September 17 2009: Yellowstone National Park

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Thursday, September 17

Start in West Yellowstone MT, Yellowstone National Park, Stay in West Yellowstone MT.
Weather:
  Lows: West Yellowstone: 44; Old Faithful Ranger Stn: n/a;
        Yellowstone Lake ASOS: 36
  Highs: West Yellowstone: 78; Old Faithful Ranger Stn: 76
         Yellowstone Lake ASOS: 73; Tower Falls: n/a;
Hikes/Walks: 5.9 miles
1.2 miles total, ~300 feet elevation: Brink of Lower Falls
0.1 miles total                     : overlook of Lower Falls
0.3 miles total, ~100 feet elevation: Upper Falls overlook
0.7 miles total,  ~70 feet elevation: two South Rim overlooks
2.6 miles total                     : Old Faithful geyser basin
0.3 miles total                     : Black Sand Basin
0.7 miles total                     : around West Yellowstone
A jam-packed day began by getting up early to view the waterfalls in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone in the morning light. Although we ran ran into another Yellowstone traffic jam when a large group of bison decided to walk down the road.

Bison walking down road View at top of Lower Falls Yellowstone River at the top of Lower Falls Lower Falls Yellowstone River just upstream of Upper Falls Lower Falls and fall color. Lower Falls Lower Falls Upper Falls

We then shifted gears from waterfalls and the canyon to the geysers in the western portion of the park. But we made a quick stop at Isa Lake, a small pool of water that straddles the Continental Divide and drains to both the Atlantic and Pacific sides of the continent.

Isa Lake Isa Lake

The plan was to get information at the Old Faithful ranger station, then visit a nearby geyser basin and hit Old Faithful tomorrow. But Old Faithful was predicted to erupt soon, so we stayed to watch the eruption. After the Old Faithful eruption, we then were told by rangers that Beehive Geyser (which only erupts twice a day) was predicted to erupt soon, so we went to watch that eruption. After that, we walked around the rest of this basin viewing eruptions of various geysers.

Old Faithful Old Faithful Beehive Geyser Plume Geyser Anemone Geyser Anemone Geyser Colorful pool Eruption in the Lion Geyser Group Old Faithful erupting

We then visited the nearby Black Sand basin briefly before losing sunlight in the basin. As we were heading back to West Yellowstone for the evening, we encountered a coyote in a clearing in the park.

Cliff Geyser and Iron Spring Creek. Coyote Coyote Coyote