Rainy Day in Yellowstone

We woke up this morning to bright sunshine.  As I started to boil water for a nice warm tea for Lea I heard some thunder off in the distance.  The thunder quickly got closer and just as the tea was ready I snuck into the tent.  Within minutes, the dark clouds were producing plenty of thunder and lightening, but not rain, rather hail.  This was the second time in a week that we had experienced hail!  I feel like back home I can go multiple years between hail experiences.  Luckily, this storm wasn’t like the Badlands storm, followed by a full day of rain. 

We decided to start the day driving up to the Grand Prismatic Spring, a spot we missed yesterday because the parking lot and surrounding road shoulders were so full. We made it to the spring fairly early, and the parking lot was much calmer than the previous day. We walked  along the boardwalk to a few different springs and geysers, including the Grand Prismatic Spring. The spring has a beautiful gradient of blue to orange-red coloration due to the variety of bacteria and archaea species. When we actually arrived at the spring, visibility was drastically decreased due to enormous, opaque clouds of steam. Though we couldn’t get pictures to show it, the clouds of steam were reflecting the colors of the water underneath  - a beautiful, faint orange and blue. We’d planned to hit the spring and then drive south to Terraced Falls. As we were driving north, we realized that there was no end in sight for the rain, and getting soaking wet without the possibility for a shower was not something we were up for.  We decided to drive the lower portion of the Park loop, stopping at any of the sights that were quick walks to something awesome.

Following the stop at the Grand Prismatic Spring was a quick stop over at the Artist’s Paint Pots.  This area is also active with geothermal actions.  There were many small but active geysers and the unique feature at this stop was the small bubbling mud pools.  These bubbling pools of mud change depending on the geothermal activity and the precipitation.

Our next stop was a quick drive through the Firehole Canyon.  This was a two-mile drive that highlighted some beautiful cascading waterfalls. 

We then proceeded through many of the different visitor’s centers and eventually ended up at the Canyon Village.  This is a must visit location for any visitor to Yellowstone, specifically the upper and lower falls of the Yellowstone River and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.  We assume it is the massive valley lined with yellow rock that gives the park its namesake.  The river cuts through the valley and absolutely breathtaking views of the valley and falls are afforded to those who are willing and able enough to hike down and around the area. 

Our stomachs were telling us that it was time to eat a legitimate meal, our first of the day, when we arrived at the Yellowstone Lake Lodge at 2:39pm. What we didn’t know is that lunch time, as determined by Yellowstone concessionaires, ends at 2:30pm. At this point, we were starving but had to wait until 5:00pm for our next chance at a warm meal.  Due to the continuous downpour, we decided against cooking at the campsite; the only restaurant which we could find open tables at was the Obsidian Grill at Old Faithful.  We enjoyed a nice meal then headed back to the campsite to prepare for the evening. Our last pull-off was at a small area known as Kepler Cascades, which is a beautiful overlook of another set of waterfalls.

 As we arrived at the campsite the rain had stopped and all the clouds were gone.  We took a short little stroll around Lewis Lake and enjoyed the sunset, which occurred quite late around 9:00pm. 

We worked our way back into the tent and bundled up for a cold evening.  The evening called for temperatures in the 30’s and potential precipitation.