Pages

Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Upper Loop of Yellowstone

Having toured Yellowstone's Lower Loop on August 18, we drove the Upper Loop the next day.

This is a scene on the approach to Mammoth Hot Springs, on the west side of the Upper Loop.

Gardiner, Montana, at the North Entrance of the National Park

Petrified Tree, between Mammoth and Tower Junction

Soda Butte in Lamar Valley

The sign at Soda Butte reads, in part: "This travertine calcium carbonate mound was formed more than a century ago by a hot spring. Only small amounts of hydrothermal water and hydrogen sulfide gas currently flow from this once more-prolific spring."

Lamar Valley is a good place to look for wildlife. On this day, we saw only one pronghorn antelope (sorry, no photos), buffalo, and a lone coyote pictured below:

Coyote in Lamar Valley

Calcite Springs Overlook, between Tower Junction and Canyon Village

Unique Cliff Formations Seen from Calcite Springs Overlook

Part of the Burn Area From the 1988 Fires. Recovery is slow.

Doug and Me at Upper Falls Overlook

Watching for Wolves in Hayden Valley

Apparently, some of the people in the above photo had seen wolves earlier; but the wolves had disappeared during a rain shower. The viewers had been waiting for over an hour for a reappearance. Doug and I joined them for awhile; but, as darkness fell, we gave up and started back to smoky West Yellowstone for the night.

And now, some video clips from this day in Yellowstone:




Geysers and hot springs were the focus of our next day in Yellowstone. But I'll save that for another post. 


9 comments:

  1. I used to watch their webcams faithfuly hoping to see a geyser or something new. Been awhile since i have.May have to open one again. Amazing area, sad nature runs it's course amid fires

    ReplyDelete
  2. such gorgeous terrain! great shots of the coyote. the calcium formation is unique. and some good fences in there, including protecting that petrified tree!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Gorgeous photos, Linda. And the video clips of the buffalo are amazing. You can tell that bull is used to being the boss, on road or off. ;)
    I was glad to see the fence around the petrified tree, too.
    Thank you for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  4. What a lovely place and your photos and video are amazing and gorgeous, Linda! And seeing the coyote reminds me of something that happened here in Montreal...just last week, if I recall. A family of coyotes was spotted in someone's backyard! They were photographed by the person who saw them. Because Montreal is a big city with so many people, it was decided that the best thing to do was to capture and relocate the family of coyotes. I think this was the nicest thing to do, shooting them would have been mean and not necessary.

    ReplyDelete
  5. You got some great photos on this part of your visit. You're really making me eager to go back again.

    ReplyDelete
  6. One of the things I enjoy about blogging is that I get to visit so many beautiful places, all from the comfort of my chair.These pictures of Yellowstone are gorgeous.AS nice as it is to see the pictures, being there in person would still be better.Thanks for sharing these photos.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Steve - I'd forgotten about that Old Faithful webcam. I've watched it in the past, too. Webcams have certainly added to our lives, haven't they? Fires seem to be a common occurrence in our wilderness areas.

    Theresa - Leave it to you to notice the fence around the petrified tree. I hadn't given it much attention until you mentioned it.

    Toni - The sign at the petrified tree said that there used to be two of them on that spot until tourists and souvenir hunters chipped away at the other one until nothing was left. Thus, the fence around the remaining one.

    Thanks so much, Linda. Coyotes are becoming more and more common, even in residential areas. I'm glad the family of them in a Montreal neighborhood were able to be safely relocated.

    Thank you, George. It's a very picturesque place, as you know.

    I know what you mean, Ruth. I enjoy that aspect of blogging, too. But I know you'd love Yellowstone if you could get there in person someday...maybe the next time George and Betsy go. :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Coyotes, ha! It's an impressive area and you've captured it beautifully. I especially love that photo of Gardiner, Montana, the scenery appeals to me. Nice photo of you and Doug! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Petra. Gardiner is in a beautiful setting. It's an interesting-looking town, too; but neither my photos nor Doug's video of the town itself turned out very good. I guess we'll just have to go back and try again. :)

      Delete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...