8:30 in the morning, and we are yet to see the mighty sun, but over the clouds and fog, one senses it is just moments away from throwing its rays upon our faces to bring a warm glow to our cold cheeks.
A half-hour ago, we clamored into the snow coach for the four-hour, fifty-mile crawl across the snow to Old Faithful and the Upper Geyser Basin.
Through mountains and meadows past rivers and creeks, we are going just slow enough that from time to time, I’m able to capture an image worthy of sharing.
We occasionally stop along the road to stretch our legs, get some fresh air, and check out places such as Roaring Mountain. As I just posted an image from that area yesterday after our stop at Norris Geyser Basin, I present you a closeup of ice instead.
What if you cross Jeff Goldblum from The Fly with John Hurt’s character from The Elephant Man during winter? You get The Frozen Elephant Fly from Yellowstone.
Along the way, we stop to look down upon the Gibbon Falls, gaze at trumpeter swans, then drive along the Firehole River and its cascades, and take a needed pit stop at Madison Junction for the heated restrooms.
It was interesting to encounter those warm facilities but also peculiar in some way, as my impression prior to arriving at Yellowstone was that things were operating quite minimally. So why heat a bathroom halfway between Mammoth and Old Faithful? Ah, day visitors come in from West Yellowstone on snowmobiles to see Old Faithful erupt, grab lunch, and exit the park.
As I share this image of the bison that just crossed the Firehole River I’d like to explain why above I alluded to the Firehole Canyon. We drove that narrow little spur, but the lighting and infrequent stops didn’t allow me to capture even one somewhat decent image. Likewise, I didn’t get a worthwhile photo of a bald eagle that was flying by and landed on a roadside tree. So it goes when trying to take photos from a moving vehicle with windows that don’t open.
At our destination, the Old Faithful Snow Lodge, we gobble down a hot lunch in a rush to get back outside, don our snowshoes, and find our way to the Upper Geyser Basin, where the sun shines, and blue skies beg for our appreciation. We are happy to oblige.
Shuttered for winter as it would be too costly to operate, meaning heat it, there’s a strange quietness to this otherwise bustling icon.
Hot springs bubbling over with their heavily mineralized waters jet steam into our faces and fog our glasses, filling our noses with their familiar sulfurous aromas. We feel at home in a comfy, cozy place; it is as though we are visiting family. While many will pass through this environment oblivious to its inherent beauty, the raw natural state of this unspoiled land speaks volumes to us: it lulls us with its song, transfixing our senses into a near zen-like meditative state of bliss.
How to explain to someone what Yellowstone is beyond geography and geological sciences seemingly cannot be accomplished with the poverty of language I’m stricken with. One must possess the love of all things and have the ability to see beyond artifice, modernity, and fear to find oneself in a kind of oneness or even nothingness within this bastion of wilderness.
Drift with the steam, lose yourself in the clouds, and swoon in the beauty of it all.
Note to John: should you ever forget these things and places; this was that spot approaching the bridge between the Old Faithful Geyser and Observation Point Trailhead. Just ask someone to show it to you on a map.
Snow and steam, earth and water, fire and air, the elements are all around us.
Color and scent, warmth and cold, sunny and cloudy, our senses are measuring all that is around us.
I was wondering how vibrant the colors of winter would come through or if the cold strangled the bacteria pushing it to a kind of monochromatic hibernation, but here it is in all of its vibrant glory.
Would anyone ever remember this level of detail as they scan their memories 10, 15, or 25 years in the future?
How wonderful that life encodes the most important memories in DNA so the patterns that must repeat are safeguarded from disappearing while our impressions are fleeting observations that really have no consequence on the bigger picture.
All the same, I enjoy these reminders that are encoded on memory cards, providing me with reference points to the patterns I’ve explored.
My photos, at least as of early 2009, don’t offer me an easy way to tag my location or attach memories I might want to travel with these images, so on occasion, at least for location, there’s Google. This is Doublet Pool.
Not all photos of us need to include our faces, as these also tell stories. Caroline is seen here trekking into the sunset with snowshoes and trekking poles, as we don’t yet trust our footing on all that snow and ice.
It took quite a while to identify this, but it appears to be Lion Geyser…
…while this was just beautiful.
Sawmill Geyser seems appropriately named as while it’s erupting, the patterns in the ejected water slice through the air like a buzzsaw hunting for something to cut.
Is this an emissary bison from the herd crossing the Firehole River we’d seen earlier in the day, sent to determine if a warm camping spot was available at the grounds of the Old Faithful Geyser?
After dinner, we’re on our way north to the Lower Geyser Basin on the Steam, Stars, and Winter Soundscapes tour. For the bargain price of only $32 each, we were whisked into the night to visit the paint pots and geysers with the added luxury of being provided hot chocolate in insulated souvenir mugs.
While we were out on the dark trail admiring the stars, steam, and sounds, we had a bonus sound no one could have anticipated: the rumble of Earth caused by an earthquake. When the low-frequency hit, I informed the small group what we’d just heard, though they were incredulous as none of us felt a thing. Back at the Snow Lodge we asked about any recent quake activity and were told of one this evening that occurred deep below Yellowstone Lake. The only thing missing was a display of the Northern Lights, but I ordered those for tomorrow night’s entertainment.