Yellowstone National Park – The (Mostly) True Adventures of Lupe

Day 6 of Lupe’s 2012 Dingo Vacation to the West Coast.

Yellowstone National Park is big. Even on just a very quick tour through the park, Lupe, Lanis and SPHP had only made it as far as the Lower Geyser Basin on the first day. After the sun had set, Lanis drove to the town of West Yellowstone just outside the park for the night. The next morning, Lupe returned to Yellowstone National Park to complete her tour.

The day before, Lupe had been very good about being willing to wait in or near the Honda Element, while Lanis and SPHP took turns exploring sights along short trails off the road. She had been perhaps a bit tired from her prior fabulous long day in the Beartooth Mountains going to Beauty and Becker Lakes. After a day of rest, though, SPHP wasn’t sure how much longer the active Carolina Dog was going to be happy with this arrangement.

The main attraction SPHP still wanted to see was the Norris Geyser Basin. There could be other stops along the way for Lanis to get out and look around, but SPHP would have to skip taking a turn on the trails at some of those stops to save time. Hopefully, there would still be time later in the day to exit Yellowstone National Park and it’s not-too-dog-friendly rules, so Lupe could get to a trail where she would be free to explore and run around.

The first stop was Gibbon Falls, an 84 foot high waterfall on the Gibbon River. It was visible from right next to the highway, so Lupe got to see it.

There were a couple of other stops along the way prior to reaching the Norris Geyser Basin. Lanis toured the Artist Paint Pots. He returned to report that they were pretty similar in most respects to the Fountain Paint Pots at the Lower Geyser Basin.The Norris Geyser Basin is pretty big. SPHP was disappointed to learn that a former highlight of the Norris Geyser Basin, the Echinus Geyser (privately known as the “Big P’tui”), rarely erupts now. There were still plenty of pretty steaming hot springs and noisy steam vents to look at. SPHP judged the tiny Minute Geyser, which was very active, the best display on this day.

Both SPHP and Lanis took turns staying with Lupe to allow the other to tour the Norris Geyser Basin. Lupe had to content herself with squirrel and chipmunk watching from the parking lot.

SPHP had been to the Norris Geyser Basin before. It had seemed considerably more active years ago. However, it was now nearly mid-August. The weather was hot and dry for Yellowstone. The steam from all the vents, hot springs and geysers is always more impressive on cooler, higher humidity days when it hangs in the air longer and forms bigger clouds.

The last big stop in Yellowstone National Park was at Mammoth Hot Springs. SPHP stayed with Lupe. It was really hot and sunny by this time. Lupe and SPHP amused themselves as best they could while waiting for Lanis to return. It seemed like he was gone a long time, but eventually he did appear again.

Lanis had gotten so entranced with looking at Mammoth Hot Springs he had gone a long way down the stairs on the wooden trails. He hadn’t realized how huge Mammoth Hot Springs was, or how much elevation he had lost until it was time to return. Without any water with him, it had been a long, hot, slow climb back up to where the Element was parked.

Most of Mammoth Hot Springs was dry and dead looking at this time of year. The hot springs were most colorful and beautiful where there was still water. Interestingly, the water that surfaces at Mammoth Hot Springs comes underground along a fault line all the way from the Norris Geyser Basin.

Mammoth Hot Springs is the largest travertine terrace in the world.

Yellowstone National Park has the world’s largest collection of amazing geothermal features. Lupe would have been glad to stay there longer, if she had been allowed out on the trails. Park rules were against it, though, so it was time for Lupe to move on, content with the wonders she did have the good fortune to see.

Lupe, Lanis, and SPHP returned to the Beartooth Mountains E of Cooke City, MT. There was still time for a hike on a trail Lupe could explore. Before setting out on a trail to Kersey Lake, there was a quick rest stop at a campground.

The restroom there featured a rather sturdy looking lock. It looked brand new. It operated perfectly. The odd thing about it was that the lock was on the outside of the restroom, a cause of considerable mirth to Lanis. It would be so easy to lock someone in there! Neither Lanis nor SPHP could fathom why there was a lock on the outside that only prevented anyone inside from getting out.

Umm, let me out, please? Someone NOT named Einstein did a beautiful job of installing a sturdy new lock on the wrong side of the door.

After nearly 2 days, Lupe finally got to go on a trail again. The most interesting part of the trail to Kersey Lake was at almost the very start, where a bridge crossed the Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone. Before even crossing the bridge, there was a bench from which to observe a pleasant bend in the river, plus a little side spur off the main trail with a view of the river below after it went over a waterfall in a narrow gorge.

Lupe, Lanis, and SPHP followed the trail all the way to Kersey Lake, only to find that it didn’t go down to the shore. It was hard to find anywhere, even off the trail, with much of a view of the lake. Lupe didn’t care. The trail went through the forest. That meant squirrels! The shrill bark of a very happy American Dingo echoed through the trees.

The Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone rushes into a narrow gorge. Photo taken from the bridge near the start of the trail to Kersey Lake.

Links:

Next Adventure Prior Adventure

Want more Lupe adventures? Choose from Lupe’s 2012 West Coast Adventure Index, Dingo Vacations Adventure Index or Master Adventure Index. Or subscribe free to new Lupe adventures.

Day 5 of Lupe’s 2012 Dingo Vacation to the West Coast.

Yellowstone National Park was close to where Lupe was staying on the Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone River. After a wonderful long day spent out in the Beartooth Mountains going to Beauty and Becker Lakes the day before, Lupe was going to get to tour Yellowstone, the first National Park in the whole world!

Lupe entered Yellowstone National Park at the NE entrance W of Cooke City, MT. The highway followed Soda Butte Creek downstream to its confluence with the Lamar River. As frequently happens in Yellowstone, suddenly there were vehicles stopped ahead on the highway. The cause was soon clear. A herd of buffalo was using the highway, too!

Buffalo approach along the highway unaware that the Honda Element is protected by a ferocious predator.

Lupe was astonished to see the herd of huge buffalo coming right for the Element. This alarming situation demanded immediate action! Lupe’s hackles rose up from her head to her tail. She sprang to the defense of the Honda Element, as it became completely engulfed by the buffalo herd. She leaped wildly from one window to the next barking like a Dingo possessed.

Lupe loves to bark at cows. She may have thought the buffalo were cows. If so, these cows weren’t acting right. None of them ran away. In fact, none of them seemed to pay the least bit of attention to the frenzied Carolina Dog just a few feet away as they ambled by the Element.Lupe was undeterred. She gave it everything she had. She bounded back and forth. She scrunched herself up on the dashboard in front of the steering wheel, barking till she foamed at the mouth. The only real result was that Lanis got battered by a wildly swinging Dingo tail.The buffalo herd passed on by. The proud American Dingo could finally rest. Her barker was totally dry. She needed a drink! Who knew Yellowstone would be so exciting? The place was just swarming with gigantic, dangerous wild beasts!

The proud American Dingo that chased away an entire herd of buffalo and saved Lanis, SPHP and the Honda Element rests satisfied with a job bravely performed. — The proud American Dingo that chased (well, ambled) away an entire herd of buffalo thereby saving Lanis, SPHP and the Honda Element rests satisfied with a job bravely performed.

Lanis turned S at the Tower-Roosevelt junction. Lupe, Lanis and SPHP soon stopped at Tower Falls. Regulations in Yellowstone don’t allow dogs on any trails, or in the back country. Unfortunately, that meant that Lupe wasn’t going to get to see all the glories of Yellowstone up close. The entire time Lupe was in Yellowstone, Lanis and SPHP were going to have to take turns staying with Lupe while the other checked out Yellowstone’s scenic wonders.

SPHP stayed with Lupe, while Lanis checked out Tower Falls.

Tower Falls was nothing to sneeze at, but it wasn’t anything to compare to what was soon coming up a short drive to the S – Lower Yellowstone Falls and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

Looking down on Lower Yellowstone Falls from the N rim of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

The Yellowstone River just above Lower Yellowstone Falls rushes toward a clearly (final) class VI whitewater rafting experience! NOT recommended for ages 0-120.

Lower Yellowstone Falls plunges 308 feet into the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

Don't let a disastrous failure of a poorly conceived and executed erosion control program turn your farm or ranch into this! (Unless you want to be able to sell tickets.) — Don’t let a disastrous failure of a poorly conceived and executed erosion control program turn your farm or ranch into this! (Unless you want to be able to sell tickets.)

An American Dingo wasn’t the only dangerous canine in Yellowstone National Park on this day. Right beside the highway, not far from Lower Yellowstone Falls, a black wolf was non-chalantly sniffing around. At least, it looked like a black wolf to Lupe, Lanis and SPHP. If it was really someone’s lost Fifi, it sure was doing a convincing impression of a black wolf.

