moves it up to the surface where, as the water cools, the limestone is redeposited forming the small little terraces.





Then we decided to drive around and visit the larger springs at the lower area where you can actually walk through the springs.


The springs are a very dynamic environment. New springs open all the time and older ones will just stop flowing. When they do, the colorful bacteria die and the white/grey limestone (now called travertine) is left behind.

I will admit that the springs did not seem as vibrant as I remember them from ~30 years ago. Less colorful now.

We got out of the car and began walking on the boardwalks that the park service has built so that you can climb the terraces without destroying them.

The first large terrace we visited was Minerva Terrace - named after the Roman goddess of artists and sculptors. This spring sometimes is totally dry and then will come back with a vengance.




Then we came to Cleopatra Terrace




Overlooking the hotel complex from the springs.




After exploring for about and hour - we decided we were hungry - but we weren't interested in eating at the hotel again. Instead we opted to head north, out of the park to Grangier, Montana. I wanted to see the Roosevelt Arch and see this little town.

We drove along, and about 15 minutes after leaving Mammoth, we saw the arch, right outside the park exit.



We parked the car and I took a few photos - and then my battery died. And I didn't have a charged spare - so this is where the photos for today stop.


The Arch is referred to as the "Roosevelt arch" because the corner stone was laid by President Teddy Roosevelt when he visited the park. The cornerstone was laid in 1903 and contains a time capsule which includes a Bible, a picture of Roosevelt, local newspapers, and other items. It just amazes me that this beautiful arch speaks to all of the national parks "For the Enjoyment and Benefit of the People".

After taking photos, we visited the Yellowstone Association's giftshop and bookstore. I bought a Tshirt here, and talked to the gentleman behind the desk about the storm that was heading for the park and was expected to drop between 6-12 inches of snow in the next 2 days. This was the first we had heard of this and began to worry me.

Then we walked down the promenade and found a restaurant called "The Raven Grill" that was recommended to us by a couple of locals we talked to at the bookstore. One lady we met was the wife of a park service employee who lives in Gardiner (many park employees families live there). Her husband does the same thing for the park that I do for the Corps. She used to live in Jacksonville and really missed the warm temperatures. I can imagine.

We had a good dinner. Chris had an elk burner and I had bison. After dinner we opted for ice cream from the ice cream shop/pharmacy. And then we headed back into the park.

After we parked the car - we saw this mamma elk and her little one grazing right behind the parking area. Chris took a few photos with his camera (which wasn't dead).


We headed into the hotel and spent the rest of the evening packing before heading to bed. Tomorrow we head for Old Faithful!!

[cubfancolleen]

The different limestone formations really are fascinating!
Sorry about your camera battery dying! Sounded like a good dinner - always nice to have recommendations from locals!

[lauriep]

Amazing photos of the different formations around the springs. Just fascinating! Sounds nice to stroll through the small town for lunch.

[chezp]

I loved Mammoth Springs - I just found the scenery around there breath taking, so this is bringing back some wonderful memories.

[Colexis Mom]

Great pictures from the springs!

[Cam22]

The springs and terraces are so fascinating. The Roosevelt Arch is beautiful, too.

[KMB733]

The formations around the springs are really fascinating!!

[shazza]

Great photos - and that grizzly was well-spotted behind those trees.

[Russi01]

Great pictures of the springs!

[DrDolphin]

I need life to just stay out of the way so that I can post all my Trip Reports!!
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This morning the plan was to check out of the Old Faithful Hotel and head south, down towards Old Faithful area of the park. Before we left, I did take some photos of our room.

Our (messy) double bed.


The dresser and bathroom sink


Better photo of the in-room sink.


Behind the door storage - it should be noted there was no closet in the room


The tiny shower - but I was thankful for it so that we didn't have to hike down to the public facilities down the hall in the middle of the night.


Early morning cow elk

We headed down to the lobby with all our stuff to check out and turn in our keys. While we were there I noticed this -


A water bottle filling station! What a WONDERFUL idea inside of a national Park. Significantly cuts back on the number of plastic bottles and YEAH for that!!

We left the hotel and took all our STUFF (why did we pack so much?) back to the car. I took a few more photos.


Ourside of the Dining Hall


Looking back towards the hotel

After loading all the stuff in the car we opted to explore "Fort Yellowstone" - which is what the Mammoth area originally started out as. First thing we came across was a ranger doing a presentation about many of the larger animals in the park.




Wolf Skin - the fur was so soft.


Bison pelt


The temporary visitor's center - they are remodeling the main center. I got my park passport stamped.


The main visitor's center - closed for rehab



After dragging our feet as long as we could - we finally loaded up in the car and headed out of the Mammoth area.


Passing back through the Hoo Doos.

As we were driving - we saw some cars pulled over - and by now you know what that means - BEAR!!

Can you see him?


How about now?? Another grizzly walking along in the clearing behind the trees.

We drove down to Norris, made a left and headed back toward the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone - but instead of stopping there, we headed south toward Yellowstone Lake before swinging north again and ended the drive at Old Faithful.


The Yellowstone River


Hayden Valley and the Yellowstone River


A Panorama of the Hayden Valley and the Yellowstone River

Usually this area is full of animals, but we didn't see any.

We kept driving - and stopped at the Sulphur springs












You can see all the yellow around these areas - showing how much sulfur is present. And BOY can you SMELL it... rotten eggs!

These are some of the most acidic pools in the park - almost pure sulfuric acid.

Next - Mud Volcano

[Colexis Mom]

Great pictures from your morning! The Grand Canyon had those filling stations in the food court at our hotel and also at the visitor center and at the end of the shuttle stops. Arches also had faucets at the visitor center so you could fill up!