Journal entries are just that – the digital copy of my hand-written entries in my journal. If you aren’t interested in the daily details of our adventure, feel free to skip on to the next “regular” post.
After another slow morning we head back into Yellowstone, south on the lower loop. Only a few miles later we run into a trafic jam. We work our way up, passing by the stopped cars and eventually encounter bison in the road. We edge on past.
Shortly, another line of stopped cars. More bison, we learn. Just ahead we see a side road, Firehole Lake Drive. We see a beautiful spring and, just beyond, a geyser.
The Great Fountain Geyser goes off in 3-5 bursts about once a day. We just happened to catch it at the right time, so we get to see it erupt. Chat with a great couple while watching the natural show.
It’s lunch time, so we head over to Fountain Flat drive to eat and then on to park at the end of the road. Only a few miles away is Fairy Falls, so we get to hiking. Ashley’s pretty nervous about hiking in active grizzly country but slowly feels better as we enounter other hikers. We pass through fields/meadows, patches of muddy land surrounded by steam pots (which makes us a touch apprehensive since we’ve spent two days reading signs saying not to touch the ground off the trail because it can be thin and dangerous).
At a split in the trail we head down to the falls. They’re fabulous, well worth the hike. We sit and enjoy the view while snacking.
Following the advice for some other hikers we detour over to the Imperial Geyser. So glad we do, it’s beautiful – a pool filled with a fabulous series of shades of blue. Only one other couple is there so we practically have the place to ourself. It erupts as we watch – a constant bubbling.
Eventually we decide to head on – back to the motorcycle and then back home. We’re more tired than we expected to be. After looking up campgrounds where we can wait out Tuesday-Thursday’s coming rain and cold, then beyond in the Grand Tetons, we prepare for bed.
We gather gear for tomorrow – we’re going to head out early to try and beat the crowds. To help we will take our stove and cook breakfast overlooking Old Faithful.