Glacier + Yellowstone : Day 7
This post is part 7 of the "glacier_yellowstone_2009" series:
- Glacier + Yellowstone : Day 1
- Glacier + Yellowstone : Day 2
- Glacier + Yellowstone : Day 3
- Glacier + Yellowstone : Day 4
- Glacier + Yellowstone : Day 5
- Glacier + Yellowstone : Day 6
- Glacier + Yellowstone : Day 7
::: {style="text-align: center;"}
:::
We awoke early, and headed south towards West Thumb. Along the way we encountered a huge herd of bison (including several calves) milling about on and along the road. I literally had to drive around two of them that refused to move. Our first stop of the day was the mud volcano a few miles north of West Thumb. This was another geothermal basin, with some particularly violent formations, including a muddy cauldron that boiled furiously. Next, we stopped at the West Thumb Geyser basin, which sat just beside Yellowstone Lake. The formations were ok, but this was probably my least favorite of all the geyser basins that we saw in the park. At this point, the weather had turned much colder, and it was starting to rain. We briskly walked the trail, and headed back to the car.
::: {style="text-align: center;"}
:::
This was the end of Yellowstone for us, and we left the park from the south entrance. We drove through some of the worst construction since the day we entered Glacier. Nearly the entire stretch of road between Yellowstone and Grand Teton parks was in horrific shape with lane closures, delays and gravel. Grand Teton was scenic, but other than that, I didn't see much of interest. We drove west from Jackson Hole, into Idaho, and then after several hours of fairly uninspired terrain, we reached Craters of the Moon National Monument, just west of Arco Idaho. The name of the park suggests that it will resemble the moon, but the reality is that its composed of several ancient volcanic lava flows, and doesn't look anything like the moon (craters or not). We planned to camp there that night, and drive home the following day. Sadly, there's not entirely all that much to do or see in the park, and we could have continued driving towards home that afternoon had we not already paid for the campsite. The park is comprised of a 7 mile loop drive with 7 pull-offs. Most of them are short trails leading through the lava flows, although the last stop leading to four different lava tubes (caves). The weather was ridiculously hot (90F+), and having black lava all around didn't help. Even after sunset the temperature took a long time to drop to the point of being comfortable.
::: {style="text-align: center;"}
:::
Additional pictures are posted here and here.
This post is part 7 of the "glacier_yellowstone_2009" series: