A drive to Grand Teton National Park through Yellowstone gave us the opportunity to see miles and miles of lodgepole pine forest through our jeep windows. Colter Bay Village was our first stop in the park along with hundreds of other tourist. The Jenny Lake Scenic loop boast some of the most spectacular views of the Tetons. We finally made it to Jackson Hole after driving over 150 miles from the campground. Now it is time to turn around and head back into Yellowstone. Seeing the sites in the park twice was a real treat.
Our time in Yellowstone was spent at Old Faithful Geyser. We were real lucky because we only had a fifteen minute wait before Old Faithful's eruption. The time between the eruptions varies from 50 to 120 minutes but on the average it erupts every 92 minutes. This area has a lot more than spouting geysers. We saw boiling water, bubbling mud, steam vents and snow white rock formations with rusty-orange streaks caused by heat loving bacteria.
If you are like we were the big question in our mind was why is Yellowstone one of the world's most active geothermal areas? The answer is heat- the park sits on top of an enormous super-volcano and the immense heat from its underground magma powers the geyser basins. The volcano's last major eruption was 640,000 years ago. When water from precipitation seeps into the ground, it meets the super-heated earth near the underground magma chamber. Heat and pressure build until the water is forced back to the surface in one of these dramatic ways. This explanation was one of the best I could find in all the literature given to us as we entered the park. This area was really fascinating to us.
At the end of the day we had seen some awesome sites, experienced seeing Old Faithful erupt and had driven 360 miles. The next few days were spent just relaxing at the campground. It was time to say goodbye to Wyoming and hello to Montana. Our last night in Wyoming was July 19th.
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| The Grand Teton mountain range. |
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| We arrived at this campground on Saturday July 16th and departed on Wednesday July 20th. |
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| A restaurant and bar with live entertainment is at the campground. |
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| The next few pictures were views of the Wapiti Valley that were seen from the campground. |
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| Lewis Falls drop approximately 30 feet and can be easily seen from the road. They are on the Lewis River in Yellowstone National Park |
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| The Lewis River glistening in the sun. |
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| The Lewis River is 18 miles long. |
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| The summit of the Grand Teton is 13,770 feet which is the highest elevation of the mountain range. |
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| Jenny Lake |
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| We were following the Ranger in hopes of seeing the bear that we could hear in the woods. All Terry kept talking about was hiding in the woods and jumping out to scare everyone on the trail. |
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| Notice the different shades of blue and emerald in the water. |
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| Jackson Hole |
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| These arches are on all four corners of the city park in Jackson Hole. |
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| Herd of buffalo seen coming out of the Grand Teton National Park. I should have taken a picture of the not so smart couple that was trying to take selfies with the herd. |
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| Boardwalks provided for our safety. A 23 year old man died this year when he walked off the designated boardwalk and fell into a hot spring. |
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| It looked like the steam was meeting the clouds. |
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| Temperature of the steam has been measured at 350 degrees. |
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| Do you see the colors of the rainbow in the steam? |
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| Hearing the sounds of the popping bubbles, smelling sulfur and seeing the hot springs was an experience created by your senses. |
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| You could see deep into the water. It was so clear. |
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| Blue Star Spring |
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| Other geysers erupting in the area are not as predictable as Old Faithful but we did see one. |
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| I could not even imagine why one would get off the designated boardwalks. |
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| Beehive Geyser |
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| Spasmodic Geyser - looks like snow. |
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| Castle Geyser |
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| Yellowstone Lake |
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| A beautiful place to visit. |
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