Neubauer News: Yellowstone Part 2

D4: On the 2h drive from Jackson to Yellowstone, already sick Benny puked. It isn't a vacation without at least one incident. Our 1st stop in Yellowstone was West Thumb Geyser.

The boardwalk was only 1m so we left Benny in the car while the rest of us checked it out. It was our 1st time seeing anything like this so we were amused.

While stopping for a picnic lunch, we saw our 1st buffalo!

Next stop, Mud Volcano .8m boardwalk. Benny stayed in the car again. Dragon's Mouth Spring.

One of the coolest features, the Churning Cauldron, with water temps of 164 degrees!

Check out this view of Hayden Valley.

The Mud Volcano

Before heading to our vrbo in West Yellowstone, we made one last stop at Upper Falls .3m.

Here's a picture of our rental. There were 2 bedrooms and the boys slept in the living room.

D5: Upper Geyser Basin 3.5m boardwalk and Old Faithful!

This area is easier to view as a video. It's just indescribable.

Loved this one called Grotto Geyser.

Made it to the end, and our favorite pool of all, Morning Glory.

Our sweet Benny was feeling better. Just came with a TP roll to blow his nose pretty often.

We were fortunate enough to wait only 20min to see Riverside Geyser erupt.

After stopping by Old Faithful Inn for a sandwich and ice cream, we watched Old Faithful erupt. It was not as impressive as Riverside. Next stop, Biscuit Basin, a .7m boardwalk.

We took the additional trail to Mystic Falls making it 2.4m round trip. So glad we did!!

Mystic Falls

The wildflowers made this hike so beautiful.

More of the colorful Biscuit Basin pools.

After driving the one way Firehole Lake Drive, which was very cool, we made it to our last stop of the day called Fountain Paint Pots. Benny and Addy stayed in the car for this one.

More bubbling mudpots. We also saw Spasm Geyser erupting. Worth the stop!

D6: Fairy Creek Trail to Imperial Geyser 6.5m. Grand Prismatic in the morning. We skipped the overlook as it is best seen in the afternoon.

We hiked to the impressive Fairy Falls.

The falls with my favorite flower in the foreground.

Only few continue the hike to this "best kept secret" called Imperial Geyser. Rainbow colors!! Caused by different bacteria at varied temps.

Grand finale view of Yellowstone, the waterfall in the distance and Imperial Geyser. We had this all to ourselves for a time.

The way back down.

We were joined by a guy who was traveling alone. Our new friend Ben hiked back with us and we enjoyed talking to him.

Don't fall in! This gurgling hole was next to the geyser. I think it's called a vent.

On the way back we walked by this strange boiling, orange creek flowing from the geyser. Addy really wanted to touch it but I'm glad she didn't.

Grand Primatic Spring from with steam burned off in the afternoon. Awe inspiring.

Benny made it with no issues. He knew this place was a must see feature of the park.

To make up for lost time, we had a car picnic, then we squeezed in another hike in the canyon area called Clear Lake Artist Point Loop 3.9m.

This area was so varied. It included a lake, a white geyser section, a lily pad pond, then ended at Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone! No guardrails by the steep cliffs.

This is where Yellowstone gets it's name from the colors of these walls.

The famous Artist Point with my eyes closed. In the other pic, Aaron's eyes were closed.

One last stop on this very busy day back at Midway Geyser, aka Grand Prismatic, to walk the .8m boardwalk over the spring.

Excelsior Geyser Crator. Josh stayed in the car with Benny. He later regretted not seeing this.

The boiling water flowing into the cold river. These type of falls were all over the area.

D7: Artist Paint Pots 1m. Benny happily stayed in the car for this quick stop. It really does look like a bucket of paint!

Best seen as a video. Addy is the bird in the background.

This area was so noisy.

One of my favorite pics of Sis.

Next amazing stop at Norris Geyser. Approaching Steamboat Geyser, the world's tallest!!

I guess it's better that we didn't see an eruption!?

I loved this area so it was tough to choose pics. We even saw a fox twice along the trail!

I don't even know the names of these features.

The most impressive part with so much boiling, steaming activity.

For a picnic, we stopped at Sheepeater Cliffs.

And took a 1m hike along the river.

To this WOW view!

And cascading waterfall.

The kids love seeing marmots. This trail was surprisingly beautiful. Josh wanted to keep going and going but I got uncomfortable when we got too far and there were no people around.

Driving through Lamar Valley we saw herds and herds of buffalo but this guy was our favorite.

He blocked the road and walked the centerline before we passed him. Up close and personal. We even woke up a sleeping Benny to see this.

Near the end of Lamar Valley, we took a quick hike around Trout Lake 1.2m.

Gorgeous views but Benny was not happy so we hurried.

We stayed one night in Gardiner, MT at the Yellowstone Gateway Inn and it was one of the best places, especially because there was AC!

Addy slept with us in the bedroom on the floor with couch cushions while the boys were on fold out couches in the living room. We grabbed dinner from the grocery store across the street.