If you have brought only one roll of Kodachrome to Yellowstone, this is your stop. The largest hot spring in the park, the Grand Prismatic Spring is indeed all three: grand, prismatic, and a spring.

The boardwalk talkes you right up to it, wending past the Excelsior Geyser Crater. But for another view, I suggest climbing up the hill to the east of the parking lot. The climb will give you a panoramic view of the Grans Prismatic Spring and the whole Midway Geyser Basin.

And here's a bonus photo from the hill, showing Grand Prismatic Spring with Excelsior Geyser Crater: Continue reading »

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Okay, now a little love for the geyser. Continue reading »

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More egregious bacterial color, this time from Morning Glory Pool.

This pool used to be hot hot hot, with a corresponding pale blue color - hence the Morning Glory name. But after bucketloads of Wishing Well pennies, the only wish that was granted was to clog it up and cool it off (and who wished for that). You can still catch a glimpse at the bottom of the blue it once was, but cooler temperatures allowed bacteria with their different colors to line the pool. Still remarkable, though.

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The geysers at Yellowstone get the lion's share of the attention -- and rightly so. A column of superheated water shooting out of the ground is usually in the domain of the SciFi Channel original movie, so to see it in real life with no subpar CGI effects is a real treat. But the real beauty of Yellowstone can be found in the hot springs. The colors and forms that water, bacteria, and algae compose are much more artistic and photogenic than the occasional spurt of water. Continue reading »

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The thermal features of Yellowstone, in addition to all their science coolness, have a beauty that always surprises me. Check out the little gallery after the jump. Continue reading »

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We're renting that RV for Yellowstone, but we're not going to be hanging around the campground during the day. There are trails to be trod. But one of my worries is that the behemoth we're driving will be too big to park at the trailhead. You know how I hate surprises and not knowing things ahead of time. What to do?

Google Street Views. Above is the trailhead I was worried about. As you can see, plenty of room. I find it equally amazing and disappointing that all the roads in Yellowstone are in there. You can drive around the park in the comfort of your own house. I guess it nets out on the positive side -- I got my answer about the trailhead parking. And Yellowstone only gets really good when you get off the roads and onto the trails. I'll really despair, however, when the Google Trail Views comes online. I'm hoping that's a few years out. Continue reading »

This summer marks our bi-annual family vacation -- every two years H, Z and myself head west to one of the national parks. On the last one we went to Glacier, f'instance. This summer we're heading back to Yellowstone. We went in '03. Since this will be the last 'official' trip with Z (college and all that next year), I let her choose the destination, and she picked Y'stone.

Now I'm not a re-visitor. Usually I'm one and done - "Seen it, check, next place please." So this presents a bit of an issue when your daughter picks the six-year-ago destination. But since Yellowstone is a big place, I figured I could make a second trip of it with little overlap. But it took me too long to spec out the itinerary, and the proper lodging in the proper order was unavailable. I called a year ahead instead of a year and a half.

But once I set an itinerary, I'm a stubborn man. Although H's bear phobia precludes any kind of tent camping, the hard-sided RV remained the final camping option. So, we're renting an RV. It's not the Stripes EM-50 "Urban Assault Vehicle" pictured above, but I feel that it will be close. I never pictured myself behind the wheel of an RV, but there's been plenty of non-photographic expectations in my life thus far, so I forge ahead. But I figure that worse-case, I get to tell a good story, and you get to be amused. Continue reading »