Another early morning and we got out at 7 am and headed nearby to see the Virginia Cascades, which is a flat waterfall that sounds very relaxing early in the morning.
Next we started north towards Gardiner, MT where the first entrance to Yellowstone was opened. It was early in the morning, so the geysers, hot springs, and fumeroles were making the air thick with sufurous steam. We stopped at a couple of geyser overlooks, including the Roaring Mountain, and even got to hang out with a pair of ravens (yes, of course I'm feeding them...).
We continued on, stopping by Sheepeater Cliff to look at the strange rock formations and then at the top of the Golden Gate to look at the scenery and the (frankly) insane engineering it took to build the road.
We made it to Mammoth to see the hot spring terraces mid-morning, and spent a while hiking around taking pictures of the various springs. The colors are from the various microorganisms and then the minerals combine to form travertine which is very white. It formed these terraces and they keep reforming and changing shape constantly.
After hiking around the springs we went through Mammoth and took a look at the original Visitor's Center, and all the buildings built by the army when they were stationed in Yellowstone to stop the rampant poaching.
Gardiner, MT was next on the drive and we got to see the "Roosevelt Gate" to the park, which is so beautiful and huge. We walked around in several shops then had lunch by the Gardner River at the Iron Horse Bar and Grill (very good chicken). The town was super cute and we got a few souvenirs before we left again to head south.
We saw the Obsidian Cliff and then visited the Norris Porcelain Geyser Basin, which I discovered has absolutely nothing to do with pottery, much to my chagrin... The Porcelain Basin is a collection of very active, very hot springs, geysers, and fumeroles that are all in a massive travertine field. The pools the geysers create are these awesome colors of blues, greens, and yellows depending on the temperature of the spring.
After the Porcelain Basin we continued south, stopping by the Chocolate Pots and Beryl Springs, which are both very different geysers/springs. Beryl is an aqua blue with a noisy steam vent just above it.
We continued driving along the Gibbon River, stopping by the falls to take some amazing photos. We made it to Madison, where Jenifer's parents had camp-hosted in the past, and then turned around to head back to Canyon Lodge. On the way back we saw an elk cow with her calf and got a good picture of them.
We still had a bit of time to kill (the cafeteria doesn't open for dinner until 5 pm) so we stopped by the Artists' Paintpots, which was really neat. The entire area is an active geyser field and the various minerals in the soil create a ton of different colors in the pools and soil. I got several photos to use as references for some pottery decorations.
We got back to the cabin a bit before 5 pm and unpacked the truck. Jenifer decided to rest and stay behind so Dad and I walked to the Visitor's Center and got dinner (Dad got tempura shrimp and I got Korean BBQ beef) We picked up a few things at the shops and then we walked back to the cabin to relax a bit before bed.