Old Faithful

Bob, Auggie, and I got up at 5:30 and left our rig at 6:30 am Monday morning to drive to Old Faithful. Five thirty came awfully early, especially as I really didn't sleep well the night before, but since the geyser was nearly an hour away we wanted to get an early start.

We watched the sun rise over Yellowstone, an awesome sight. The morning was cold, about 29 degrees when we left West Yellowstone and became even colder as we continued to climb in elevation.

In the early morning the mist rose off the rivers as elk grazed.

We passed a lot of geothermal areas to reach Old Faithful. When we arrived it was in "resting mode," gently steaming away.

I texted my sister in Massachusetts, Cher, and gave her the link to the webcam at Old Faithful so she could check to see if we were visible. Sure enough, she could see us but only on a frozen screen so we couldn't wave to her. This is her screenshot.

While waiting, a woman came up to ask if she could pet Auggie and we struck up a conversation. I admired her handknitted hat, she told me it was a WestKnits pattern, and we started chatting about knitting. Rosemary even recognized my cowl (http://weavingdowntheroad.blogspot.com/2015/09/southern-alabama.html as qiviut which impressed me to no end! Such a fun encounter! Now I'm going to have to knit one of these hats, especially since I already own the pattern (Kvosin, by Stephen West.)

After almost a 40 minute wait, Old Faithful erupted with an audible whoosh. This was the start of the eruption. As it continued over the next several minutes, the cloud became wider and higher than I am able to show here because the steam completely filled my camera screen. Old Faithful is a cone geyser, erupting from a mound of siliceous sinter, and its eruptions reach up to 183 feet high.

Then it was time to move on. We stopped to look at Mud Volcano (picture a photo of steam) and Sulphur Cauldron (above.) It was smelly but not as bad as the ones we had visited in Iceland, so many years ago.

We saw herds of bison grazing near geothermal fields. What a sight! Twice we came upon bison walking along the road, blocking traffic both ways. Auggie is fascinated with them and enjoys these close encounters.

If you look very closely you may be able to see the two coyotes in this photo, hunting for mice. Occasionally one would leap straight up and pounce when he spotted one.

The Gallatin River was a lovely sight.

Yellowstone is incredible, and even if you are wimpy like we are and afraid to hike along the trails for fear of encountering a bear, it can be enjoyed by car.

We saw less snow on the ground as the day wore on yet we saw it lingering on the mountain tops. After driving around for seven hours we returned home tired but very happy.