Yellowstone Day 3

We got up and had our usual yogurt, coffee, bananas, and poptarts and headed out. We stopped at nearby Grant to use their flush toilets, get more coffee, and reply to emails. Then we headed north toward Grand Prismatic Spring. It is a huge thermal spring that is 200 yards across, and it is a beautiful cyan blue. Around the edge orange bacterial mats the ground. From the ground, it is stunning, and from a drone, it would be more fully visible. There are many Yellowstone bags, postcards, and artwork that feature it. Generally, it is slammed with cars parked up and down the road either direction, and the parking lot is full of cars, tour buses, etc. Today, we were early enough to get a spot in the parking lot and walk the boardwalk at a less crowded time.

Then, we drove further and stopped at Obsidian Cliffs. Obsidian is a black volcanic glass. The Obsidian mined here by Native Americans was traded all over the US. Archeological finds east of the Mississippi, north into Canada and in the US southwest have been traced to here. It was used to make spear points and arrowheads.

Finally, we made it to Mammoth Hot Springs. We toured the upper terraces, which were less crowded. Then we went and mailed post cards and had a soup and salad lunch. Mammoth is the park headquarters, and there are historic army barracks and buildings such as the Corp of Engineer office in addition to the hotel, etc.

We headed back and came upon an accident. A large pickup had turned on its side around a curve. Two men looking glad to be alive were waiting for a tow truck.

On our way back, we stopped again at Grant for showers. One of my big batteries isn't charging right, so we'll go back to camp and see if I can work that out. Tomorrow, a pancake breakfast, and then we are off to Grand Teton National Park.Read more