An off day. Cold rain greeted us this morning with the promise of more cold rain. Though the prospect of an idyllic spring day was impossible, we traveled through the southern entrance of Yellowstone anyway. First challenge? Breakfast. There is a lot of beautiful here but food is scarce. Yes, we had foodstuffs in the refrigerator, but the thought of a warm breakfast called us. And the voice was loud and persistent.
Driving through the park, we stopped at various places with the hopes of filling our growling bellies. No, no, and no. Most eateries had not opened for the year just yet. We had just stopped at another “no” but there was an upside. Old Faithful was going to erupt in the next 15 minutes. So, instead of feasting on warm toast, butter and jam, I was out in this drizzly morning waiting for the geyser to erupt. On any given day, the geyser would have won out over toast. But cold and wet does not make a great day to see Old Faithful. But today is the day we have and we are here. So, Old Faithful it is.
The geyser starts in a slow low spurt, retracts, then does a higher spurt. Even with this 3 steps forward, 2 steps back approach, the geyser’s momentum grows until some minutes later, hot steam is pushing up over 100 feet into the air and ooohhhing witnesses video the gushing glory of Old Faithful in earnest. Hot steam is shooting up as raindrops fall from the sky. White steam billows into great clouds for several minutes and then begins to recede back to the earth. That’s when the dampness of the day overcame the special of place. Soon we were back in Van Diesel in our quest to find vittles. Stopping at another promising location, we found the restaurant had also just closed for breakfast. BUT there was a snack bar. Thinking I would get a bagel or the Yellowstone equivalent of an egg mcmuffin, I was soon disappointed. Three food clerks – good. No patrons in line – suspicious. Then I viewed the menu. It was lunch – terrible. Still, it was hot food. Undeterred by a poor selection, I soon walked away with a flat bread with cheese and a bowl of chili. Both were edible which is about all I can say about it. After all, we weren’t in Yellowstone for the food. Fortified, we were at last ready to go to the Grand Prismatic Spring at the Midway Geyser Basin.
After waiting in a long line of cars, we eventually park and meander up to the geyser in the spitting rain. A wooden boardwalk safely allowed us to see all the geysers up close. The first was the aqua blue Excelsior Geyser where I saw a woman standing with her eyes closed. Basking in the humid air, it was much warmer near the bubbling waters.
Above the bacterial mats with thermophilic critters, were the geysers venting to the sky. The hallowed Grand Prismatic Geyser was outlined in a muted earth tone palette – mustard, mossy green, burnt orange and red earth were some of the hues that circled the bubbly, warm waters. The smaller Turquoise Pool, and Opal Pool were equally beautiful.
You can get up close by strolling across the Firehole River (geyser feeding into a river) and along the short boardwalk that snakes through the thermal area. While the rain and gray day muted the colors and the experience, beauty still shone through the hazy day. Since we are in Yellowstone during the shoulder season, some roads in the park were still closed, so we weren’t able to go to a geyser overlook. For me, this means the next time we venture out here, I’ll enjoy it all the more.
From the geysers, we traveled the main loop and drove into a buffalo-jam. There were a dozen or so buffaloes and several young calves in the middle of the road. The experience was decidedly different from the bison blessing we had in the Badlands. Crowded with cars and people, I felt sorry for the poor animals trying to get across the road without getting hit. The ratio of people to animals was out of balance - 50 people to 10 buffalo. It was harassment.
Driving on the main loop, we saw the many steamy geysers on the west side of the park. When it was time for lunch, we stopped at one of the few places that was open and saw that all the seats were taken and there was a 40 minute wait. A captive audience, we waited with dozens of other hungry tourists. And when we were finally seated in a u-shaped dining counter, I felt like I won the lottery. My huckleberry ice cream float came in short order and did not disappoint. A cold, bubbly, creamy delicious pick me-up, it was happily inhaled by the time my bison-elk burger arrived. Fortified, we continued on our self-tour.
Most geysers are steamy, almost mystical releases – a meld of inner earth and air. But one geyser was particularly memorable and not in a good way. It was a stinky geyser where the bowels of the earth were constantly spewing smelly vapors into our breathing space. It cleared my sinuses and consumed my mind. It also reminded me not to eat too many deviled eggs.
Headed back to the cabin, we travel past the mostly frozen Yellowstone Lake and admire the snow banks alongside the water. It is an icy marvel. Waterfalls and a bridge complete our journey’s list of things to see. Soon we are in our cabin settling in for the night.