9th June - Yellowstone III

Can't....breathe...stinky!

Today we went back to the Norris Geyser Basin and did the part of the loop that we didn’t do yesterday. Lots more steaming holes and gurgling mud. We read about the thermophiles that grow in the hot conditions – the red ones like temperatures of about 60 degrees Celsius, which isn’t actually that hot, but I guess if it gets much hotter they’ll be roasted to death. The sun came out and it was quite nice. Didn’t improve the smell of stinky sulphur though. 

We continued on our drive up to Mammoth, stopping at Roaring Mountain to take photos of the solftara/fumaroles - some reference to the crusty layer of some of the geothermal movements and the sulphur emissions they produce. It looked pretty cool, like the ashy side of a volcano with steam still pouring out of some parts. We saw a couple of bison as we drove along (so noted because of the tourists pulled over with their cameras out!), but nothing like the herds we saw yesterday!

We stopped at a point where RVs weren’t allowed, but turned back as Sheepeater’s Cliffs didn’t look that impressive from a distance. (we drove down there illegally!) At the next scenic drive we parked and walked as Will didn’t want to get into trouble for driving where RVs aren’t allowed. We walked and walked and then suddenly we were at Mammoth Springs (by accident!) – a series of hot springs set in encrusted pools. I imagine the pools at that place we didn’t get to in Turkey, Pamukkale, look like this, but bigger. Anyway, these ones were pretty impressive and walked around them and took pics. A few of the springs were no longer springing and there wasn’t a lot of water going down the side of the cliff, but they still looked pretty cool. Lots of blues, oranges and greens just like the other ones we’ve seen. These had more pools though and less steam and no geysers. 

A hairy drive through town, with a woman determined to be on our side of the road and a guy determined to be t-boned by us. When we hesitated maybe two seconds he turned across in front of us and earned a few flipped birds and angry words. Idiot. Then we continued on to the campground down the hill, only to be pulled over by the park ranger (e.g. park police) as we turned into the campground. I didn’t even notice him! Flashing lights, but no siren. He said he’d seen some liquid spill out when we hit the breaks at the idiot up the road and he thought it was ‘gasoline’ (insert Wyoming accent). Will assured him it was water, but apparently he still had to taste it. Eww. Lucky it was just water! Then he wanted ‘license and registration’ and again, I was reminded of Super Troopers. Must stop making that comparison! He also wanted to see our insurance papers, which we keep all together in a folder. Then he asked Will had any convictions or warrants and ran a license check! Of course, Will was clear, but I guess the cop gets told that all the time. The lady who checked us in to the campground said that the cops ran a check on a guy a little while ago and he was wanted in Alabama, so I guess they can’t be too safe!!

After that little encounter with the law, we had lunch. We have been driving around for seven weeks so it makes sense that we should be pulled over at some point just so that they can check poor Betsey for weapons or (open) alcohol. No luck for this cop and he must’ve been disappointed because he stopped being chatty when he realised it was just water. We had a quiet afternoon relaxing, reading and in Will’s case, napping. A late dinner and then afterwards when we went to the toilets, I nearly ran into three elk! We’d seen one earlier in the day at the campground, just grazing near the road. I just didn’t notice them until Will said stop! Then they were eyeing us up and we really needed to go to the toilet! They didn’t have any horns though so I figured they wouldn’t be able to do us too much harm! One in particular was pretty bold and just watched us walk past! Something different – bailed up by elk when all we wanted to do was go pee!