Yellowstone again

Well of course we came back to Yellowstone. We only left because we couldn't find a reasonably priced campsite. They were ALL full! Not as though the time spent at Glacier and Lewis and Clark Cavern were wasted. So now we're on the south side of the park at Grant Village, a primitive-only site. I don't know if I've explained primitive camping (boondocking) adequately so here we go.

Many state and national parks offer a low cost service, mainly just a parking space and rest rooms, showers and dump stations nearby. In the case of national parks that's about 20 dollars a day, half that if you hold a Senior Pass, available for a mere ten bucks when you reach 62. Hell of a bargain! So we're doing a lot of squatting on federal land cheaply. Of course, we need to run the generator for AC and to charge the battery and uproot the trailer every few days to replenish water and dump waste greywater and other holding tanks but it's still a great way to camp cheap. In Yellowstone it's the only way with the exception of Fishing Bridge with its four-star full hookup and 65 dollar a day fee. Even cheaper (free) parking is available on BLM land and of course the ever popular Wal-Mart parking lots.

This time we're exploring mainly the southern part of Yellowstone and checking out Grand Teton
where we'll probably move next. Right now we're on the southern shore of Yellowstone Lake which takes up 136 square miles of Yellowstone's 3 thousand plus. Of course the first thing is to revisit Old Faithful and this time get some stills of the eruption.

There, just like the postcards

On our second trip to the Upper Geyser Basin where Old Faithful is located we took a 5 or 6 mile hike and made acquaintance with a group that calls themselves "Geyser Gazers". They are often equipped with two-way radios and stay in contact with alerts of geyser eruptions and grade them. They all seem to know the periods of every geyser in the area and even if they're running fast or slow. Check them out -http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g60999-c10794/Yellowstone-National-Park:Wyoming:Geyser.Gazing.html -  Note: not all geysers run to a schedule. Steamboat, the biggest of them all, in the Norris Basin, runs anywhere from 4 hours to 5 years. In the Upper Basin they all seem to have a loose schedule and it's possible to see 6 or more from one vantage point. After our hike, we decided to plunk down by Grand Geyser and wait an hour and a half for the show. Well worth it, lasting 15 or so minutes with two separate eruptions, the second being even higher than the first. Two nearby small geysers seem to be connected and erupted right along with the big one. 

Okay, we'll wait for this one. It was actually a little early at 2:15.

Grand Geyser in all its glory.
Note the two smaller eruptions to its left.

Grotto Geyser, very unusual looking

Other side of Grotto Geyser.
Scientists suspect it's made up of silica coated tree stumps.

Castle Geyser, a personal favorite of mine.

But we didn't bother waiting for it.
Note the MAY erupt!

We find the ranger guided hikes to be the best show in town. On various days we took tours with them to Mud Volcano, Biscuit Basin, Black Sand Basin, West Thumb Basin and the Old Faithful Inn. Most of these were in the range of two hours and anywhere from 1/2 mile to 3 miles. A nice way to get a lot of park history, geology and biology. However, I got a little tired of hearing about Thermus Aquaticus. http://bioinfo.bact.wisc.edu/themicrobialworld/LAHT/b27.html

One of the many hot springs at Biscuit Basin.

Reason for the Biscuit Basin hike - Mystic Falls.

Cliff Geyser at Black Sand Basin. Small, frequent but unpredictable.
This is about as big as it gets.

Yet another pretty hot spring, this one at Biscuit Basin.
 

Mud Volcano.
This one has a story worth relating. In 1871 explorers found this as a full cone geyser, throwing huge spouts of  mud on a regular schedule By the time more explorers saw it in 1872, it had blown itself up, leaving only a remnant of the cone and no longer a geyser.

We've also partaken of other Yellowstone delights. Dinner at  the Yellowstone Lodge needs to be reserved. If you want something between 5:00 and 7:00, prepare for a several day wait. Damn good meals at an only slightly outrageous price. Along that line is the boat cruise on Yellowstone Lake. It's the only game in town, charges 15 bucks per person and only takes about an hour.

Wreck of a former tour boat on Stevenson Island. The owner of this boat was an entirely slimy character and ordered out of the park by Theodore Roosevelt himself. He abandoned the steamer at the island and it was left to disintegrate.

