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Thursday, October 18, 2012

Yellowstone National Park 2012, Part 2

Geysers, Friends, and Falls

Yellowstone National Park is home to some 10,000 thermal features, over 500 hundred of which are geysers. In fact, Yellowstone contains the majority of the world's geysers. I can only imagine what the first people to see this place must have thought when they saw all the steam vents, boiling pools of water, and towers of water shooting from holes in the ground.

On Friday, September 21, Doug and I headed for Old Faithful Geyser Basin, where we were to meet up with fellow bloggers, Betsy and George. I knew from reading Betsy's blog that she and George had interests similar to Doug's and mine. When we realized that we were both planning trips west over the same span of days, we looked for where our trips might overlap each other. That turned out to be Yellowstone National Park.

As we pulled into a parking space at Old Faithful, I received a text message from Betsy, saying that she and George were sitting among the crowd gathered to watch the next eruption of Old Faithful Geyser. So we went in search of them. Of course, the crowd were all facing toward the geyser, and Doug and I were walking along behind them. Still, I recognized Betsy as soon as I saw her, even from behind. Of course, it helped that she was wearing her camera vest.

Betsy was alone when we found her. George had responded to an alert from a Park Ranger that Beehive Geyser was preparing to erupt. Beehive doesn't erupt nearly as often or as predictably as Old Faithful, so it's a rare opportunity to be present when it goes. George had run down the boardwalk to be in front of Beehive for that eruption, hoping he'd still be able to get back in time for Old Faithful's eruption.

We took the seats that Betsy had saved for us on the bench in front of Old Faithful and proceded to get acquainted as we waited. Meanwhile, in the distance, we could see the eruption beginning at Beehive.

Beehive Geyser
Before Beehive's eruption was over, that small geyser in the background was also erupting.

George joined us in time to see Old Faithful's eruption.
Old Faithful Geyser

Linda and Betsy enjoying a picnic lunch between Old Faithful eruptions.
(George took this photo with my camera.)

Old Faithful erupting again after our lunch.

After watching the second eruption of Old Faithful, the two couples parted ways. George and Betsy were off to hike to Mystic Falls. Doug and I decided to hike to Fairy Falls.

The hike to Fairy Falls was a 5.2 mile round trip, but the trail was easy. The first mile of it was along the back side of Midway Geyser Basin.

Blue steam from Grand Prismatic Spring in Midway Geyser Basin, seen from the Fairy Falls Trail

After the first mile, the trail turned and traveled 1.6 miles through a new-growth forest.

Evidence of the 1988 fires still remains and, no doubt, will for years to come.

Fairy Falls

Fairy Falls was beautiful, and we felt well rewarded for the hike, even knowing that we faced a hike of 2.6 miles back to the parking lot where we had left our vehicle.



20 comments:

  1. Breathtaking, both your experience and the wonderful pictures.I blog with Betsy and so enjoy her posts.

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    1. Thanks, Steve. It was a treat to meet up with George and Betsy.

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  2. The pictures are beautiful and very descriptive of your trip to Yellowstone National Park. Glad you had a great trip. A picture
    speaks a thousand words.

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    1. Thank you, Kay. It was a fun trip and the ideal 25th anniversary "gift" to each other. :)

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  3. Mystic Falls, Fairy Falls, Beehive Geyser and Old Faithful Geyser, wonderful names for those natural phenomena. :) I like the photo with the fresh trees growing among the fallen ones, beginning and end always together. And of course I like the photo of you and Betsy :), it's great, that you, Doug, Betsy and George were successful in accomplishing the meeting.

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    1. Petra, the wildfires that burned through Yellowstone in 1988 did terrible damage. We've been there several times since then, but this is the first time that we felt that the recovery was truly overcoming the discouraging sight of dead trees, some still standing and some fallen, in many areas of the park. It's been a slow process.

      Meeting George and Betsy was a highlight of our trip.

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  4. What an amazing tour, Linda. Your photos are fantastic.

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  5. Just gorgeous! I love these pictures. Thanks for taking us along!

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  6. i love that the 4 of you got to meet up - both away from your homes at the time. :)

    the downed trees still make a powerful statement. i can't imagine...

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    1. Yes, Tex, it was pretty neat to meet George and Betsy. I knew from their blogs that we enjoyed the same sorts of activities. We felt like old friends, even though we were meeting for the first time.

      The devastation from the Yellowstone fires was truly awful. It's so good to see the green on the hillsides again.

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  7. It looks like you had a perfect day for all that adventure.Watching Old Faithful is special,but doing it together with friends like Betsy and George makes it that much better,I'm sure.Fairy Falls is very pretty.

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    1. You're right, Ruth. It was fun watching the geyser with George and Betsy. This was their first visit to Yellowstone, and I don't think they left any stone unturned in their exploration of it. :)

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  8. The photos are spectacular! And how neat that you were able to meet up with a blogging buddy. Your picture together is so sweet. Enjoyed reading about your hiking adventures!

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  9. Saw Old Faithful for the first time last year. It was more awesome than I'd imagined.

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    1. Old Faithful does exceed one's expectations, Stephen. I'm glad you were able to see it in person.

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  10. Great post, Linda.... I'm trying to catch up (after being gone last week).... We SOSOSOOSOSO enjoyed meeting you two --and hope our paths cross again SOON.... Yeah!!!!!

    Great pictures of Fairy Falls... We need to do that one next time...

    We went to the Smokies today --and the colors were marvelous. We only went to the Foothills Parkway --but it was a perfect day with TONS of colors.

    Hugs,
    Betsy

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    1. Thanks, Betsy. Fairy Falls was a long hike, but not a difficult one. Take water! I envy you being close enough to make a day trip to the Smokies. I'm sure the colors will be all but gone by the time we get there. But it's a beautiful place, no matter the season. Hope we can make connections with you and George again soon.

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