Yellowstone: Upper Geyser Basin

This work we started working 4-10 hour day shifts which means we get three days off!  It couldn't have come at a better time.  Working the west entrance gate at Yellowstone is stressful this year.  There's not much lodging available inside the park which means everyone is staying in the border communities and they travel to and from the park each day and come through the gate.  The line to get in is sometimes an hour+ and you know how wonderful people can be after they've waited in line for an hour.

Anyway, I decided to make a trip into the park on my first day off.  My plan was to hike to either Fairy Falls or Mystic Falls.  A grizzly attack at Fairy Falls earlier that morning (woman was knocked down and raked, but was okay) eliminated Fairy Falls and a lack of parking at Mystic Falls did away with that one too. 

I passed the Daisy trail head and decided to take it to the Upper Geyser Basin.  This trail is a foot path and one of the few trails that bicycles can take in the Park.  I saw a handful of cyclists and even less hikers.

I always stop to admire the wildflowers along the way.

I like this trail because it has a lot of wide open space where I can see any critters who might be walking about.

After about a mile and a half I could see the geyser basin was getting close.

The first geyser I passed was Grotto.  It did not erupt for me.

My goal was Morning Glory Pool so I got to cross over Firehole River, my second favorite river in the Park.

And there it is!  Morning Glory is a miniature version of Grand Prismatic, but do you notice the biggest difference?  No people.  I got the pool all to myself which is something special during summertime in Yellowstone.  If you were to leave from Old Faithful this pool would be about a mile hike.  

A mile hike in Yellowstone is something that 95% if the visitors won't do.  Think about your childhood visit to Yellowstone--I bet you drove up to Old Faithful, your parents got you out of the car and put you on a bench to watch Old Faithful erupt.  When it was done you loaded back into the car and drove to the next feature.  I can totally relate.  It wasn't until a few years ago that I started really exploring the beauty of Yellowstone.

On my way back I decided to take a slight detour to Riverside Geyser.  I'd never seen this geyser erupt in person, but the sign said it may erupt between 4-5 o'clock.  It was about 4:20 when I arrived so I decided to wait it out.  Then an interp ranger arrived and changed the predicted time to 5:00-6:00.  Several people, including myself, got up to leave, but at 4:32 Riverside came to life.

It started rumbling and gurgling and spewing hot water and then...

we got a full blown eruption that went on for 22 minutes.  It was an unexpected treat.  Don't you love the rainbow effect?

On the hike back I had my head down when I made a turn and when I looked up I saw this guy about 25 feet in front of me.  Due to his size I thought he was a wolf and immediately starting swiveling my head around looking for the rest of the pack.  I thought I could be in real trouble being a lone hiker in the midst of a wolf pack.  Then I took another look and decided he was a lone coyote.  We were both eager to get out of each other's way.  Another unexpected treat.

I was meeting friends of dinner, but I finally got to see an elk herd along the Madison River (my favorite river) and couldn't resist stopping to get a photo.

It's fun to meet up with old friends.  It was myself and another VUA from West Yellowstone, an interp ranger from Madison, a VUA from Grand Canyon, and a retired law enforcement ranger that I met two years ago.  Fun times with people I have so much in common with. 

The park is crowded this summer and when it's crowded it's not much fun.  I'll be looking for other hiking opportunities this summer.  By the way, I don't get any news up here, but isn't there still a pandemic going on?  Who the hell goes on vacation during a pandemic?  It's like people think we're out of the woods and everything is back to normal.  Please wear a mask, that's all I'm asking.  Believe in the science!