Yellowstone Big Four

Four sites on the "must see" list for visitors to Yellowstone National Park, our first nationally park, are Old Faithful Geyser, Lower Yellowstone Fall, colorful hot springs, and wildlife. The first photo is of a typical crowd awaiting a regularly-timed eruption of Old Faithful. As the next photo shows, the eruption does not disappoint - going off within minutes of the predicted time and reaching up to 180 feet for as long as 5 minutes. While the crowd gathered to watch Old Faithful, we were surprised when the nearby Beehive Geyser erupted (next photo). Beehive does not erupt on a regular schedule, but the eruptions can be giant, reaching 200 ft high lasting up to 5 minutes. Beehive's names comes from the shape of the cone (made of mineral deposits built up over time). The next photo of Old Faithful was taken through a window in Old Faithful Lodge. The yellow color on the walls of the gorge next to the simply beautiful Lower Yellowstone Fall is sulfur deposits in the rock. The colors in the photos of hot springs also are from mineral deposits. The female caribou were lounging on the lawn at the North Entrance to the park in the August sun undisturbed by tourist walking around them snapping photos. Other wildlife (bison, bears) stayed at a distance when we were there except for the little guy in the last photo. He was a bandit who snuck into the cafeteria at Yellowstone Lodge looking for a free meal. He stayed in the shadows close to the wall and would suddenly dart across the floor pursuing a dropped morsel. (Photos scanned from 35mm prints)