Road Trip Day 3
After striking camp, we started the day by taking a short hike from Colter Bay, around part of Jackson Lake, to Swan Lake. Swan Lake was mostly covered with floating plants. According to the signage, the lake was appropriately named, as wild swans did make their home there. We didn't see any; just a pelican, some ducks, and a bunch of bugs. Shortly after our hike, we headed north toward Yellowstone Park.
A cute ranger welcomed us at the south gate to Yellowstone, and soon we were on our way toward Old Faithful. I believe I had more of an idea than Trevor, but I still didn't comprehend before visiting the sheer amount of geothermal activity near Old Faithful- and indeed, throughout the park. And I definitely underestimated the value of Old Faithful as a tourist attraction. It is definitely a large draw, with thousands of people milling about the area, congregating close to the geyser as the predicted time for its eruption neared. After the eruption, many people applauded, which struck us as an odd thing to do for a geo-hydro-logical event. yay earth!
We continued along Yellowstone's park roads, stopping at Canyon Village in hopes of procuring a place to stay that night. They were full, but we were able to reserve a campsite at Bridge Bay. With a reservation in hand, we were able to more leisurely continue on our way. From Canyon Village, we headed along the narrow one-way road along the north rim of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. I didn't know about it before, but it was spectacular. We stopped at several vistas, including a breathtaking one at the brink of a massive waterfall.
Farther down, we stopped at the Sulphur Cauldron and Mud Volcano areas. A warm, sulphur-y steam permeated the area, which made it feel at times like we were in a terrible, terrible sauna from hell. It smelled awful, but the bubbling pools of mud were interesting to watch, each with their own colors and sounds and kind of bubbling.
Eventually we reached our campsite, checked in, and made camp. We back tracked a few miles to the Lake Village, where we had dinner and chilled out lakeside for a bit, with some Bison grazing in the not-all-that-distant-for-a-freakin-BISON distance. As night fell, we retreated to our campsite for the evening.
July 14, 2003 11:59 PM