Mimi and Maumau, Martine and DD Return! Or the Denver-Denver Loop of the 4 Friends (page 8 of 17)

Hello! 🙂

For Aline: 20 years of marriage at the Grand Canyon!!! It’ll be an unforgettable memory. For Sylvie: So, girlfriend, you didn’t start a travel journal?? There aren’t many about what you did this summer. For Guillaume: So glad my writing made you want to visit some of this country’s wonders. Actually, yours helped me remember the names of some sites in the Mammoth Terraces. This forum is amazing. As for the weather, we had to adapt because even though we only had one truly cloudy day, there were quite a few clouds, and some places are just so much more beautiful in the sunlight!! But hey, let’s keep things in perspective—even under a gray sky, it’s still magnificent!!! Have a great Sunday, everyone! Martine 🙂

After Artists Paint Pots and Nymph Lake, we headed to Gardiner. Roaring Mountain and its fumaroles, a short wait due to roadworks just before arriving at Mammoth Hot Springs This natural limestone mineral formation was one of the sites that had me most excited during my planning. Despite the gray weather that accompanied us throughout the visit, it was one of my favorite spots of the trip. Lower terrace We chose to park at the lower parking lot and explore these terraces on the way up (they’re done on foot). From the very first moment, we were charmed. For thousands of years, the hot spring waters have passed through the rocks, depositing calcareous sediments on the surface, which, as they cooled, shaped these large travertine basins. The water flowing from one basin to another in small cascades offers a landscape of terraced steps and petrified waterfalls. It’s stunning!!! The range of colors comes from the work of thermophilic bacteria and changes depending on the water temperature. The colors are most vibrant where the springs flow the most, but when a spring dries up, the rock turns a milky white. Greens, whites, blacks, oranges—every shade of ochre!!!! Each terrace is different from the last in colors and formations!!! We wandered through these spectacular formations via walkways and staircases. Jupiter terrace

A small pool just above Fort Yellowstone, whose name I couldn’t find (if anyone knows!!!!) Cleopatra terrace



Mounds Spring



I love these little bronze-colored basins.



My imagination runs wild.... lace



a pine forest

seashells

New Blue Spring

We headed back down while a cute little bird landed near us.

Mounds Spring again

Minerva Terrace

This one had me racking my brain to remember its name!!! When I searched for Minerva Terrace online, it was described as a terrace known for its colors, but my photos were all white!!! Ugh!!!! I spent hours on this before considering that since the spring had dried up, it had turned white!!!

We got back in the car to visit the Upper Terrace. General view of the Mammoth Hot Springs terraces Even with the gray sky, it’s beautiful!!! Still, my photos are dull, and I grumbled quite a bit about that stubborn sky refusing to clear up!!! And since the others had trusted me completely with the planning, I’m the only one who knew what we were missing without the sun to light up the site. They didn’t quite understand why I was so grumpy!!!

Upper terrace It’s a 2.5 km one-way loop you can do on foot or by car. We did it by car (about twenty minutes) and found it much less spectacular than what we’d just seen. Many springs no longer flow, and the sky’s color didn’t help. Angel Terrace From the Lower Terraces, we hadn’t gone all the way to Canary Spring. At Main Terrace, we left the guys in the car, and Mimi and I took off. What a great idea!! We dashed along the boardwalks from viewpoint to viewpoint.

Grassy Spring







Canary Spring We didn’t get to see the bright yellow it’s famous for, but we were in a sublime, otherworldly atmosphere!!!

These dead, stripped trees—like skeletons crying for help—added to our sense of the supernatural!!!



We were choking up with emotion. It’s beautiful, it’s beautiful, it’s beautiful!!! This golden water flowing softly in the mist of the fumaroles. You can barely make out the bluish reflection of the pools, and the white of the dry rocks stands out perfectly in this setting. Okay, time to go!! The guys are waiting in the car. We left this dreamlike setting with regret, images filling our heads. We rejoined the loop, passing by Orange Mounds Spring



It’s all gray too, except for the side under the little spring gushing from its top.

We stopped briefly to photograph Palette Spring and the black rock of Devil’s Thumb as well as Liberty Cap while it wasn’t raining.

At Mammoth, it was too late to visit the Visitor Center and the park and wildlife museum like I’d planned. We photographed an elk strolling in front of the post office, right in the town center.

We got a little closer!! But with its determined look, we decided to back off and leave without pushing our luck!!

The winding road to Gardiner is beautiful. I skipped Boiling River Trail and its river swim!!! Anyway, I would’ve been the only one dipping my butt in the water, and with the weather outside, I didn’t feel like spending the rest of the trip with a runny nose!!! 6:30 PM!! We settled into the Yellowstone Riverside Cottage before taking a stroll in Gardiner. Meal at the Cowboy Grill: $102 for 3 beers and 4 hot dogs!!! Not great after an endless wait!!! In bed, I replayed this day in my head—just as Guillaume pointed out, we’d covered both ends of the “8” formed by Yellowstone’s roads. What a beautiful park!!! Come on, Martine, give your brain a rest and sleep!!! There’ll be plenty of time tomorrow to reorganize the visits since your plans got thrown off!!!

