The Long & Winding Road Ahead - Day 7
- Oct 3, 2020
- 6 min read
I have been waiting for many a year to experience and fulfill one of my life's missions today. That is to spend time wandering through the natural features, experiencing the cultural treasures and viewing the rich wildlife in one of the world's most highly regarded and visited National Parks...Yellowstone.
As per my commitment from the previous day's blog, we set off for the park early to avoid the Labor Day holiday crowds and the long traffic jams. We flashed our pass at the ranger and entered the park's West Entrance just after 7am for the 40 mile drive to Old Faithful. Our cunning plan worked beautifully as we encountered little to no traffic South along the Grandloop Road towards the old geyser.
Before we hit Old Faithful we made a pitstop at the Lower Geyser Basin, the largest hydrothermal basin in Yellowstone. Spanning about 18 sqm's, it consists of a flat plain interspersed with meadows and the Firehole River flowing through the central part of the basin. Once again traversing the basin has been made conveniently simple with boardwalk areas cutting through and surrounding the basin. The chill in the air coupled with the steam generated by the hydrothermal pools made for an eerie, but spectacular sight.
As breathtaking as the Lower Basin is, our ultimate aim lie a wee 5 miles down the road. Once again the level of anticipation was extremely high as we sped off towards what would become another bucket list item checked off! The roadworks and temporary signage providing direction to Old Faithful made matters a little confusing...fortunately I was able to make a u-turn (I can make her eyes pop) safely to get back on track and into the vast expanse that is the car park. Being early got poll position just outside the front entrance. With the camera gear strewn over both shoulders we stepped up the pace towards you know who. As we proceeded past the Old Faithful Lodge, we entered the geyser-viewing area circling the park. Complete with bench seating around the perimeter we were in prime position to witness the old fella blowing off...it was just a matter of when? Just how faithful is the famous geyser these days...currently he erupts around 20 times a day and can be predicted with a 90 percent confidence rate within a 10 minute variation.
With that knowledge on board we took our position on the bench. Another factoid is Old Faithful, when blowing his stack, will spew its hydrothermic contents anywhere from 100-180 feet in the air with eruptions normally lasting between 1.5 to 5 minutes. The higher the launch, the longer the eruption was the rumor amongst the faithful spectators. A woman to our right had downloaded the app that predicts eruption times (who knew?); her app predicted the next eruption in 25 minutes...unlike this old faithful, my namesake was far more predictable. At ~8.47am cries of thar she blows echoed around the amphitheater. Given the activity we were in for the 5 minute coming of Old Faithful. As I looked on with complete envy, the old geeza treated us to a real spectacle.
With the second coming complete, we retreated to the relative comfort and warmth of the Old Faithful Lodge in search of that all important expresso coffee...no of course not 🤬🖕🤬. Tail between the legs, we headed back to the Durango for the short trip back up the road to the equally striking and impressive Grand Prismatic Springs.
The GPS is a short 5 mile drive up the road from OF. The fact is Old Faithful may be more famous, but the Grand Prismatic Hot Spring is the most photographed thermal feature in Yellowstone. And the reason is because of its crazy-bright colors and enormous size. The hot spring has bright bands of orange, yellow, and green ring the deep blue waters in the spring. The multicolored layers get their hues from different species of thermophile (heat-loving) bacteria living in the progressively cooler water around the spring. Once again access to the springs is via walk a wooden boardwalk that meanders its way around by the spring and three other pools. The vivid colors in the GPS aren't like colors I've ever seen in nature previously. Although the colours are often accentuated in images (I'm no exception), the morning bush fire sky and sun both combined to create a brilliant scene!
Our first 3 hours in the park have been nothing short of mind blowing. You would think that nothing could surpass what we had both witnessed...well stay tuned trendsetters. In keeping with the road name, we continued along the Grandloop in a Westerly direction towards Yellowstone Lake. Yellowstone Lake is the largest high elevation lake (> 7,000 feet) in North America. It is roughly 20 miles (32.2 km) long and 14 miles (22.5 km) wide, with 141 miles (227 km) of shoreline. The lake remains cold year-round, completely freezing over in Winter, with an average water temp of 41°F (5°C). Given the extremely cold water, swimming is not recommended unless of course you lose a bet. Before you dive in to cool off, note the estimated survival time is only 20 to 30 minutes in water at this temperature 🥶.
The picturesque drive around the lake took us North again to a landmark that just might have GPS & OF covered in an amazeballs contest...the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. The dramatic, 1,000-foot-deep Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone rewards visitors with dazzling views of multi-hued rock walls and majestic waterfalls. The GC of Y is roughly 20 miles long and varies from 1,500 to 4,000 feet wide. The colorful canyon is tattooed with streaks of red, orange, gold, black, and vegetation green decorating the canyon walls.
One of the most spectacular viewing platforms around the Canyon is the Brink of the Lower Falls Trail. You have a hamstring and dodgy knee testing 600 foot walk as you descend on a steep trail to get an up-close and personal view of the Lower Falls in all its thundering power. It takes your breath away but so do the falls...
A swift left hand turn from the car park onto Grandloop Road we began our journey back towards West Yellowstone and Under the Canvas. However before we ventured out from the park, we still had some sightseeing to do. Driving along the Norris Canyon Road, we were treated to some spectacular views of the prairie lined road complete with bison herds, eagles / osprey and more waterfalls. My beautiful navigator was subjected to further neck-jerking and sudden (but safe) breaking along the road such that this budding landscape photographer could fill his memory cards with images.
What an incredible two days at Yellowstone! The diversity of the ecosystem with its dramatic canyons, raging alpine rivers, lush forests, hot springs, gushing geysers and fauna a plenty, it is difficult to imagine another location that could be its equal. With a huge day drawing to its conclusion, there was a very noticeable change in the weather pattern as we made our way towards the West Entrance of the park. The Big Sky had become dark and threatening with a sudden and considerable temperature drop that had us scrambling for jackets and dialing up the heat inside the Dodge.
As we approached West Yellowstone, snow started falling across the town...it was now freezing cold outside. The gauge in the Durango was indicating 32F and by my math, the temperature had fallen by a lazy 62F in less than 24 hours with the wind chill factor bringing the mercury down even lower. On our drive back to Under the Canvas the rain began to fall heavily turning the road surface to ice with visibility now at a minimum. Driving in these treacherous conditions was nerve racking to say the least...to say we were more than pleased to get back to camp in one piece was an understatement! The cast iron belly stove inside our tent would be our only defence against the bitter cold; keeping it sufficiently stoked with wood was my next challenge. The wind was now blowing at gale force strength, throwing over our timber furniture across the decking. Our tent was secure but for how long and could it sustain the driving winds throughout the night?
Well trend setters, we were chilled to the bone but thankfully we and the tent survived the night and all that Wyoming's severe storm had to offer. There was no hot shower this morning as the bitterly cold conditions overnight had frozen our water pipes. The next decision was simple...pack the Durango, fill up with hot chocolate, get the seat warmers on and get out of Dodge! Oh whatta night!
Stay tuned for day 8 as we set a Southerly course to Jackson, Wyoming and the magnificent Grand Teton National Park.
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