Day 5: Monday July
12th, 2010 : Old Faithful Area
Old Faithful Village: Geyser Boardwalk and Hike Map
5:30 p.m. Dinner at Old Faithful Inn $30, Menu
Hotel: Old Faithful Snow Lodge
Old Faithful Lodge in the background |
thar she blows! |
adoring fans |
so pretty! |
Dan found it helpful to point and say, "Mandy, take a picture" every 5 feet or so. |
Debbie Smith and Joey - BFFs |
inside the Old Faithful Lodge |
Old Faithful Lodge and its namesake |
Day 6: Tuesday July 13th,
2010 : Leave
Old Faithful Area, Hayden and Lamar Valley, come to Canyons area in the evening
Lamar and Hayden Valley
Explore Fishing Bridge and Lake
Village Area
7:15 p.m. Scenicruiser:
Lake Queen II Departs Bridge Bay Marina at 7:15. One Hour Ride $15.55 per
person – Boat
Tour of Yellowstone Lake
On Day 6, we started out going back to Grand Prismatic Spring. Unfortunately, with all of the steam coming off of the vernal pool, we could barely see anything! The temperatures in these pools and springs are exceptionally hot - the bacteria that thrive in these temperatures are what cause the gorgeous coloring. But, if it's real cold and windy, the steam just blows all over the place. After the spring, we drove towards the lake, and took in Fishing Bridge (that you can't actually fish off of) as well as some of Hayden Valley. We did a short hike to Natural Bridge and saw the most sulfurous geysers in the park... it smelled horrendous!
At night we checked into the Canyon Cabins, which were pretty outdated and in need of repair. The food options were very limited! I don't recommend that people stay in this region if they go to the park - the Lake Yellowstone Hotel and Cabins are only 30 minutes away, and they offer much better accommodations. We did not end up taking the boat tour, because it was such a windy night and the water was incredibly choppy, but I imagine that it would be a nice adventure on a better day.