Thanks Martine for continuing this account—always full of humor. Indeed, a gray sky gives a whole new dimension to all these splendors. As you say, maybe we, who plan the trips, are more disappointed than those who follow us with complete trust and discover all these places without preconceived ideas. We should probably stop looking at photos at least 6 months before leaving 😉. Still, you were really lucky with the animals. Happy New Year’s Eve and see you next year for the next installment, no doubt 😉 Hugs, Françoise.

Good evening, forum friends! 🙂 No travel update today. We wish you and your loved ones an excellent 2020 filled with projects and dreams, happiness to savor every moment, surprises, beautiful discoveries, and lovely encounters in your travels or daily life—above all, good health that lasts. Enjoy the people you love and tell them so!!! In a nutshell: BE HAPPY!!!! Martine and the rest of the gang

Happy New Year 2020 too! 🎆🎇🎉🎆🎇🎉 May it be filled with amazing experiences and wonderful encounters! Take care of yourselves and don’t change a thing—you’re awesome! 👍 Aline

there were only the two of us in front of this magnificent landscape! Mid-September 2019 around 10 a.m.!

Happy New Year Martine! Thanks again for your really great travel journal that’s giving us lots of ideas for 2021 or 2022... See you soon! Laurent

Thank you all for your kind wishes and for this wonderful update with such beautiful photos! We wish you a happy new year, good health to take more great trips, beautiful photos, and other amazing travel journals! ;)

Hi Martine,

After following the adventures of the fabulous group of sixty-somethings in 2017, I’m happy to see that two years later you still have the same energy! Real kids!!! 😉

I’m catching up when you’re in Yellowstone—it’s not bad, that works for me... 😏

Any plans for September 2021? 😎

In the meantime, I wish all four of you a very happy 2020! !

Hi Martine,

I also wish you a very happy 2020, with that same energy and always travel plans to the States or elsewhere... enjoying, discovering, nothing but happiness... Stay healthy and keep that great mood we feel through your really nice travel journals. 🙂[;]

Hello 🙂 Thanks for your kind words and wishes for the coming year! Hi Pascal, so glad to see you again!!! As for plans!! Nothing specific yet except a trip to Guadeloupe in March to warm our old bones while waiting for spring to arrive. Now that DD is retired, we’ll be able to look into more distant destinations, especially New Zealand, which has been on our minds for a while. For the USA, Oregon, Glacier National Park, Texas, and the state of Colorado—which we’ve only flown over and where there are still amazing spots we haven’t visited!!!! ... so many places tempting us!!!! For now, I’m buried in my travel journal (which I’m working on at a snail’s pace 😕) and trying not to think about the rest, but once it’s done, I’ll dive back into the question, and Mimi and I will convince our guys to hit the road again!!!!!

Day 10. September 11. Gardiner - Canyon Village Canyon Lodge Western Cabin: Gardiner 330 € (4 people, no breakfast) Our only accommodation inside the park due to the prices. Huge crowd at check-in, which ended up being fairly quick considering the number of people waiting. The cabin was nicely decorated, quite spacious, and very comfortable with a coffee machine but no refrigerator. The bathroom had a large bathtub and small ambient lights, but the sink was in the bedroom. A bit secluded from the main building (we drove around a bit to find it) and on the edge of the forest. A little far from the restaurants. After stocking up at the supermarket near our hotel, we left town at 8:20 AM. A quick pass through the Fort Yellowstone buildings, which have retained their original charm even though they’ve been converted into administrative offices and housing for rangers and their families after previously serving as the cavalry headquarters. An elk strolls peacefully among the flowers.

Mammoth Hot Springs Last stop before heading to Norris.

Liberty Cap This cone-shaped formation, nearly 12 meters tall, is the result of a dormant hot spring that hasn’t been active for a century.

Palette Spring

We marveled at the incredible work of the hot water on the limestone rocks, coloring them white, green, orange, and gold. Only the skeletons of a few stripped trees emerge. And the dark heart of Devil’s Thumb, standing proudly between the small terraces. - We admired one last time the striking color contrast despite the gray sky. Lace-like formations And pillars of this magnificent place.

Fir trees give way to barren meadows and lakes. We’re completely enveloped in mist. A thirty-minute stop due to roadwork to widen the road, then we arrive at Roaring Mountain This hill, where vegetation has been almost entirely destroyed on one side by the intense heat and escaping gases, is completely white, giving the impression it’s covered in snow.

