Our great day started with some morning exploration of Missoula. Thanks to several recommendations from friends, who knew we knew so many people who had lived in/visited Missoula, I had a delicious Mocha at Liquid Planet, wonderful bagel sandwiches from Bagels on Broadway, and got a great view of the city from the end of Whitaker Street. We also visited Fort Missoula Historic District where we saw much of the old Army base and lots of logging and farming equipment.
 |
| View of Missoula from the top of Whitaker Street |
After leaving Missoula, we headed east over the Rocky Mountains. Even though we took the interstate, it was a gorgeous drive. Most of the landscape continued to be scrub land mixed with irrigated farmland. Just before Bozeman, MT we left the interstate and headed south towards Yellowstone National Park. As we entered the Gallatin National Forest the landscape became much more forested. Although it was all evergreen forest, the trees were definitely not as tall as the forests back in the Pacific Northwest.
About 90 minutes south of the interstate we entered West Yellowstone where we quickly dropped the dog - poor abandoned thing - at the hotel and headed for Old Faithful. Since dogs are not allowed anywhere in the National Park except parking lots and daytime highs tend to be sweltering in a parked car, we jumped on the opportunity to see the geysers of Yellowstone without worrying about a hot dog in the car. And what a great decision it was! Going at dusk meant thinner crowds and great light hitting the hot springs. I knew Yellowstone was quite the attraction, but I had no idea how many geysers there were. Once we got about ten miles into the park, there were geysers everywhere we turned. We first stopped at the Fountain Paint Pot, which was a gurgling splattering mud hole. There were also many other hot springs and geysers about this area. It was a jaw-dropping scene. I did not expect the landscape to be like that at all. We could have spent the rest of the daylight stopping at all the spots along the way but decided to head directly to Old Faithful.
 |
| Fountain Paint Pot |
We arrived just minutes before the next eruption. There was a lot of steam then suddenly water started gurgling up over the edges. Finally, after about five or ten minutes of waiting, the water and steam shot up about 130 feet into the air. It was truly one of the most spectacular things I had ever seen. After the natural show, we headed to dinner at the Old Yellowstone Lodge cafeteria. Feeling like a classic Yellowstone meal experience, I had bison meatloaf, which was delicious. A little after dinner we even got face-to-face with a wild bison chomping on grass near the geysers. We had a lovely sunset walk around the rest of the geysers near Old Faithful - there were many. I especially enjoyed the artwork warning visitors not to step off the path at risk of death by scalding. Sadly, the family of a child who died by falling off the path in 1970 commissioned the artwork for the public outreach campaign. We successfully did not fall off the path; however, there were several areas along the boardwalk where a visitor might get scalded by a erupting geyser - a bit scary. After exploring the surrounding area, we circled back in time to see a second eruption. On the way back north, we stopped at most of the other geyser basins. We saw Biscuit Basin, which got its name from the biscuit like rocks that were spewed from the geyser after a strong earthquake in 1959; Grand Prismatic Lake, which is the largest hot spring in the park; and the Great Fountain Geyser, although we didn't stay to see if it would erupt because the mosquitos were out in droves. Driving through the park we also saw bison, elk, and a porcupine. This is truly an awe-inspiring place that I feel so lucky to be able to visit. Everyone NEEDs to come here!
 |
| Old Faithful |
No comments:
Post a Comment