Yellowstone National Park

We started early so as to get the most out of the day in Yellowstone. It began with a short drive to the park gates with the fee of $25 we thought was quite reasonable. Yellowstone has few roads other than those that lead to a kind of figure of eight incorporating 90% of the park's most interesting features. Including Old Faithful, Mammoth Hot Springs, Grand Prismatic Spring and Geyser basins. Before getting onto the loops we had a drive of about 30 miles during which time we saw many bison (buffalo), some spectacular scenery and most exciting of all a Coyote who we followed for about half a mile as he trotted along through the brush hunting for small rodents and birds. We found out quite soon that you don't really need to look that hard to see wildlife, you eventually run into a traffic jam where people have stopped to look at something!! Of course we took so many pictures, probably around 300 as there was so much to see!! We drove a few miles then there would be a parking area so you could stop and go see whatever the attraction was...waterfalls, Yellowstone 'Grand Canyon', sulphur springs, mud volcanoes....!! Eventually we made it round to Upper Geyser Basin, home to Old Faithful as well as many other less predictable geysers. We got there in perfect time, we only had to wait a short while before we saw a 4 or 5 minute eruption from the most famous geyser in the park..Old Faithful is amazing, absolutely incredible sight and one I wont forget for a long long time! Thankfully today wasn't as hot so we spent the next hour or so walking round the myriad of other geysers, some which bubbled continuously others which billowed smoke endlessly. Crystal clear pools of a sparkling azure blue were deceptively inviting...the minuscule bubbles rising to the surface belying their true deadly nature. The Yellowstone caldera is approx 30 x 45 miles across and its in places like this basin that you remember you are stood in the middle of the worlds largest volcano!! We eventually moved on to what I found to be the most spectacular of Yellowstone's sights...the Grand Prismatic Spring at Midway Geyser Basin. This is the largest hot spring at 370ft in diameter and is absolutely incredible...it is constantly shrouded in billows of steam which swirl about, occasionally opening briefly so you can see the pristine pool of scorching hot water and the mats or beds of heat tolerant micro-organisms, thermophiles, which surround it, feeding off the acidic water. This pool spills over onto mudflats and if it wasn't for the heat of the steam that hits your face you could almost imagine you are at a tropical beach somewhere with water washing over grey sands!! Another pool is fed by the spring as well as its own deep rooted source and this one was more like a cauldron as it had deep sides with boiling tumultuous water and so much steam it was like passing through a sauna as you walked by!! All these waters eventually ran into Firehole River which runs through a lot of the park. Amazingly this river although fed my many such hot springs still contains fish...not that I saw any but the osprey must have as we saw him make a spectacular dive, plummeting from the heights to fully submerge in the water before coming up, unfortunately empty handed (or clawed), to start circling overhead once more!! We stopped at many other places as we completed the circuit and started heading for the East exit, far too many to describe each in detail but hopefully we took enough pictures lol!! By the time we left Yellowstone Park it was gone 11 so we drove on for a bit before finding another lay-by to spend the night at.