Yellowstone Nat'l Park, Part II: Midway Geyser Basin 9/4/10

65 degrees......A perfect day for a perfect place.

Following our morning at the Upper Geyser Basin, we realized that we had seen approximately 1/8 of the park. Yellowstone is big.......really big. We had heard of vacationers spending up to 9 days at the park and were a bit nervous knowing we had a mere day and a half in this place of wonders.

However - have no fear....the Cales are professionals in the car. Give us 30 minutes at the Grand Canyon and we will have covered most of the sights. 60 minutes?? Half of Arizona......Okay - exaggerations be damned, but we have mastered the task of maximizing every visit we have ever taken. Most people scoff at the idea of moving so fast, but we have a physical need to keep going....We are not the types of people to relish time by the pool at hotels, spend half a day at the spa, or stop for a peaceful sojourn through the forest trails relishing the sun on our faces. We have places to go and stamps to get. Our biggest nightmare on the road??? Getting to our nightly destination before 5pm. Really....We fret and say, "What on earth are we going to do? I know we just spent hours driving 400 miles, but the whole NIGHT is still open. Is there a NPS site somewhere near?"

Oddly enough though, we don't do drive-bys. Our first trip to Antietam National Battlefield lasted approximately 15 minutes and consisted of the Visitor Center and the field outside it. We vowed to never not do justice to a site again. We returned one year later, and spent hours with a guide book, pouring over every single site in the park. We may move fast, but we make them count. It just works for us.......

Following the beautiful morning at the Upper Geyser Basin, we stopped for lunch at the Old Faithful Inn. The inn of high wooden beams, elk antlers, and throngs of tourists, is also one of the only places to eat in the entirety of this park. Given that Yellowstone covers the approximate size of Delaware, this seems odd, so one must take the advantages of any restaurant within 50 miles. Packed with camera-laden visitors, the inn was also home to a very large hall restaurant that served, surprisingly, very good food. The windows were open and a September breeze blew through the hall as we watched the animal on the plain that oddly enough was also our plates....Sorry Mr. Bison, but in the words of Austin Powers' Fat Bastard, "GET IN MAH BELLY!!!"

Brooke had the equivalent of toilet paper with band-aids wrapped around her hobbling foot. They don't make Ace Bandages like they used to, but although her foot would barely fit in her shoe because of the swelling, we pressed on.

Just north of the Upper Geyser Basin and Old Faithful lies a small valley with the largest geyser pool in the park. Midway Geyser Basin peeked out on the hill as we turned the corner. We joined hundreds of other travelers to walk up the planked trail to the top of the glorious Excelsior Geyser.

The blue......how to describe the blue of the pool??? Even though the heat clouds pour off of the crater, the crowd gets brief glimpses of a color that is just not supposed to exist, other than in a Crayola box.

Excelsior Geyser is h-u-g-e. 4,000 gallons of overflow water pour into the Firehole River every minute. Old Faithful would need two months to produce the water that Excelsior spills over in one day. The steaming geyser water hits the river below with an audible hiss. People standing on the walkway to watch were so enthralled with the view that not one, but two hats flew off the heads of their owners straight into the river.

The wind was blowing at a fierce velocity, despite the blue skies. However, it was most welcome when on the plankway, as the heat at the Midway Geyser Basin reaches oppressive levels. Nowhere in the park do you feel the supervolcano's heat more than in this spot. The sulfur smells are also especially strong here. (The West Thumb Geyser Basin by Yellowstone Lake is oddly devoid of the sulfur odor, even though the landscape is dotted with numerous geysers). This place, though, was Rotten Egg City.

No matter though....a few moments of heat compared to the fires of a crematorium can still not erase the wonders of the park. Grand Prismatic Spring, the largest hot spring in the park, can only be viewed at a distance. We watched dozens of people stop for a second or two before being forced to move due to the rising temperature. Viewed only from a distance, the colors of yellow, orange, and green contrasted greatly to the blue of Excelsior Geyser.

The Midway Geyser Basin Walk is a short one......You can easily traverse the entire pathway in 15-20 minutes. It is highly congested and snapping pictures can be difficult without getting bumped, or having an errant hand cross your viewpoint, so for the best shots, position yourself wisely and bump back. This is not a place to lounge like the Upper Geyser Basin. The heat, odor, and large crowds make it a place to cover, but not linger. You MUST get out of the car and experience this place in its glory......If WE can, you surely can as well.....