The day before we explored Yellowstone, we stopped at a car show in a local park on our way to a campground just outside the park’s boundaries.
The car show seemed to continue into the park! Here is a Cyber truck pulling a Cyber camper.
Yellowstone brought back its restored 1930s touring buses. The tourguides who once drove these buses were called “gearjammers” because of the skills required to operate their manual transmissions. They used bullhorns so passengers could hear them over the noise of the engines.
We arrived to the park as close to sunrise as we could.
This was our first look at the hydrothermal features we would see while at Yellowstone. Rain and snowmelt seep into the ground, where they are then heated by hot rocks surrounding the magma system located deep beneath the Earth’s surface. The heated water then rises back to the surface reaching temperatures well above the normal boiling point, creating Yellowstone’s famous hydrothermal features.
These hydrothermal features fall into two general categories: those with abundant water, such as hot springs and geysers, and those with limited water, such as mudpots and fumaroles.
Hot springs are the most common geothermal feature in Yellowstone. Unlike geysers, they don’t have tight underground restrictions, so the superheated water can rise freely to the surface and pool in the open. The yellow, green, orange, and even red and yellow colors come from heat‑loving microorganisms that thrive in the steaming water, each color marking different temperature zones.
The above named Abyss Pool is so deep (fifty-three feet) and crystal‑clear, sunlight can sink far into the water, scattering blue wavelengths and giving the pool its clear blue color.
Around the edges, heat‑loving microorganisms create the greens, browns, yellows, reds, and oranges representative of the different temperature zones.
The Abyss Pool or hot spring trails out toward Yellowstone Lake.
Pictured above is Sulphur Cauldron. The Cauldron shares the acidity of a mud pot, but not the limited water supply. Sulphur Cauldron itself is a water‑filled hot spring with water that is nearly as acidic as battery acid. The feature is known for its bubbling yellow waters, strong sulfur odor, and intense geothermal activity.
Geysers form when groundwater deep below the surface is heated until it turns to steam. That steam becomes trapped in a narrow, twisting natural plumbing system underground, where pressure builds until it forces its way out. When the pressure finally releases, the superheated water and steam erupt upward in a splash of fountainlike displays so often associated with Yellowstone. This is one example of many geysers throughout the park.
We made the mandatory stop at Yellowstone’s most famous geyser, Old Faithful, named for its predictable eruptions about every ninety minutes.
Mudpots act like nature’s double boiler. A small amount of water collects in a shallow depression with no direct connection to the underground water flow. Heat from below turns that limited water supply into rising steam, which warms the surface and becomes naturally acidic. Over time, that super‑heated, acidic steam breaks down the surrounding rock into soft clay, creating a warm, gooey mixture that gurgles and bubbles as gases push their way through.
Fumaroles are Yellowstone’s steam vents and the hottest features in the entire park. Because there is such little water in these spots, what little does seep into the underground plumbing system flashes instantly into steam as it meets the intense heat below. That superheated steam escapes through cracks in the surface, hissing and roaring like the earth is letting off pressure.
The video above is a fumarole named Red Spouter. It’s hydrothermal feature changes seasonally and so when the water table is high it is a mudpot, when the water table is low it is a fumarole. We think this is a fumarole at the moment.
Fishing Cone sits right along the edge of Yellowstone Lake, a hot spring that was once an active geyser but no longer erupts because changing lake levels have cooled it over time. The story of long ago tells of early visitors catching fish from the lake and then “cooking” it by dipping it straight into the boiling spring without ever taking it off the line. Today the area is protected, and fishing is no longer allowed.
Travertine terraces look a bit like a cave turned inside out. Hot water rises through the limestone, carrying dissolved minerals to the surface, where it cools and deposits a chalky white rock called travertine. At Mammoth Hot Springs, those deposits build delicate stair‑step formations that appear sturdy but are actually quite fragile, constantly growing, shifting, and reshaping themselves as the hot water flows over them.
We visited the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, carved by the Yellowstone River, where it plunges over Upper Falls and Lower Falls before winding through the canyon’s colorful rock walls below.
A look at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.
Along the course of the trip we have passed many continental divide signs. We finally were able to snap a picture here at Yellowstone of one of the signs. The Continental Divide is a long mountain ridge that decides which way water flows across North America. Streams on one side eventually reach the Pacific Ocean, while streams on the other side flow toward the Atlantic Ocean.
A stop in Yellowstone wouldn’t be complete without wildlife sighting! We witnessed a Yellowstone traffic jam more than once thanks to the wild life crossing. This was an Elk Crossing!
Another traffic jam, this time a bison!
Asbury doing a little casual reading about the Elk Herd.
We spy the buck hiding in the grass.
While we were at one of the hydrothermal viewing areas, we got a little more than just the hydrothermal scenery, we got bison too! The bison above was walking right behind this hot spring.
They wandered down the hill as if stopping by for lunch, roaming across the land and even through the parking lot.
A quick video of the bison moving up the hill behind Dragon’s Mouth Cave Hot Spring. This unique hot spring sits within a cave-like opening and is famous for its roaring and gurgling sounds, which resemble a dragon breathing fire. We came for the hot spring and stayed for the bison!
We couldn’t resist the bison photo opportunities!
We ended our time in Yellowstone at the Roosevelt Arch, the historic stone gateway named after President Theodore Roosevelt. Built in 1903, it served as the park’s primary entrance for many years and still stands as a proud symbol of Yellowstone’s early history.
Next stop: Glacier National Park in Montana, often called the crown of the continent for its stunning landscapes and pristine wilderness.