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Friday, January 18, 2019

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.

17 comments:

  1. Linda, your photos are breathtaking. Makes me want to hop in the truck and head out West. The pictures with the steam and snow covered trees are just gorgeous. Thank you so much for taking us with you. :)

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    1. Thank you, Dianna. I'm so glad you're enjoying your virtual western tour. There is SO much to see out there. In all our trips, I think we've barely scratched the surface. Part of the reason for that is that we enjoy returning to places we've seen before and loved. Thanks for coming along and allowing us to share our photos and memories.

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  2. such a lovely area. We were discussing Yellowstone the other dayand I forgot about Quake Lake

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    1. Quake Lake is so interesting. Evidence of ongoing tremors can be seen on the surface of the water all the time. But then there are so many interesting and awesome sights in that area.

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  3. Wonderful pictures. This is a very scenic place and you have captured that well.Together with you descriptions, it's the next best thing to being there.

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    1. It's a truly amazing place, Ruth. We've been there many times and never tire of it. So much to see and do.

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  4. Although most of your photos brought back wonderful memories, we have not visited Quake Lake. We'll have to add that to our list of places to visit if we ever get back there.

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    1. The Visitor Center was closed when we were there, but it would be an interesting place to visit, I'm sure, with all the information about the earthquake. And the surroundings are beautiful.

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  5. What an amazing place to visit. I like Old Dithful and the flicker shots and video. i hope you have a wonderful weekend.

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    1. "Amazing" is a good word to describe Yellowstone National Park, Margaret. Wishing a good weekend for you, as well.

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  6. It is a good thing that yall took the longer way to the lake.....cause it was beautiful scenery. Yellowstone is such a beauty, maybe I will see it someday.....love the fog or steam

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    1. I hope you do have the opportunity to see Yellowstone sometime. It's an awesome place. And you'll see lots of steam. It rises from everywhere.

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  7. The snow added to the atmosphere for sure!
    One would think that all the lakes are here from the beginning and that's simply not true, as the history of the Quake Lake demonstrates...
    I love that photo with the people lined up on the boardwalk, the small figures look sort of graphical...

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    1. We've seen snow in Yellowstone almost every time we've been there, but it would usually be gone as soon as the sun hit it in the mornings. This time, though, the temperatures were cold enough that the snow lingered...and replenished itself at night. It really did add to the beauty around us. Doug was the first to see the photo op in the people lined up on the boardwalk. After he pointed it out, I had to snap a photo.

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  8. Hi Linda, I have enjoyed your visit to Yellowstone and South Dakota SO MUCH... We did almost the same trip in Sept..... We stayed at Red Lodge (big mistake although I loved the town)--and it was so far from Yellowstone. We also found Yellowstone EXTREMELY crowded this time even though it was September.... I love all of those areas --but I still love the Tetons even more. The thing I have noticed from many of your pictures lately was the gorgeous skies/clouds... Beautiful.

    We need to check out Quake Lake/Visitor Center sometime when we are there...

    How's the new home? I'll bet you are THRILLED.....
    Hugs,
    Betsy

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    1. I'm glad you're enjoying our travels with us, even though you'd been there so recently. We visited the Grand Tetons the day we left Yellowstone, and we had a beautiful day for it. That will be my next post in this series.

      We do love our new house. And we feel so pampered as we see the maintenance crew out there removing all our snow and ice. They do an excellent job.

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  9. "Quake Lake was formed when a 7.2 earthquake struck the area in 1959..."

    It makes you realize just how powerful nature is!

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