Day In Brief:	Old Faithful Area
�	Wildlife Gazing

Lodgings: Historic Madison Motel

Established as the world's first national park in 1872, Yellowstone covers more than 2 million acres and draws thousands of visitors a year. A land that showcases nature's unbelievable wonders, due solely to heat and water. Other than Iceland, New Zealand and Kamchatka(Siberia), Yellowstone is the only other location in the world with a large concentration of geothermal features.

For once, I started my day much earlier than my norm, at around 7am ;p As there was no phone available in the motel room, my only other option was public phones, which thankfully was available in great abundance in the States. The whole place was bright and sunny at 7am in the morning, since the sun probably dawns at 4-5am. I made my way across one lane and another main road to find a public telephone. Found the morning walk to be a most invigorating, the cool air (yep...I had a sweater and my windbreaker on!!), the mild sunlight......absolutely memorable :)

After a hearty breakfast at Timberline Cafe, an eatery near to our motel, (The timberwolf breakfast on the menu turned out to be Carol's favourite for our 3 days in West Yellowstone ;p), we made our way to the Old Faithful Geyser Area of Yellowstone National Park from the West Entrance of the park. We were pleasantly surprised when the traffic in front of our car slowed and came to a complete stop on the road after we entered the park.....

This was the cause of the traffic slowdown! American Bisons taking a morning walk on the roads!! :)

Rangers at the Old Faithful Area lead visitors around on the boardwalk to see the geysers that the boardwalk was built around. Anecdotes were shared with us by the rangers, tips on geyser-watching were generously imparted as well :) Due to the high geo-thermal activity in the area which results in boiling water-thin crust in the surrouding areas, boardwalks were constructed in the to facilitate geyser and hotsprings viewing in the area.

A picture taken along the boardwalk that is a common sight in Yellowstone National Park, with a steaming geyser in the background. It's probably Grotto Geyser, I think!

Waiting crowds in front of geyser pools are a common sight in the Old Faithful Area of Yellowstone National Park. Many are willing to spend as much as up to a few hours waiting, just to see a geyser erupt. We gave such waiting a shot as well, though it was quite trying to have to wait under the hot-scorching sun , but glad to say that our approximately 30-40 minutes for Grand Geyser to erupt was well worth the wait! Just a note, Grand Geyser is the world's largest predictable geyser. The magnificence of nature's awesome steamy prowess is really unparalled. The most amazing thing about all these geysers is that each and every geyser has its individual and unique characteristics and "mood", right down to the way it erupts, its predictability etc. No two geysers are exactly alike!

One of the star attractions in the Old Faithful Area- Morning Glory Pool. Credits go to Robin Low for this photo.

Yellowstone National Park is a very colourful and delightful place to be in. Due to the presence of wam water in the area, rainbow coloured bacteria thrives in the surrounding area. An example would be the rainbow coloured frame that u see in the Morning Glory Pool. On the other hand, extreme heat in the pool that causes constant boiling of water prohibits bateria growth. This results in the exceptionally clear blue water that you see in a hot spring - the Morning Glory Pool illustrates this.

Another photo taken in front of Grotto Geyser (?) Caroline and Robin.

Guess no visit to Yellowstone national park can be complete without a trip down to view Old Faithful- the geyser! Just some background information on Old Faithful. Old Faithful was thus named by members of the Washburn Expedition due to its consistent erupting in approximately 85 minute intervals. This is more frequent than any of the other big geysers. As such, the geyser's periodic eruptions was relatively easier to predict and thus the name-Old Faithful.

My amateurish attempt at trying to capture Old Faithful in its splendour ;p Hmm.....not a very successful one though.....

Taking photos in front of geysers seemed to be our most common activity for the day...:P Well...come to think of it....if we do not have our fill of geysers over here in Yellowstone...guess the next best alternative would have been NZ, Siberia or Iceland ;p There u go! Another shot taken in front of Old Faithful :) PS: Can u pple recall that we were marvelling over the fact that the boardwalk in front of Old Faithful is made up entirely of a material recycled from plastic bottles?

For some reason or other, it always seems to rain in the late afternoon over here in Yellowstone, Wyoming. Dark clouds could be seen gathering in the sky as the afternoon passes. Quite a great contrast from the sunny weather in the morning and early afternoon. Well, guess this is probably something unique and characteristic of the area. :)

Feeling very chirpy and happy on the boardwalk in the Old Faithful Area. Guess the dark overcast sky in the background could do little to dampen our feelings! Doesn't it always feel good to be on a holiday? ;P

Wildlife Gazing

In addition to the major attractions such as Old Faithful area, Mammoth Hot Springs etc, one can choose to go on the many other scenic drives around the surrounding areas. As the weather had started to drizzle by then, we took the opportunity to drive through these scenic areas. True to its reputation as a premier national park for wildlife, we could see many bisons, both young and old, elks etc grazing by the wide expanse of grassland by the sides of the roads and the turn-offs. Close encounters with these wild life is almost possible especially in the case of bisons which do not seem to be adverse to human contact. Bisons travel freely on the roads, walk by the sides of vehicles and they can even be found to graze freely in front of places like the hotels near the Old Faithful area. ;p

Grazing buffaloes on the grassland alongside the main road. Credits go to Robin Low. Can you see the barren tree trunks on the slopes in the background? This was the result of a huge forest fire that swept through Yellowstone National Park a few years back.

Grand Teton

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