Welcome to Yellowstone! Don't feed the bears!
Not far from the entrance, we had our first encounter with the animals.
These two buffalo were blocking traffic.
This is not a rare occurrence at the park. Though this particular incident has a story behind it. You see, these two buffalo were waiting (patiently) for their young one to decide that they also wanted to cross. So...we waited (patiently) as well.
And then they went on their merry way. As did we.
Next we stopped and had breakfast at the Roosevelt Lodge. The food was good, but pricey (which was to be expected).
Unfortunately, due to tourists feeling the need to 'take a piece of the park' home with them, there is but one left. This is why it is fenced off from prying hands.
We toured around a bit more and came across the village (yes a real live village in the middle of the park) of Mammoth Hot Springs.
In this village the Elk walk freely amongst the visitors. And lay and rest...wherever they choose.
It appears to be family day...
Just along side the town of Mammoth Hot Springs is an actual Mammoth Hot Spring...coincidence? I think not...
Dormant geyser near Mammoth Hot Springs
The most famous feature at the springs is the Minerva Terrace - a series of travertine terraces which have been created over thousands of years as hot water from the spring cooled and deposited calcium carbonate. (Yeah I read that somewhere.)
Mammoth Hot Springs is the largest known carbonate-depositing spring in the world! (Which is very smelly might I add...)
Though this appears to be 'flowing' it's actually hardened.
Climbing to the top of this area you can overlook the town of Mammoth Hot Springs. Great view!
Our next stop was a grouping of hot springs (we had many to choose from).
Steam bath anyone?
The changing colors were very pretty!
Hot springs a bubblin'!
On our way to our next area, we came across this elk lazing about.
Hey there lil' fella!
We also came to a spot where many people were pulled over to one side of the road and others were seen running to this area and down the embankment. Further up the road, we saw some officials of the park trying to get people to come back to their cars. There appeared to be a small bear cub out and about. Yeah, don't wanna be the one coming across that mad momma when she finds all those people around her baby! So, needless to say, we didn't stop for pictures at that point.
Next, we traveled over a rather large bridge area and, looking below, saw beautiful Gibbon Falls (80 feet of cascading falls). So we pulled off and took a further glance (and picture).
Our next stop was the infamous Old Faithful. Contrary to popular belief, Old Faithful is not actually the largest geyser in the park (that would be Steamboat Geyser). It has become a popular destination (so it is told) because it erupts more frequently (every 60-90 minutes) than any of the other big geysers. This has become pretty predictable (which I suppose would be how it received it's name).
People lined up to view the event!
And it begins...
If you look close, you can see the water rising through the steam. We were only allowed to be a distance away (no telling what Mother Nature may do!).
Our next two finds were a bit accidental. We decided to take an alternate route out of the park. It was getting late and we needed to find a place to stay for the night (outside of the pricey park).
First, we came across Tower Falls (exceptionally well named at 132 feet). The trail heading to the base of this waterfall was closed for repair, but we were able to get a little bit of a view from across the way.
Moving on to our last stop of the tour, (Hey! Maybe I should have been a guide! Or not...) we come to what is known as the 'Mini Grand Canyon'. This is the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. This canyon is 900 feet deep and 1/2 a mile wide (in comparison to The Grand Canyon located in AZ which is 277 miles long, 6000 feet deep and ranges 4-18 miles in width). (Another little bit of info I read up on.)
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