Back in July I made a trip to Yellowstone National Park with my parents and my wife. My wife and I were moving from Idaho to Utah and we wanted to make one last trip to Yellowstone. We had even more reason to go because my father had never been to Yellowstone. Since they were up for my graduation we decided to go show him around.
It was a beautiful day, you could not have asked for better weather. We got to see some of my favorite places in Yellowstone and a new favorite place (there is always more to see in Yellowstone). Yes we did go to Old Faithful but the geyser is not that exciting compared to many other things in the park.
While we were going through the park we decided to play a game to see if we could find vehicle license plates from all 50 states. There were only a few we did not find in the short time we were there but we found Hawaii and Alaska so we did not do that bad. The game was just to pass the time walking through parking lots to the real attractions!
Two of my favorites are right by each other, so you can get two in one stop. They are the Excelsior Geyser Crater and the Grand Prismatic Spring. If you love Caribbean blue waters this is a fantastic place to see. You get to be quite close to the Excelsior Geyser and you can see the air bubble up through the breaks in the steam rising off of the pools boiling hot surface. The water is a beautiful blue but so hot it would take the skin right off of you if you were try to take a swim.
Excelsior Geyser Crater - Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Grand Prismatic Spring has a rainbow of colors and all the texture you could possibly ask for. If you like to hike or bike I would also suggest taking the trail that goes on the other side of Grand Prismatic Spring, between it and the mountain. Not as many people go there and I have wanted to go but I have not quite had the time to do it yet.
Grand Prismatic Spring - Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
With both of these pools make sure you hold on to your hat. Every time I visit these two I count the hats that unfortunate people have lost to the gusts of wind. Like I said earlier you don't want to go swimming in these pools. this last time we visited we counted at least 19 hats!
Old Faithful, Yellowstone National Park - Wyoming
While we were traveling from Old faithful to West Thumb there was a little turnoff that I decided to take on a whim. You can't see any steam rising or geysers shooting up into the air but you won't be disappointed. This stop is Kepler Cascades. there is a lookout point where you are basically above the river and waterfalls. This photo here is panorama I took farther up from the lookout point and even it does not capture the magnitude of these cascades. There were Rocks right by me to the right and left that limited my ability to capture the whole scene.
Kepler Cascades - Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Elk at West Thumb, Yellowstone National Park - Wyoming
When we got to West Thumb you can see Yellowstone Lake go off into the distance. But if you take the walking paths you can see all sorts of bubbling mud pots and steaming hot springs. The Abyss Pool is my favorite hot pool there (though it is hard to choose a favorite). Try as you may you cannot see the bottom from the walkway. The green-blue waters turn into yellow and orange as they seep out across the ground towards the lake. Though the pool is deep the water is crystal clear. The only thing keeping you from seeing the bottom is the steam and your inability to get a look from a good angle.
Abyss Pool - Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
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