Purple ZR-1 Road Trip to Yellowstone and the Pacific Northwest

[QB93Z]

As we continued our tour through Hayden Valley on the east side of the Grand Loop Road, we encountered a large group of Bison. Lyndi got a good action shot of this male taking a "dust Bath"




The tour bus that we rode on is a 1975 International Motor Coach owned by the National Park Service. The bus has over two million miles on it, and was completely refurbished in 2009.




Here is a nice view of Yellowstone Lake from the Lake Lodge:




In the West Thumb area of Yellowstone Lake we observed some of the weird geological features that make Yellowstone so special. Here is a gas vent:





Another weird feature is this gas vent that rose from the lake shoreline and created a 190 degree pool at the edge of the lake. Rumor has it that fishermen use to stand on the edge of the vent and when they caught a fish, they would drop it in the hot pool to cook it.





Here is a photo of Kepler Falls. There are said to be over 1,000 waterfalls in Yellowstone.




to be continued....

[QB93Z]

In the Norris Geyser Basin area we saw some examples of the colorful hot springs. The colors come from minerals in the hot water refracting the light and from heat adapted microorganisms.




Here is a picture of Gibbons Falls:




And no tour of Yellowstone would be complete without a picture of Old Faithful:




Jim

[QB93Z]

On Sunday, we set out early to explore Yellowstone Park before the crowds arrived. Our first stop was Tower Falls in the North East part of Grand Loop Road. We hiked a short distance from the parking lot to see the falls:




Here is a view of the Yellowstone River in the Tower Falls area, down stream (north) of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone:




We decided to try a hike down to the river on an old trail from the Tower Falls viewing spot. The trail was abandoned but passable. Here is a view from part way down:




And after some scrambling and sliding the last 20 feet, we reached the river:






to be continued....

[QB93Z]

Continuing our exploration of the Yellowstone River area, we drove north along the river:




At the next overlook we had a nice view of the river:




The interesting part of that view is seen at the waters edge where there are steam vents:




The Grand Loop Road turns west and heads the Roosevelt Lodge area. We stopped for gas, and when I tried to start the car, it would start but stall in 2 seconds. I suspected a failed fuel pump. I installed my Fuel Pump Emergency Jumper and was good to go in about 7 minutes. While I was fixing the Z, Lyndi found some deer to photograph:



I have a spare fuel pump on board, but I plan to not try to install the new pump until I leave Grand Teton National Park in two more days. I want to have an auto store near by in case I run into difficulties. The fuel pump that failed has only been in the car for about 3 months.


We proceeded on with our exploration, stopping at Udine Falls:




to be continued...

[G-Sting]

Absolutely gorgeous photos. One can almost smell the fresh, misty waterfall air through the screen.

[ZR-1 Franz]

Fantastic pictures , thank you very much for sharing.
Good luck and have a great time.
Best wishes from Switzerland,

Franz

[B17 Crew]

I’m in awe of how beautiful Yellowstone is, thank you for taking the time to add the descriptions to accompany the incredible images. Hope the pump issue is an easy fix.

B17 Crew

[tf95ZR1]

Yes, thank you, Jim (& Lyndi!) for your write-up and pictures.
Just amazingly beautiful. Being here in the heart of a BIG city
it is refreshing to escape to the greenery (very dry brown here
in CA) and bountiful water.

Can you think of any down-side running on the secondary pump
all the time? And specifics on the pump that FAILED?

Thanks again,
Ted

[QB93Z]

Hello from the road. As we continued our visit to Yellowstone NP, we drove to the north end of the Park to the Mammoth Springs Area:




Here is a picture of the mineral terraces in one of the hot springs that has been flowing for many years:



Next we drove south on Grand Loop Road to the area called Artist Paint Pots. We hiked in about 1/3 mile and came upon a large collection of several different types of thermal features. This is a close-up of feature where microorganisms convert hydrogen sulfide, which rises from deep in the earth, into sulfuric acid, which dissolves the surrounding rock into clay, which mixes with the rising steam to form mud:




Here Lyndi is standing next to a colorful hot spring:




On the way back to the parking area Lyndi walked into an area with many fallen Lodge Pole Pine trees:



Jim

[QB93Z]

On Monday, departed from our cabin at the Canyon Lodge in Yellowstone and headed to the Upper Falls area for one more look at the falls.




In the parking lot we were greeted by a large elk:



These are the best pictures we have ever gotten of an elk:






In the early morning the chances of see wildlife is much greater. Lyndi got this nice picture of a pair of Mountain Bluebirds:




We stopped along the Yellowstone River to see these fumaroles:



Jim