Say, there's an idea! Lupe wonders if she might be an even scarier stealth predator as a black Dingo? Think of the possibilities! — Say, there’s an idea! Lupe wonders if she might be an even scarier stealth predator as a black Dingo? Think of the possibilities!

From Yellowstone Falls, Lupe, Lanis and SPHP headed S toward Yellowstone Lake. SPHP stayed with Lupe at several stops along the way, so Lanis could get a look at some geothermal features. Lupe got to see the ones that were close to the highway and visible from parking areas.There were warnings signs for those who thought ideas like whitewater rafting above Yellowstone Falls would be a great experience. Despite the graphic depictions, a buffalo wasn’t too worried about it.Lupe got to visit Yellowstone Lake, a huge natural lake at 7,733 feet elevation. Yellowstone Lake, which has a very interesting shape and would be great fun to explore, is the largest body of water above 7,000 feet in North America. Lupe, Lanis and SPHP waded out to some rocks near the shore for a good look.

Lupe & Lanis at Yellowstone Lake. Lupe tasted the lake. It seemed to be constructed entirely of water.

No trip to Yellowstone is complete without stopping by Old Faithful geyser. Lupe got to see it, too, from a distance.

Old Faithful doesn't disappoint. — Old Faithful doesn’t disappoint.

Old Faithful Inn. Despite being called an Inn, Lupe stayed Outt. — **Old Faithful Inn**. Despite being called an Inn, Lupe stayed Outt.

From Old Faithful, Lupe, Lanis and SPHP headed N toward some other geyser basins along the Firehole River. Poor Lupe was kind of left out, since many of the geysers weren’t close enough to the parking lots or the highway where she could see them. A few were, though. Lupe did get to sniff around near the Element some, and she seemed happy enough with the situation. Lanis and SPHP took turns staying with her.

Excelsior Geyser in the Midway Geyser Basin was a highlight of the geyser basin tour. The Excelsior Geyser was once the largest geyser in the world, but its last known major eruptions occurred in the 1880’s. Back then it spouted boiling water 300 feet into the air. Now it is a large blue pool of water which boils up vigorously at frequent intervals, and then dies down again without really erupting.

The Excelsior Geyser in the Midway Geyser Basin is a steaming hot spring these days.

Water near the boiling point flows at 4,050 gallons per minute from the Excelsior Geyser into the Firehole River.

Lupe didn't get to see the Excelsior Geyser, but she did see the hot water from it entering the Firehole River. — Lupe didn’t get to see the Excelsior Geyser, but she did see the hot water from it entering the Firehole River.

Near the Excelsior Geyser in the Midway Geyser Basin was another very impressive hot spring. Grand Prismatic Spring is best viewed from above, from which vantage point it appears as a large steamy blue sun rimmed with greens and yellows. Orange flames radiate outward wherever water overflows the pool’s edges.

The different colors are caused by different types of algae and organisms that thrive in different temperature bands. It’s hard to get a good impression of the whole from the ground, since Grand Prismatic Spring is so large.

A fiery colored arm of the Grand Prismatic Spring.

Near the Firehole River, Lupe waits for the return of SPHP from the Midway Geyser Basin.

The sun was getting low by the time Lanis and SPHP were done taking tours of the Midway Geyser Basin. There were way more basins, trails and rare thermal features, even in just this little section of Yellowstone National Park, than could possibly be visited in a single day.

The last area Lupe, Lanis and SPHP visited before sunset was the Lower Geyser Basin. Again, Lanis and SPHP took turns staying with Lupe while the other toured the walkways to see fantastic sights found few other places on earth.

The Fountain Paint Pots are steaming, moist mud. Where there is enough moisture, the mud gloops and blurps and bubbles continuously.

Some pretty pools of water steam endlessly away, seldom or never erupting.

Some vents don't have any pool of water at the surface. Steam just hisses out of the ground. — Some vents don’t have any pool of water at the surface. Steam just hisses out of the ground.

The Lower Geyser Basin featured some pretty active small geysers that erupted frequently. The steaming, erupting, sulfuric waters against the setting sun made for a scene that might easily have been from another world.

Why, there's an alien being here right now! — Why, there’s an alien being here right now!

Back at the parking lot, while Lupe waited, the sun sank behind dead trees cooked by a change in the flow of waters heated by the giant Yellowstone caldera. The Yellowstone caldera is the site of a supervolcano which has erupted at intervals of roughly 650,000 years three times in the last 2 million years. The last eruption was 640,000 years ago, so on a geological time scale, the next Yellowstone supervolcano eruption is coming due soon.