Saturday, October 2, 2021
We bid a fond farewell to the staff in Sun Valley and lit out for the country. As Idaho 75 meets US 20, the land to the south flattens and opens out; we rode east underneath a huge escarpment. After around 90 minutes we started to see massive black basalt lava flows; we were in Craters of the Moon National Preserve. We weren’t sure that we were going to stop…after all, we’d seen seemingly every sort of lava in Iceland. But there are truly unusual formations at Craters of the moon, and we’re very glad we took the time to do the loop drive.
This is a cinder cone, all that remains of an extinct volcano. The aspens contract nicely with the basaltic lava, no?
And this is the crater of a spatter cone, a little volcano that nonetheless spewed out some considerable amount of lava.
After a quick lunch in Idaho Falls, we turned north toward West Yellowstone. Our landscaper, Greg B., had urged us to detour along the Mesa River Byway and view the upper and lower falls. It was a worthwhile detour! The lower falls is perhaps a bit more aesthetic.
But the upper falls is bigger and much louder!
We were eager to see some of Yellowstone, so decided to head straight into the park through the West Entrance. The first ten miles along the Madison River is exquisite…and a prime spot for viewing wildlife. We saw our first bison and elk here—including a huge elk buck with a big rack. The Madison is supposed to be one of the great trout steams, and we saw lots of fishermen.
At Madison Junction, we joined the Great Loop Road that circles most of the park. A quick left brought us to the Firehole Canyon Drive, which leads into a narrow gorge formed as the Firehold River flows between two enormous lava flows. The otherwise placid river becomes a torrent here.
The scenic drive ends as it passes a swimming hole in the river; the water is warm, but putting your head underwater isn’t recommended: too many microbes and bacteria from the geothermal areas!
Back on the Grand Loop Road, we entered the Lower Geyser Basin.
First stop here was a small geyser area called Fountain Paint Pot. Here it is as we approached: not all the steam is produced by geysers: thermal pools, fumaroles (steam vents), and the mud pot all contribute their share.
The main attraction is a large mud pot: CO2 and hydrogen sulfide bubbles combine with bacteria to form acids that break down the tephra (volcanic deposits) and create a more or less violent bubbling at the surface.
The basin also includes some really lovely thermal springs and, lower down, a collection of small geysers around one large one, Fountain Geyser, that sends its spout up to 100 feet in the air.
This is Silex Spring, notable for the clarity of its water.
Although we missed the big one, Clepsydra Geyser goes off pretty regularly, and we saw one eruption of about 40 feet.
It was getting late, but tried one more site here in the lower basin: Firehole Lake Drive takes you past a number of geysers and pools. The main attraction here is Great Fountain Geyser, one of the four highest-spouting geysers in the world; it was quiet when we visited, but the size of its basin gives a good idea of the violence with which it erupts.
We had entered the park in the late afternoon, and it didn’t seem too crowded, especially for a weekend. We were always able to get a spot in the parking lots, and we were on the busiest road in the park, the section between Madison Junction and Old Faithful.
The drive home took us quite a bit longer than we’d anticipated. It was near dusk, which meant that the critters were coming to the water. We encountered a long, snaking line of cars as we headed for the west entrance along the Madison River. When it was our turn, we saw what the fuss was about: a small herd of Elk and a few Bison.
Back in West Yellowstone, we checked into our overpriced but decent motel and headed out in search of a bite. Ever since Greg B. had said that he had walked into a restaurant in Idaho and said “I don’t need a menu: I want trout and a baked potato,” Sue had been determined to find fresh trout. We found it, after a long wait, at the misnamed “Serenity Bistro.” Run by a young Romanian woman, the tiny, packed place was short staffed and pretty chaotic. But the food was good: Sue got her trout and, since the chef was Thai, I had Penang Chicken.
West Yellowstone is actually hilarious: a sprawl of cheap and cheaper motels centered on a ramshackle version of a town in the “Old West.” And it was clearly Montana: only the tourists wore masks. But we were grateful not to get harassed for our face coverings!