June 27, 2012

Yellowstone National Park: Beautiful Insanity

Yellowstone National Park: Beautiful Insanity

There’s no place on earth like Yellowstone National Park. I love the smell of sulfur drifting from the geysers, hot springs, and mudpots. I love walking around the geyser basins’ alien landscape. The stinky steam has a calming effect on me, like a spa trip. Which is a good thing, because Yellowstone is insane. Way too many people. Each day I had a tolerance that steadily wore away, until I wanted to shout: “MORE STEAM!”

Let’s let the pictures speak for themselves:

Beautiful, beautiful Lower Yellowstone Falls. Always an amazing sight.
Beautiful, beautiful Lower Yellowstone Falls. Always an amazing sight.
Detail of Yellowstone canyon.
Detail of Yellowstone canyon.
We climbed down an insane staircase to just about the bottom of the canyon. It was brutal. At least there was a double rainbow.
We climbed down an insane staircase to just about the bottom of the canyon. It was brutal. At least there was a double rainbow.
Yellowstone canyon, near the base of the Lower Falls.
Yellowstone canyon, near the base of the Lower Falls.
Mammoth hot springs.
Mammoth hot springs.
Mammoth hot springs.
Mammoth hot springs.
The dragon's mouth...it really does look and sound like a dragon's mouth.
The dragon’s mouth…it really does look and sound like a dragon’s mouth.
The balcony of the Old Faithful Inn -- a great place to watch the geyser erupt.
The balcony of the Old Faithful Inn — a great place to watch the geyser erupt. Go during cocktail hour at the Inn and you can even have a beer out here. Much more civilized than the benches around the geyser.
Old Faithful starts to erupt.
Old Faithful starts to erupt.
I forgot just how high the water shoots -- over a hundred feet. It's breathtaking.
I forgot just how high the water shoots — over a hundred feet. It’s breathtaking.
Hot spring closeup.
Hot spring closeup.
Overheard: "it's a photographer's paradise here!"
Overheard: “it’s a photographer’s paradise here!”
Steamy boardwalk.
Steamy boardwalk.
My very favorite: fountain paint pot, a mudpot.
My very favorite: fountain paint pot, a mudpot that bubbles like a witch’s cauldron.
An alien landscape.
An alien landscape.
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Filed Under: Parks, Wyoming