Yellowstone's Norris Geyser Basin

As in previous mornings we were awake early. We suspect that the coyotes singing in the desert near the house may have awakened us. Since we were up before 5 am, we went outside to stargaze. There were so many stars that we couldn’t pick out the constellations. The Milky Way was very clear.

We went inside to do our German lessons, check our emails and read online news until Whittington’s awoke. Mark made excellent breakfast burritos that we all enjoyed then we cleared a few things to prepare the house for the painters coming soon.

We got on the road to Yellowstone by 8:30 am and stopped by the transfer station to put the garbage out. We stopped at the Stinker gas station in Challis for Mark to get gas and for us to get air in the right front tire.

We stopped just east of Rexburg, ID at Mesa Falls State Park for lunch of ham sandwiches. The falls are beautiful, and it was a nice stop before continuing on to Yellowstone.

Gibbon Falls

We arrived at the West Yellowstone Super 8 around 2:30, got checked in, and then continued to the park in Mark’s pickup. Our senior passes got us entry into the Yellowstone National Park without the $30 admission, and we drove to take snapshots at Gibbon Falls then on to the Norris Geyser Basin area of the park. The area is named for the second Yellowstone superintendent, Philetus W. Norris. We were shocked at how few visitors were in the park today. We had heard many stories of attractions being elbow to elbow and terrible traffic jams. However, since we were visiting the park after Labor Day the park was not busy at all.

Small geyser

Our first trail was the Porcelain Basin Trail where we saw geysers, fumaroles, hot springs and mud pots. The smell of hot sulfur was unmistakable. From there, we took the Back Basin Trail that was a longer trail around many volcanic features. We ran into a Yellowstone employee who told us that Steamboat Geyser erupted yesterday. This geyser erupts irregularly at intervals between 3 days and 50 years. The most recent previous eruption was in mid-July. Steamboat is the largest geyser in Yellowstone National Park. The Cistern Spring was still empty this afternoon since it is the water source for Steamboat Geyser.

Steamboat Geyser

We drove back toward the park exit and stopped at the Artist’s Paint Pots trail. This mile long trail circles through hydrothermal features varying in color from blue, green, yellow, white and red. Like the Norris Geyser Basin, the smell of sulfur and other minerals was strong but the area was fascinating. The color differences in the natural hot springs were interesting and based on the minerals that are dissolved in the hot water.

Artist Paint Pots

We left the park and headed into West Yellowstone for dinner. We tried several restaurants, but all had lengthy wait times. We opted for McDonald’s since we were hungry. Mary & I had our usual McDoubles which were very good. We returned to the Super 8 in West Yellowstone and rested before bedtime.