Monday 14th August 2017

We were awake before six, and laying bed listening to the rain pouring down, and then dripping of the roof of the cabin. This was not in the plan, in fact we had bet in there being no rain at all, so brought no coats of jackets.

Darn it.

We get dressed, and with there being no tea or coffee making stuff in the cabin, we decide to go to Old Faithful and grab breakfast there and then see it do its thing. As it were.

We were on the road by quarter to seven, it was barely light, and as the main road climbed out of Mammoth, the mist closed in. It did cross my mind what we thought we were doing, out in this dreadful weather, but then it is our holibobs, and we must do stuff. And doing stuff today means getting to Old Faithful before the crowds.

But the road was closed. The only road, the alternative would be to double back and go the other way round the park. But at seven, a truck appears and escorts the small group of vehicles through what alternated between so major, minor and complete rebuilding the pavement in places.

But we were through, and just the other side of the road works we see our frst geothermal phenomena, a steamy bubbling pond, with a boardwalk taking us over the reedbeds and into the middle of the pond. I take shots. Or course.

We go back to the car and drive on, but come to Thunder Mountain, a whole side of a hill transformed into a vision of hell, and scattered about were the skeletons of dead trees. I take more snaps.

We decide to drive on now to Old Faithful, as we could stop at every site and not ever get to our goal.

Up mountains, down the other side. Along amazing river gorges, over high bridges. And everywhere, steaming vents or pools all over the place, apparently placed randomly.

We drop down the edge of the caldera, and the trees thin and the geyser basins multiply. It is a surreal sight, and all the while leaden skies overhead, and a steady drizzle fell. Beside the road we see fabulous coloured pools, more vents, venting, but drive on.

We arrive at Old Faithful, and with the rain still falling, and no one waiting for the next eruption, we go on the hunt for breakfast. Inside the lodge, the cafeteria is closed, but a kiosk is going prepared food, so we stand in line and get our food, and being 18 hours or so since the last meal, it was just great. Even better was the coffee.

Where to stand for the eruption; fr away to get the whole effect, of close up so to see the action? Close up won. As time went on, more and more people started to arrive and take up positions in the seats surrounding Old Faithful. He, in turn, huffs, puffs and boiling water spills over. But with each cycle, the effects are more dramatic.

Until, it just kept going, and water, steam, soared high into the air, almost silently, the steam was carried away by the slight breeze, and the water falls to the ground, now cool, to gently trickle away to the river below. And in the process adding another layer of minerals on the terrace.

We go for a walk, down and round Old Faithful, and all along were more slumbering geysers and boiling pools, surrounded by carets of brightly coloured exophiles. I am amazed by the patterns, colours and textures, but most of all that life thriver here in the chemical rich boiling water, but it does.

A five minute walk away we are told that another geyser, Beehive, is about to blow, some 15 hours after the last erruption. A small vent, called the indicator was venting steam and water. But for this one, we were less than 10m from the vent. It bubbled and boiled, vented steam. And then, whoosh!, up in the air it went, with, well, not quite a roaring sound, more like a steam engine with it’s emergency release valves open. But this was more dramatic.

We walk on, past more dormant geysers, brightly coloured pools, suspended on a walkway so we could see close up, geology in action.

We walk back to the car, snapping the colours and patterns of countless pools, but really, it was time to go, and anyway, there were plenty more sites to visit, if we wanted.

Back to the car, and now the car park was jammed, and many more vehicles arriving by the minute. In fact, all the sites nearby were also packed, so we pass those, but turning down Boiling Lake Drive, where we see, more sleeping geysers, pools, vents and another geyser letting go from a distance. Oh, and the boiling lake, so called because it is a lake and in several places, boiling.

I take shots of them all, because I can.

It was now after one, and we needed food. So, we look at the map and see there is a restaurant at a place called Canyon. We drive there, a half hour journey through woods and past more steaming pools.

We fond a place to park, and in the store there was a soda fountain, we ask for a table, or seats at the counter, and are given a gizmo that will flash when we can sit.

20 minutes pass, and it flashes. We go in, and have stools at the end of one counter, we both order bison burger, which seems a bit odd in a national park, but hey, must be sourced well. Not the best burger, but we were hungry and did us well.

By now it was three, and we were tired, so we make our way back to the cabin, along a mountain road, that twisted and turned as it climbed, then dropped down the other side, jsut as quick. Would do another stage of Le t\our I feel.

We stop a few times for photos of the dramatic views, but we now really wanted to get home and relax.

We pull up at four, it could have been any time really, as my stupid new watch is broken, and now will not hand wind, so stops during the night and normal movement cannot give it enough potential to work more than a few minutes in an hour.