Last Full Day in Yellowstone!

 We camped at Yellowstone for almost a week so we were able to do and see so much! It’s such a huge park that it’s one I’d happily visit again and see things I missed. For our last day we went back to see Old Faithful and the Upper Geyser Basin. Along with Junior Ranger badges this visitor center offered Junior Scientist Badges. They had to delve into one specific area of the park (Old Faithful and Upper Geyser Basin), make a hypothesis, observations, and a conclusion. Annabelle had to hypothesize whether she thought a geyser was living or non living. Since we already saw Old Faithful erupt from up close, we hiked to the observation point to see its eruption from above. Thankfully Dave and Caleb made it in time to see it, but the rest of us weren’t quite fast enough. It was still a beautiful view though. Then from there we hiked down to view the other geysers. After a picnic lunch we hiked the Fairy Falls to view the Grand Prismatic from above. It’s a deep blue spring with rainbow colors around the edges. I’m so glad we were able to see the aerial view. On our way down from the hike a bison crossed our path and split up our group. Dave and I watched a bison walk toward our friend Devin who was holding Logan and Liam’s hand. Thankfully he was with the little boys and they backed up slowly as the bison came toward them. It was wild to see one so close! We ended the day fishing by a river. The boys didn’t catch anything which was discouraging, but it was a peaceful family time as the sun set. What an amazing, full week we had! 

Old Faithful from the observation point 

Beehive Geyser 

Hiking from the observation point to the Upper Geyser Basin 

Hot springs 

Bacterial Mats 

Heart springs 

Annabelle earned her Jr. Scientist patch! 

It was so interesting to see how many wildflowers and plants grew near the hot springs. 

Our hike up Fairy Falls begins! 

Seeing bison along our way 

The Grand Prismatic! 

Here’s the progression of the bison crossing our path on the hike back. It was so big and so close! It’s recommended to stay at least 25 feet away. We kept backing up as it kept coming closer! 

Annabelle was adamant about building a picnic area for fairies before we left Fairy Falls. The Arnold boys helped with construction. 

Steam rising up from the hot springs 

Fountain paint pots! 

This fumarole (steam vent) was not here years ago. This used to be just a field. In the 1950s there was an earthquake 25 miles away and it moved this ground to open up a vent. It’s fascinating how the landscape and park here continues to change because of the volcanic activity below. 

Clepsydra Geyser 

Evening fishing