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Friday, January 26
I got restless about 2 am. I turned the thermostat back down a little and slept some more... The reason it was set so high was that the window leaked cold air pretty badly, making the area around the window very chilly and noisy (I'm next to the parking lot).
I gave up and got up for good a little before 5. Breakfast was at 6, so I got a cup of tea from the lobby and waited.
We loaded the snow coach about 7:15 and took off into the park. Each snow coach could hold up to 14 people and we had two coaches, so most people had a full side of the coach to themselves (two seats on one side, one seat on the other). Since I had less equipment than most of the others, I slid into a single each day.
Our first stop was at a meadow with a stream, some trees, lots of snow and a hot spring across the road. I found out later that the hot springs were called Terrace Spring.
The photo on the left shows the road we came in on. This view is looking west from our parking spot. The center photo shows a small stand of trees on the south side of the road with the mist from the hot springs surrounding them and the sun trying to cut through the mist. The photo on the right is also on the south side of the road looking along a small stream (runoff from the hot springs) with the mist dominating the left side of the photo.
Both of these photos show the scenery on the north side of the road. The photo on the left shows tree shadows across the drifted snow.
The photo on the right shows Terrace Spring and the boardwalk that snakes through the area.
From there, we drove on to the Fountain Paint Pots area.
The photo on the left shows the runoff from this area as it parallels the trail from the parking lot. The steam in the distance is from the thermal features in this area. The center photo shows a snow covered portion of a dead tree sitting in the middle of some of the runoff. The photo on the right shows one edge of Fountain Paint Pot, which gives this area its name.
The photo on the left shows a thermal feature called The Red Spouter, a bubbling mud feature that sometimes explodes a couple of feet into the air. This photo catches the mud ejection in action.
The photo on the right shows one of the many small geysers in this area. It's called the Spasm Geyser. It's eruptions vary greatly in size and interval. Catching it in action is a matter of timing...
A small herd of bison decided to walk across the middle of the area. They seemed to know where to put their feet so that they didn't fall into the springs. They crossed the area through the middle of our group. In fact, some of us had to back up a bit as this put us too close to the bison...
These four photos show a portion of the parade of bison. They picked their way single file across the area.
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Then we drove back up to the Norris Geyser Basin with some stops along the way.
One of those stops was along the Gibbon River where this bison was foraging on the opposite bank. They use their massive heads to shove the snow out of the way to reach the sparse vegetation buried beneath it. The snow isn't as deep at the banks of rivers and the vegetation is sometimes a little more nourishing.
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Another stop on our way was by the side of the road through Gibbon Meadows, where a herd of bison was grazing and resting in the snow. We jumped out of the coaches and walked a short distance up the road (but not too close to the bison). The photo on the left shows some of our group gathered at the side of the road - this was as close as we could get to the bison. The center photo shows some of the bison in the meadow. The photo on the right shows our two snow coaches parked by the side of the road. That's one of our drivers in the photo, also.
Lunch in the parking lot at Norris Geyser Basin (we had box lunches). Then we walked into the Basin itself. Well, most of the group did. I bailed. I took one look at the trail, which was steep and snow covered and decided to bail... I'm not comfortable with that grade without my poles any more, so I stayed at the top of the trail and took pictures in the parking lot.
These three photos were taken near Norris Geyser Basin and its parking lot. The photo on the left shows the snow covered fences that surrounded the parking lot. The center photo shows the view looking down into Norris Basin between the trees at the edge of the parking lot. The photo on the right shows the Ranger Museum, which is closed at this time of year. However, the path into the Basin goes through this tunnel through the building. The steep part is just beyond this building...
It started snowing lightly while we were at Norris.
We spotted more wildlife along the way back to the motel, including trumpeter swans, bison, a coyote catching dinner (too far away for the cameras) and some elk.
These three photos show the trumpeter swans swimming on the Madison River.
The photo on the left was taken during the swan stop and shows the snow coach and snowmobile tracks making patterns in the road leading out of the park.
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These three photos were taken at our final stop of the day - one of the pulloffs along the Madison River, where this elk was grazing along the edge of the river.
We got back to the motel at 5:20 and reconvened at 6:20 for dinner at Slippery Otter. I had a BLT salad. Not bad!
During that hour break in the motel, I got camera batteries recharged, photos downloaded with first level labeling, everything backed up, and seven photos quick processed and posted to Facebook....
Then it was back to room for a shower and to crash for the night. I got enough fresh air and exercise today, so I should sleep well.