 

We took off yesterday to investigate Beartooth Highway. This is a long, dramatic trip, right up there with the Road to Hana on Maui (see our previous adventures - http://liz-and.blogspot.com/ ). From our Grant Village campsite to Red Lodge and back was a little better than 300 miles, over 100 of it consisting of mountain switchbacks. Nothing around here is a short hop! Dramatic as hell, though. We were never below 7,000 feet and often well over 9,000, above the snowfields. Glad I did it, wouldn't even consider towing the trailer there. The road is only open in good weather, closed most of the winter. Around here that would be from mid-September through early June.

Even with the snowfields

And above them.

Here, see for yourself!

Did I mention there were 5 or more fires going while we were here.
This is completely natural and they're left alone so long as they don't threaten inhabited areas.

 Fall is here at Yellowstone. It's been under 50 most nights. Last night and today it rained and temperatures are dropping. Tonight it may snow. Getting to be about time to seek lower elevations.

Liz Here:

About bears. I finally saw a bear in the wild! I don't know if he was a brown bear or a grizzly because he was far away climbing up a mountain. Mike missed him since he was driving and we were late because of our Beartooth drive. Yellowstone bears eat differently. Glacier bears are mostly herbivores eating just berries. Glacier has more berries than anywhere I have ever been. Because Glacier National Park is right besides native American reservations with free ranging cattle, Glacier rangers assist the bears as their way of keeping bears from eating cows. They store frozen road kill and drop it high in the mountains near the bear caves for the ravenous bears to discover when they come out of hibernation. This is not only to appease the Native Americans but also is a tribute to their Canadian partnership. In Yellowstone elk calves are what a hungry bear eats.

Elk is a misnomer for Europe’s red deer. Native Americans call elk “wapiti“. An elk in Europe is what we know as a moose. Elk are the second largest breed of deer, second to moose. How did Americans misname elk and moose? The ranger pointed out that our continent was settled by people seeking religious freedom and/or gold and wealth. America was not settled by informed naturalists. Elk population is falling and they do not know why. Does used to have 100% birth rate and now it is 75%. Yes, wolves were introduced but wolves cannot be blamed for a decline in the birth rate.

We hear the elk bugling at night. This is the time of the rut. Elk bugling sound more like a squealing rabbit than a big powerful animal with huge antlers. Hopefully it is seductive.

During our tour of Yellowstone Lake we learned that lake trout were illegally introduced into Yellowstone in the 1990’s. Rangers would like to arrest whoever brought in the lake trout since lake trout are an invasive species decimating the native cutthroat trout population in Yellowstone Lake.

On Aug. 25 Mike observed park staff wearing Santa hats caroling through our camp, Grant Village on a cart. Yellowstone staff celebrates Christmas on August 25^th with decorations, parties and caroling. This began in commemoration of a historic snow storm that stranded visitors in the early days when Yellowstone was a destination for only the very wealthy. Since a lot of staff is temporary and gets let go after Aug 25^th this is a nice occasion for them to say good bye.

We went out to lunch a few times and as Mike mentioned we went to Old Faithful Inn one time.

I had trout and Mike had bison. We waited 6 days for this reservation, the only time a 6 PM reservation came up. Otherwise it was 4:30 PM or 9:30 PM. Dinner reservations are probably more accessible for those with a tour. Like dining out groceries in the west cost more than in the East (except for perhaps beef) but just being here is worth it.

When we toured Indian Pond our guide, a young ranger and a temporary summer staffer told us the danger of the bison. This ranger has a master degree in environmental education and in the winter works as a guide showing guests ski trails around Jackson Hole. Being from Connecticut he did not believe until he saw with his own eyes a bison jump a 6 foot fence standing right in front of the fence. The bison was grazing on grass in the lawn in front of the ranger’s apartment. The bison did not even take running jump. He just jumped straight over the fence to chew on what he’d decided would be better grass on the other side of the fence. Making a bison angry is a dangerous idea, the ranger concluded. Bison heads are massive because they are evolved for moving snow but that does not mean that their legs are not amazing too. They are not slow!

 

Bison blocking the road.
The feature at left is Soda Butte.