Day 10 - Staycation Saga - Part 2 - Mud Volcano

After leaving Old Faithful we continued around the south loop. We did a quick stop at Kepler Cascades.

To the left of the above canyon balcony you see the cascades.

To the right you see the canyon that the river continues through on it's journey.

Next we continued our journey by taking a drive around the lake and crossing the continental divide . . . again. We have gone back and forth over this divide many times on our trip. The rest of this post is about the lake and Yellowstone attractions around the lake; which are the crater for a mammoth volcano that formed much of Yellowstone.

Along the way we stopped to take some pictures of the tremendous mountain view of the valleys and the lake.

We also stopped occasionally to see some of the hot springs and other things along the side of the lake. At one pull out we even learned about the two different types of forests within Yellowstone and how nature keeps one type from totally wiping out the other. It was also neat to see the black beach sand along the lake because this is an old volcano and the sand is from volcanic rock, not sea creature's shells.

Okay, so some of you may not find this impressive, but here in Phoenix, this NEVER happens so we thought it was cool to see that the road was warm enough that with the cold rain, steam was rising off of the road! This is a cool sight!

This is Shoshone Lake from the shore.

This is a quick view of the entirety of Shoshone Lake.

We then stopped by the fishing village where we saw many of the different animals that roam through and make Yellowstone their home. From the fishing village we went up to the Mud Volcano and Sulfur Cauldron.

This was a really cool place because most hot springs are just water and if it is not too cold and you can see through the steam, then you can see deep down into the springs. With the mud though, it looks like some form of thick stew that is bubbling and brewing. Kind of helps you to understand what all the tar pits during the time of the dinosaurs might have looked like. Anyway, the mud pits are interesting, because when there is lots of water (like now as it is spring) they bubble and brew, but in the summer (august) they tend to dry out and then they are just steam vents in hard baked earth. They don’t have the best smell, but as it was a cold day with the constant misting from the clouds, it sure makes for a nice warm spot in our trip.

Dragon Mouth Spring (See educational notes in part 3)

Mud Volcano (see educational notes)

Grizzly Fumarole (See educational notes)

Sour Lake

Black Dragons Cauldron (See educational notes)


Don't think we got the name of this one recorded, but it was cool to watch and think about how much boiling hot water rises into this cauldron every minute.

This time we were standing very close. It is a very different feeling being in the presence of a buffalo when you are not sitting inside your car.

This buffalo was just behind the one in the video above.

Mud Geyser (See educational notes).

Between misting clouds we did manage some sun and got a few minutes to view a complete rainbow. Boy, this is beautiful country!

I think that one of the best things about Yellowstone is that it continues to change its attractions, even if the park rangers don't want it to. Who would have thought a steam vent needed its own parking space?!

Just up the road a short hike is the Sulfur Cauldron.
(See educational notes)

After obtaining a wonderful sulfur smell in our clothes and getting all warmed up, we continued on to Yellowstone Canyon and these are some of the things that we saw as we drove. Absolutely beautiful!!

Can you find the animals?
Hint: they are off to the left just above the hill in the bottom half of the picture.

How about now? They are a long way from the road. It has been too long since we took the picture but there are five dear or elk just above the first hill at the bottom of the picture near the center of the photo.

Can you see them now?

A little later we pulled off to the side of the road for a moment as Shari wanted a few pictures of the Geese.



Okay, we are finally to Yellowstone Canyon. Guess you could say this would be the climax of our trip, the moment you have all been waiting for . . .