Madison to Norris

I slept in even later this morning until 7am. I had a slow day ahead of me so I even made oatmeal. Then a thunderstorm rolled in and I packed my tent in record time because I didn’t want it to get wet and then have to store it. It amazes me the storms come so early here. I backtracked a mile or two and drove the Firehole Canyon drive. There was one pretty neat waterfall and a swimming hole but the swimming was closed due to high water.
I stopped at Terrace Springs and Artist Paint Pots. The Pots were cool because the mud was a lot thicker and it shot it up a bit more. I hung around for a while at the Norris Geyser basin. This has the largest active geyser in the park but the last time it erupted was 2005 so I wasn’t holding any hope. It was a barren wasteland of geysers and pools. It reminded me of that part in the Lion King where everyone is hoping Simba comes back and the land around them is dry and empty and dead. None of these pools were a bright blue. They all had silica which gives it a milky blue appearance.
There was one Emerald Pool that was green. Yellowstone wasn’t really what I expected. All you ever hear about is Old Faithful but this entire park is just one huge thermal area with pools everywhere. And it’s not just little ponds, these things are steaming, boiling, and exploding. I’d love to check it out in the winter.

I was to Canyon Campground by noon so I set up my tent and then a storm rolled in. It cleared up in a few hours and I decided to go to the South Rim and join a ranger guided hike because Jess said they were fun. Well, they’re not. My ranger was a retired psychotherapist who recited poetry to us about beauty, power, inspiration, etc. She also spent most of the time yelling at us to stay on the trail and behind her. And she took forever. Suffice to say I did not enjoy it. However, after that I went to the visitor center later in the evening for a ranger talk about the people and history of Yellowstone and it was amazing. So I’m currently divided on ranger programs. Regardless of all that, the South Rim is beautiful and the falls and the canyon are a different side to Yellowstone.


The next day I got up and drove to the Lake area. I stopped and saw some elk and bison and I think I even saw a bear running across a distant hill. I went to the Fishing Bridge where there is no fishing allowed. I guess in the old days people used to just line the bridge and you were guaranteed to catch a fish. It’s still a neat bridge.
I went to Bridge Bay and hiked to a natural bridge. They actually let you hike up around and behind it. It’s not nearly as impressive as those at Arches but it was a nice hike.
After getting stuck in a traffic jam because rubberneckers wanted to stop and take a picture of one bull elk, I went to the North Rim. They have Brink trails that go to the Brinks of the Lower and Upper falls. It is a steep descent (600 feet) but they really do put you right where the water cascades over. There were a few more overlooks along the North Rim and they were all stunning.
I ended up back at the Visitor Center where I spent the afternoon watching the movies they had and exploring the exhibits. I still had time to kill so I decided to build a campfire. The person before me had left 2 full boxes of wood. After going through most of my matches and trying many types of starter, it finally got roaring. After a lovely dinner of a can of corn, it started raining so I let the rain put my fire out and got to sleep on my half deflated air mattress.