Quake Lake and More from Yellowstone

It had snowed overnight in West Yellowstone, leaving a couple of inches of the white stuff on the roof of our vehicle on the morning of October 5, 2018. The roads were clear, though; and the sun was shining. The temperature was in the mid-thirties (1C).

We decided to take a side trip to Quake Lake before going into Yellowstone National Park. We didn't remember the route to Quake Lake and wound up going some extra miles to get there. But they were beautiful miles. Following are some scenes from that morning.

Quake Lake

Quake Lake was formed when a 7.2 earthquake struck the area in 1959, resulting in a landslide which blocked the flow of the Madison River, creating the new lake. Twenty-eight people lost their lives in that massive landslide.

Leaving Quake Lake, we continued on our way to Yellowstone National Park by way of the West Entrance Road. The snowfall of the previous night had left the trees lining the road with a beautiful covering of snow, as this short video shows:

This is a view of steam vents and snow-covered trees on the distant hills, on the way to Old Faithful.

This isn't a great picture of Old Faithful, but I couldn't document a Last Hurrah trip to Yellowstone without including a shot of Old Faithful.

Next, we drove to Midway Geyser Basin, the main feature of which is Grand Prismatic Spring.

Firehole River at Midway Geyser Basin

Steam is everywhere in Yellowstone, but not always with a backdrop of snow on the hillsides.

People lined up on the boardwalk to view Grand Prismatic Spring

Grand Prismatic Spring

I include the picture of the sign to show what Grand Prismatic Spring looks like from above. There is a viewing area at the top of a steep hill, where I might have gotten a shot of my own, but I was in no shape to hike up there.

The sign itself explains that Grand Prismatic Spring is the largest and one of the most brilliant of Yellowstone's many colorful hot springs. It is approximately 200 feet (61m) across. The high temperature of its water - 160F° (70C°) - ensures that the spring is often cloaked in steam. It pours almost 500 gallons of hot water each minute into the Firehole River.

Leaving Midway Geyser Basin, we headed back to our lodging in West Yellowstone. The late-afternoon sun, enhanced the view of the river alongside the road. Even so, we might not have stopped but for the bald eagle that was perched in the small lone tree on the left side of the river. It was too far for me to get a decent shot of the eagle, but I liked the overall view.

We had one more day in Yellowstone. But more on that next time.