OMG...we almost missed it!

Day 15 - Thursday, June 27

Today was one of the best weather days yet.  The sky was bright blue, and the angry clouds were gone.  The temps were warm, with a light breeze.  A perfect day for another day in the park.



We thought we had pretty well covered the southwest quadrant of the park yesterday, but two different individuals asked if we had stopped by certain places.  So, we went back today to visit those places, and OMG...we almost missed some very impressive sights!!

OMG #1:  Our daughter asked if we had seen the Grand Prismatic Spring.  It is the largest of the hot springs in the park.  We went back today and couldn't believe we almost passed the opportunity to see it.   There is a long boardwalk to get to the pool, due to the unstable ground below.  As you approach the pool, there is steam rising, but you can see a turquoise glow shimmering from the pool.  Then, once you see it, it almost takes your breath away...it was just plain beautiful!   Surrounding the pool are multicolored rings of algae that really make it look like a prism!   The pool itself was large--300 feet in diameter.     

Adjacent to it was the   Excelsior Geyser Crater.  It was enormous.  It too, was a deep beautiful color, and quite impressive. You could feel the heat from the steam as you walked around it.  It last erupted in 1985.



OMG #2:  Jim's sister's husband told us we should take the Firehole Canyon Drive.  It is a side road that we opted not to take yesterday.  But, we did make the turn today, and it was unbelievable. There were all kinds of hidden surprises along the way.

Canyon walls

The Firehole Falls drop 40 feet, then cascade over black lava steps...another beautiful sight!


 The canyon, created by a huge eruption 600,000 years ago, has walls are 800 feet high!

 It was a very neat area because further down the stream, people were swimming!  In fact, it was jam packed with people enjoying the water, and there couldn't be a better setting for an afternoon dip.

We also saw the Gibbon Falls...you can see it from many different places, but the real view was to walk to the end of the observation trail (which most people didn't want to do because it was a lot of extra steps). But it was well worth it because you could get the entire view of the wide falls. 
As you can tell, we really enjoyed seeing the waterfalls.  You see falls all over the place, but these were some of the most impressive.






We just "happened upon" another geyser in the Fountain Paint Pot area.  It was Spasm Geyser--named either because it is very unpredictable, or it had several plumes of water gushing at various intervals.  Nonetheless, it was a fun sight to watch.  














As the July 4 holiday approaches, we've noticed more and more people filling the park.  In some places, it is downright crowded.  There are also a lot more people on the internet because it is taking longer and longer to load pictures.  I spend about 2 hours a night just trying to get pictures added to the blog, and am having problems trying to size them.  Ok...no more complaining...I promise!

Today is our last day at Grizzly RV park.  Spot tried out the doggie shower to get spiffed up for the next leg of the journey.  We're headed to the North entrance tomorrow.