Afton
Afton's name to fame is this extraordinary feature across the road. A structure made of Elk horns.
Rafters in the distance meander down Snake River.
Jackson
Cache Street looking toward the ski slopes.
This is the Tourist Information centre. They have amazing displays of animals found in the vicinity. The walls are also adorned with impressive paintings.
An Elk horn chandelier.
What, more Elk horns! In fact there is an arch on every corner of these gardens.
The visitors centre overlooks this valley which is the National Elk Refuge.
Each winter massive herds of elk migrate to this area.
Grand Teton NP
The road to Yellowstone NP takes us through the Grand Teton NP
The drive follows Snake River and has magnificent snow capped mountains as a backdrop.
The Marina.
Yellowstone NP
Kepler Cascades
Ranger Jim gives us an entertaining talk on the formation and characteristics of the geysers at Yellowstone NP.
Old Faithful erupts on time as expected.
There are many eruptions like this and some much bigger. They all have their own time cycle.
The Old Faithful Inn
Circa 1903
Entrance.
The interior is cleverly constructed from tree logs.
Scattered around the area are crystal clear boiling geothermal pools with colourful toxic deposits of bacteria, algae & slime on the edges.
The bacteria forms interesting patterns as the water runs off.
Colourful floating slime.
Nature has formed this pearl-like deposit. As I photographed it boiling water erupted and flooded the area. Just as quick it disappeared and went back to this again.
These flowers are all around the geysers where little else grows.
I could not find any reference to them.
A bold Ground Squirrel popped up next to me despite there being several hundred people wandering around waiting for Old Faithful to erupt.
A herd of bison has right of way.
They look friendly and quite placid but we were warned to keep our distance as they are known charge and kill people.
Mud Volcano.
This is another area know for its geothermal ponds of boiling mud.
Black Dragon's Calderon
A boiling pool of mud. Note the Bison behind.
He seemed to be mesmerized by the bubbles.
Dragons Mouth Spring.
A bison faces off with a motorhome. The bison won.
The Lower Falls on Yellowstone River.
A massive amount of water spills over at this time of year.
The water has formed a colourful canyon.
A myriad of walkways take us up close to the action.
Steam rising in the early morning stillness.
As you travel down the road you watch the other people. If someone has stopped it is likely they have spotted some wildlife. We spotted this black bear quite close to the road. Before long there was a traffic jam as everyone else stopped. Next thing a park ranger arrives and threatens to give everyone a citation if they don't move on. I was happy, I got my pictures.
He smiled for me.
A solitary petrified redwood tree stands, fenced to protect it.
Mammoth Hot Springs Terraces.
The colour in these terraces is formed by millions of living microorganisms called "thermophiles"
Another geyser about to erupt.
A huge buildup of sediment from a hot spring.
This boiling geothermal pool was on the side of our road back to camp.
We found a large herd of bison.
The parks were prolifient with wildflowers.
I have been unable to adentify these.
West Thumb Geyser Basin.
This geothermal area is on the banks of Yellowstone Lake and near where were camped.
There is even geothermal activity in the lake.
Some of the ponds seem bottomless.
Yellowstone Lake.
Beautiful colours next to the aqua blue pond.
A small hot waterfall.
This pool constantly erupted with various amounts of ferocity.
This was a picturesque lunch stop.
A tourist stage coach ride.
I think I have found the perfect "go anywhere" tow vehicle with plenty of space for all your gear.
