Day 65 - Yellowstone Day 2
Today started out early. We awoke in our little bungalow around 7 and whisked (as fast as you can whisk 7 people) into the car. Our destination was the “Boiling River”. There is a spot about 5 minutes from where we were staying where the Gardiner river has extremely hot water from the mountain (heated by the volcanic activity) flowing into it and it forms a hot tub effect. One of the guys I work with had warned me that if we wait too late the place is full and you can’t get in. So we arrived about 7:30 and then had to hike about ½ half hour to get there. Luckily there were only 2 other people there. Someone has taken rocks and created a little wall so that the hot water doesn’t escape too fast. This river sits in a valley and the sun was not even over the mountains yet, so it was quite cool on our hike. As you enter the water it is quite cool the closer to the river you get but if you get too close to the hot spring coming out of the mountain it is very very hot. It is very challenging to walk through the water because of the large rocks to walk on which were often unsteady. Caleb, of course, had no problem just walking right down and moving as far along as he wanted. None of us were smart enough to wear our water shoes or flip flops. I am not the most balanced person so my wonderful daughter Sarah walked with me holding my hands and helping me not to fall and break my neck. I was also blind because my glasses were fogged up. Sarah went back to help Gretchen but they didn’t get too far. The rest of us had a nice chat with a father and son from Vancouver. After about an hour or so we got out and dried off and headed back to the parking area. Naturally on the way back Joshua climbed a large hill and Christina followed him. As usual he got down just fine but she got stuck and had to have big brother Caleb and big Sister Rebecca come and get her. Joshua was sitting at the bottom the whole time grinning.
We got back to our cabin, took showers and packed up and headed out just in time to beat our 11 am checkout time by 15 minutes. The next thing on our list for the day was to see the Mammoth Hot Springs. So we drove all of 1 mile to park and started the trek up this boardwalk that leads up past several hot springs. These are amazing wonders and they create beautiful colors on the rocks as the water trickles down. The big negative to all of these springs which are caused by volcanic activity is the sulfur smell which to us smells like hard boiled or deviled eggs. I am not sure we will ever eat deviled eggs again.
After getting back in the car we headed down the east side of the park. We got all excited because as we were rounding a corner there was a mob of people (which means animals) and there on the side of the hill not too far from the road was a Black Bear. Just after we passed it crossed the road. Not too far from there we stopped again and there were bears playing in the woods. By this time we were getting hungry so we stopped at Tower Falls. There was a quick cloudburst of rain but it past in about 5 minutes and we were able to get our food out and eat lunch. After lunch we took a short hike up the mountain to view Tower Falls below which were beautiful.
Continuing down the road our next stop was at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. We saw a great view of the upper falls and then took the opportunity to hike to the top of the lower falls. This was a 3/8 mile hike that dropped 600 feet. We got down there and were amazed at watching thousands of gallons of water pouring over the falls and falling about 300 more feet. As we looked through the mist we could actually see a rainbow or something like it. The view from there out into the canyon was amazing as well. It is amazing how God has perfectly placed every rock and stream.
Our next stretch of road took us up to an elevation that topped out at 8900 feet. On our way down we got to see lots of Bison up close. There were several just sitting along the road and a herd of about 80 or so in the valley to watch. These animals are HUGE. I can see why it is best just to leave them alone. Also on this stretch of road we took a side trip to see some petrified trees. This was amazing to see how this tree is now like concrete.
The next stop was at the Mud Volcano. Wouldn’t you think this would be a highlight for boys? I think they would have loved it had it not had that sulfur smell. It was really neat to see all the mud pots boiling. We even got to go by a cave that had steam coming out of it and it made lots of noise. It was called the dragon’s breath. To our surprise as we hiked through these mud pots we found a Bison just lying in the dirt.
Our last stop of the day was at the Yellowstone Lake Hotel. We have finally graduated to a room with not only beds but a bathroom. The hotel sits facing Yellowstone Lake which is Huge (Sarah called it an ocean). This looks like something from the 1930’s. We had a nice dinner and walk along the lake. When we came back there was a String Quartet playing. Rebecca was in heaven. So we got to play cards and listen to music. God is always full of surprises.
The question of the day is how did we walk from Montana to Wyoming and back?