25/06

Hi Everyone,

Reluctantly we left our cabin and ventured into the southern part of Yellowstone Park. Both of us agree that this is far more attractive than Yosemite and much easier to get around. It is also very different, our aim today is to see Yellowstone Lake and surrounding areas, before visiting Old Faithful and then leave the park via the western Exit/Entrance. From there we have a six hour drive in order to get as near as possible to Salt Lake City.

The drive around the park would not dissapoint anyone, the scenery is so varied. One moment you are looking at vast lush green plains, the next you are looking at white hot steaming sulphur covered rock, with boiling water running through and off it. The contrasts are quite staggering and a visit to Black Dragons Cauldron is very worth while. Here you can see boiling mud churrning out of the ground, lakes of literally boiling water and forests of trees which have been cooked from the inside by constantly changing temperature of the landscape. As sad as this may seem, the rate at which the land is naturally recultivated is astounding, it is as if the plants are just waiting for the changes to happen before they move onto different locations.

Yellowstone Lake is simply huge and takes hours to drive around so we restricted our journey to the north side, heading west. At the end of the drive, a right turn takes you to Old Faithful, a geyser which erupts every 90 minutes and has done since about 1989. We had stopped so many times during the day, it was amazing that we arrived just five minutes before the main event. We took our places and off it went. I was surprised that it made very little noise, just a gentle hissing sound. I thought that the 7 -8 thousand gallons of steam would be more vocal but obviously not. All the same it is a sight not to be missed.

Shortly after we left the park agreeing that it had been one of the best parts of the trip thus far. Meeting Rachel and the crew at Flying Pig made our stay even more memorable and the rafting will live with me forever, of that there is no doubt. My nose is okay, thanks rach!

We managed to make it to Ogden, Ohio, not a place famed for much and having been there for 2 days it still isn't. The idea was to access the internet and update ourselves. The fact that you are reading this so long afterwards will tell you that it didn't quite happen as planned. We had a very frustrating time and left with not a little relief.

The next stage is a biggie, Bryce canyon, Zion Nat park and The Grand Canyon.

Take care, Chris