Yellowstone - Day 2

Today was my first full day in Yellowstone, and I took full advantage of the time by hitting the park at 8:00 am and not finding my way back out until around 9:30 pm tonight.  I forgot just how big Yellowstone is, and how long it can take to get around in the park if you stop at all the exhibits and geysers.  I think I might have been lucky to even drive through a fifth of the park today.  I did hit the most famous landmark which everyone has to see at least once when they come here. :)

 Most of my day was spent stopping to see all the geysers in the Mammoth Hot Springs area of the park. The photo above is just a sampling of the view all over this section of the park,  where all you can see is steam coming out of holes in the ground.  It's hard to wrap your mind around what is really going on under your feet as your walk around these areas. 

 There were a number of times where you would come around a corner and there would be a load of cars pulled over and right away you knew there was some kind of animal or other being stalked by the park paparazzi.  Of course I had to join in a few times since it was the thing to do.  The freakiest sighting today was heading out of the park, coming down a long dark stretch and then realizing there was something in the other lane... but it sure wasn't a car... and then coming to a near stop right next to a Bison as big as my car, slowly strolling the other direction in the middle of his own lane like a good driver. He just kind of looked at me and continued on his way, and so did I.

 One thing I was hoping to get pictures of today was some of the many waterfalls in the park, but once again the sun just wasn't going to cooperate with me, and this was the only waterfall I was able to find without the sun beating down on it and making it imposible to get a nice photo of it.  I will try again tomorrow, and maybe I'll get lucky and get to a few more before the sun can beat me to them.

The park is full of trees that have been killed off by the heat of the geysers. I thought this one was pretty cool, and hoped it would make a nice black and white. I was actually pretty happy with how it turned out.   There are a ton of other photos to go through still, and I know I should have a few that give you a good look into some of those springs. I'll try to post some of them soon.