Our Last Week in Yellowstone Area

Our last week in West Yellowstone we had another visit from friends. What a treat to be able to share the area with Jean and Joe. Along with other places we have already posted here, we visited Big Springs and The St. Anthony Sand Dunes, both in Idaho. Big Springs is the primary source of the Henrys Fork of the Snake River. It is one of the largest freshwater springs in North America with a daily flow of 120,000,000 gallons of water (yes, it's that many zeros) at 52 degrees Fahrenheit. Look at our previous post on Upper and Lower Mesa Falls, which are on Henrys Fork, to better see the volume of water.

At Big Springs, water runs out of the side hill. The water is very clear, which makes it easy to see the fish which are plentiful here.

It was impressive to see sand dunes in this part of the country near St. Anthony. They cover about 175 square miles with dunes ranging from 50 to 400 feet tall.

Claudia and Jean atop one of the sand dunes.


The view from the top.

We also visited YNP with them which we always enjoy. Our trip that day took us on the lower loop where we visited many of the geothermal areas.

Grand Prismatic Spring.

Bacteria grows in the warm water creating the greens and oranges.

This pool was very deep

Spasm Geyser

Female elk in the Madison River.

Old Bison Bull having a drink

Lone Star Geyser

Today we took the hike to Lone Star Geyser in Yellowstone. Since we are Texas residents, (the Lone Star State), and have recently purchased a lot at Lone Star Corral, in Hondo, TX, it was something we were drawn to. The trail is 4.8 miles round trip, but even though it was a very warm day here, (mid 80's), it was enjoyable and relaxing. We had read that it erupts very regularly at about 3 hour intervals, but had no idea when it would happen. It was our lucky day, because just as we arrived we enjoyed a major, 40 foot high eruption that lasted almost a half hour. There were 8 others there with us to witness this, compared to the many hundreds we saw at Old Faithful the last time we went there.

The Lone Star Geyser

It was named the Lone Star because the nearest large geyser (Old Faithful) is 3 air miles away.

This geyser earned early fame because of it's large, colorful, sinter cone out in the middle of the forest.

As the major eruption gets towards the end, the water is all expelled and it goes into a powerful steam phase, which can be heard up to a mile away.

The geyser was not to be our only treat today. As we traveled through the park on our way to the hike we spotted this young eagle looking for some breakfast in the Madison River.

Young eagles don't get their white head feathers until they are 3 or 4 years old.

The first part of our walk followed the Firehole River.

A very large, colorful dragonfly we saw on the trail. It's amazing how thin and transparent the wings are.

This flower made us think of fireworks. The bee is just after the nectar.

More Wildlife in Yellowstone

Another trip into the National Park. One never knows what wonders await around the next bend.

Wildflowers near Dunraven Pass

A lone trumpeter swan on floating Island Lake

We usually see them in pairs. We wonder what happened to it's mate.

We saw another cinnamon black bear this day. Like the last one we saw, it was eating wildflowers.

The bear would push the flower stalks down with it's front paw so it could eat the flowers.

Sawtell Peak 2008

This year we visited Sawtell Peak with friends George and Gail. It was a wonderful day. For additional scenes visit last year's post.

Our truck at the top with the Grand Tetons in the background.

Scene from the top. We had a 360 degree view.

Female mountain bluebird.

This is the male of the pair.

We saw them entering a small hole in the side of one of the buildings, where they had a nest.

A close up view of flowers at the top.

West Yellowstone to Gardner

The last time we went for supplies, we decided to drive through the park, out the north entrance at Gardner, to Livingston, MT, west to Bozeman and then back home. There is always something interesting to see in the park, no matter how many times we have visited.

There is a nesting pair of bald eagles near the west entrance. Their nest site was blown over last winter, so they picked a different tree nearby for their new nest. Here is one of the adults.

Mom and baby elk.

Two more elk does with another baby.

Baby posing for a picture.

Cinnamon black bear munching on wildflowers.

Another view of the same bear. It appears to prefer the flowers over the plants.

This was a surprise to find prickly pear cactus blooming near the Gardner entrance. We weren't expecting them here.

According to signs, the soil in this area of the park has a high amount of clay and only a few plants can thrive here. There was a large field just covered with the cactus blooms.

Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center

A couple of weeks ago we visited the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center which is located right here in West Yellowstone. They are a not for profit group, and they plan to build a new habitat for the wolves when they have the funds. They do not receive any financial help from the government and depend on admission fees, sales at their store, and contributions to keep the place going. It's not the same as seeing the animals in the wild, but interesting all the same. The animals here, about 12 grizzlies and a pack of 4 wolves, are here for educational purposes and for a variety of reasons can not be released into the wild. The bears don't all get along, so they only have 2 or 3 out at one time.

This one is playing with his food, an elk bone. Check out the claws!

The bears have a nice environment with trees, some open area and a waterfall which runs into a pool. They put live trout in the pool for them to catch. They also have a program where kids get to go into the enclosure between bears being out and hide the food for them.

No doubt they are commenting on all us people watching them.

It's amazing how similar the wolves are to our Siberian Husky we used to have. Not just in their appearance but in their behavior.

They also have a waterfall and pool which is stocked with trout.

Lunch time. Yum!

Male mountain bluebird.

The mountain bluebirds get their color from the sky.