The fumaroles are quite active, and their plumes are accentuated by the cold temperature.

You can still hear a few hisses, even if it no longer roars.

Hello

A lot (too much) of activity during the month of December, up to a big party on the 24th. I completely lost track of your story. After a good week of rest, with a clearer mind, I'm diving back in. 😏😏😏

My best wishes to you all—may the best possible things come your way, and as Brel would say: "with heads full of dreams and the desire to make some of them come true"

Yellowstone is still just as stunning! We could go back several times and never get bored—the light, the sun, the clouds... each time renew our perspective.

To be continued...

Hey Gilles 🙂 At the rate I'm writing, you can't have fallen too far behind 😕 Apart from the ones that seem obvious to me, I'll stop trying to remember the names of the geysers and other springs or pools, otherwise I won't have finished my travel journal by 2021. I'll just stick to the most telling photos and apologize to the readers for that. Please forgive and correct any mistakes you find in there. Martine 🙂

Norris Area Museum of the National Park Ranger We really enjoyed the quick visit to this little museum set up in a log cabin reconstructed exactly like the old military post that used to be here. You can see what the rangers' living quarters were like in the early days of the park, along with videos and uniforms. Norris Geyser Basin This area has the hottest springs and geysers in Yellowstone. It has everything: hot springs, hissing fumaroles, steam jets, and mud pots in a sulfur smell and a lunar atmosphere made even more striking by the gray weather. Again, we walked on wooden boardwalks. Again, you can feel Yellowstone’s heartbeat and sense the power of Mother Nature. We spent two hours exploring the two basins. Back Basin Emerald Spring

Steamboat Geyser It’s steaming. And it erupts. Unlike Porcelain Basin, the trees are very much present in Back Basin, along with their little inhabitants.

Cistern Spring

Echinus Geyser

Crater Spring

Mystic Spring You can barely see how deep the hole is.

Puff’n Stuff Geyser

Green Dragon

Not much is left of these trees burned by the acid. Blue Mud Steam Vent

Porkchop Geyser

?????



The danger is everywhere for those who step off the boardwalks—the crust looks very thin around the holes.

Vixen Geyser

Veteran Geyser

Monarch Geyser Couldn’t find the name of these two bubbling pools.

Minute Geyser

We also got stopped by construction near Roaring Mountain on September 18, 2019. After that, when it started moving again, there was no way we were stopping for Obsidian Cliff on the way to Mammoth Hot Springs! What a shame.

Porcelain Basin Porcelain Terrace OVL From up there, we have an overview of the basin. The dense vegetation of Back Basin has almost entirely disappeared. Even though the area is surrounded by pine trees, in the distance, the boardwalks wind through a flat, gray and white depression where only a few rare, bare trees remain because the acidity of the soil has stripped everything away. Everything here is so gentle—just a touch of green, a bit of orange, a little pearly blue!! It’s magnificent. We step onto the boardwalks, where we can safely explore the basin. But the sky is still just as gray!!! Honestly, the heat and sun have completely abandoned Yellowstone today, and we’re bundled up in our thick puffy jackets and wool hats. Oh well, we’ll make do without!!!! What we’re seeing is absolutely breathtaking. That green from the bacteria and algae, the orange caused by iron!! We’re taking it all in—not just with our eyes!! All around us, it crackles, gurgles, and hisses with that rotten-egg smell. Lewis mud pots Ledge Geyser Hurricane Vent Colloidal Pool The farther we walk, the more it feels like we’ve been teleported off our good old Earth.

Porcelain Spring



The geyserite deposited by the hot water and acidic vapors has repainted the whole area white!!! With the occasional mother-of-pearl sheen of a pool!!! It’s stunning!!! Valentine Geyser, Steam Plume of Guardian, Dark Cavern

Whirling Geysers



This is the most colorful spot in the basin. The boardwalks pass right over it, letting us admire the incredible colors—but watch out if anyone dares to step off!!! Whale’s Mouth Spring Still in this hushed atmosphere,

we head toward Crackling Lake. Here, everything changes—the vegetation is back, and the colors are vibrant!!! Again, you can see how thermophilic microorganisms give these waters their astonishing hues!!!

We slowly make our way back to the exit, still admiring the geysers and pools. Milky Complex continuing through the pine trees until we reach the small museum we didn’t visit.

What a wonderful return, so well described and with so many beautiful photos! How can we not want to go there! My husband and I are loving it! We really hope to enjoy it in June 2021! We’ll see how many nights we can stay, especially since with the road section closed, and if it’s also snowy, it might cause us some problems! Looking forward to reading more from you

Hello

Even though I just got back (well, last year, actually!), your photos make me want to see it in person. We always get used to the sky.

For us, Yellowstone was the phase: goodbye rain/snow/hail, hello sunshine.

Have a great rest of the trip!