Canada/West 2022:
Day 22 - Yellowstone National Park

	Wednesday, August 31, 2022: We were packed up and on the road before sunrise.
	Two hours later, we were crossing the Snake River again, ...
	... and an hour after that, we were in Wyoming, ...
	... where there are moose.
	When we were here last year, we apparently didn't get an Adopt-a-Highway sign. This time we did.
	Highway 22, also known as Teton Pass Highway, is really scenic while being steep and terrifying at the same time.
	We crossed the Snake River again as we descended in Jackson, ...
	... where Debbie's sharp eyes caught this coyote running through a field beside the road.
	There are some vintage neon signs on hotels in the Jackson Hole area, ...
	... but the only sign we cared about at this point was the Golden Arches.
	Check out the bears in the river raft atop the Dave Hansen Whitewater and Scenic River Rafting company.
	We slowly wound our way though the congested town square in Jackson Hole, ...
	... past the park with the antler arch at the entrance, ...
	... and north to Grand Teton National Park.
	Aren't the Tetons beautiful?
	At Moose Junction, we went to the visitor center ...
	... to see the Stephen Mather plaque that we hadn't known about when we were here last year.
	The plaque is in really good shape.
	We walked past this bronze moose statue on the way ...
	... to the Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center.
	We looked around the gift shop to see if there was anything we needed, and we saw these pint glasses with a map of the park on them. We had just given a set of these glasses with other national parks on them to Stewart and Lyndsay for an engagement gift.
	There were wild huckleberries next to the path on the way back to the van, ...
	... and this caterpiller hanging on a branch. Good luck, little guy.
	Heading north, we pulled in to Glacier View turnout, and sure enough, we saw a glacier, ...
	and then later there were horses crossing the road, right at the horse crossing sign. Good job with the signs, park rangers!
	This field was full of pronghorns.
	More majestic views, ...
	... and an Escape campervan, ...
	... and another one trying to get away.
	The water at Jackson Lake appeared to be down, ...
	... but Tom only had eyes for this Ferrari parked at the overlook.
	Farewell, Grand Teton National Park, ...
	... hello, Yellowstone National Park.
	We were taking bets on how long the wait would be to enter Yellowstone, and we were stunned when we got there and there was no waiting. None. We drove right up to the checkpoint, got a map, and drove right on.
	We had been here last year, but there had been major flooding here since then. We were anxious to see what signs of the flooding were still visible.
	That's West Thumb Lake out there.
	We had been keeping a sharp lookout for this falling rock sign. Debbie had noticed last year that it is mounted upside down, and we were amused to see that it was still that way.
	Right around 1 PM we encountered our first flood-related road damage. There were quite a few places where the pavement was gone and temporary fixes were in place.
	Bison! It was just standing in a field, minding its own business.
	We pulled into the Old Faithful parking area just after 1:30 PM and were disappointed to see the geyser erupting in the distance. We were going to have to wait now for the full interval before the next eruption, which was estimated to be 90 minutes from now.
	There was an Escape campervan leaving the area as we walked toward the geysers, ...
	... and another in the parking lot.
	The Old Faithful viewing area had been updated since we last saw it erupt back in 2005. The wooden decking had been replaced and viewing benches had been added.
	We made our way around the perimeter of Old Faithful, walking past the Old Faithful Inn, a huge hotel right at the geyser's edge.
	There's a wooden deck walking path that takes you past many of the lesser known geysers in the area.
	Across the way was Beehive Geyser.
	Here it is zoomed in. More on this geyser later.
	Our walk took us past Chinese Spring, ...
	... and the gorgeous Blue Star Spring, which is clear as glass and you can see quite a ways into its depths.
	We crossed a bridge over the Firehole River, ...
	... and admired the grasshoppers near the path. They made a very odd sound when they were flying. It sounded a little like a washing machine spinning off balance. It was very distinctive.
	We walked past Infant Geyser, ...
	... Vault Geyser, ...
	... Giantess Geyser, ...
	... Teakettle Geyser, ...
	... Pump Geyser, ...
	... and Sponge Geyser.
	There were animal prints in the dirt near Sponge Geyser.
	This is Doublet Pool, ...
	... Aurum Geyser, ...
	... Beach Spring, ...
	... the anatomically named Ear Spring, ...
	... North Goggles Geyser, ...
	... and Goggles Spring.
	Look at the clear water to the upper left of Goggles Spring. Look how far down you can see.
	This one is Lion Geyser, ...
	... Heart Spring, ...
	... and Depression Geyser.
	Back to Beehive Geyser. While modest looking, it is actually one of the most impressive geysers in Yellowstone. Eruptions of this geyser can last for five minutes and shoot water and steam up to heights of 200 feet. Beehive's activities are not predictable like Old Faithful, but when an eruption cycle is active, it can be anywhere from ten hours to five days between eruptions, and they are preceeded by eruptions from a side channel known as an indicator geyser.
	Here is Beehive again, ...
	... and a little way off is Beehive's indicator. If you look closely, you can see that the indicator is bubbling, which means that Beehive might erupt soon.
	Walking back toward the Old Faithful viewing area, we passed Anemone Geyser, ...
	... before selecting a spot to watch Old Faithful. Beehive Geyser is visible far in distance, about three quarters of the way between the white mound of Old Faithful and the pine tree on the right side of the photo.
	A little after 3:00 PM, a ranger walked by and said that Beehive should erupt soon, ...
	... and a few minutes later, ...
	... boom! Beehive started to spout!
	Look at that fountain of water! From the viewing area at Old Faithful, we were zoomed way in with the camera, ...
	... so here it is in perspective.
	About five minutes later, after an absolutely spectacular show, Beehive sputtered out. We couldn't believe our good fortune to have seen it.
	Meanwhile, Old Faithful would bubble and shoot up some steam for a second or two, and then go completely quiet. We decided that we had waited long enough, ...
	... and started walking back to the van. Before we got too far away, we heard commotion and headed back to the back edge of the viewing area, ...
	... and off it went! It was almost two hours since the eruption we had seen when we first arrived, ...
	... and we watched it for a few minutes before heading away from the view area and to the general store. We wanted to beat the crowd and get our shopping done before the eruption stopped and all of the people headed to the store. We bought a bottle of Yellowstone Bourbon Whiskey, plus a loaf of bread and sliced turkey for lunch.
	We saw another Escape campervan leaving the lot as we were getting back to our van.
	We made our way north along the Firehole River.
	We passed another Escape campervan. This design is a contour map and is one of Tom's favorites.
	We continued along the Firehole River, ...
	... and saw a field full of bison near Grand Prismatic Spring Overlook.
	We stopped at Madison Information Station, parked, and walked the trail down to the information station itself.
	Behind the building, with a stunning view of the valley, ...
	... sits a Mather plaque embedded in a stone on the right hand side of the trail.
	Here, in 1870, members of the Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition camped on the last night of their exploration of this area and came to the conclusion that this land and areas like it should be preserved for public enjoyment. This is where the idea of a national park was first conceived, and it is only fitting that a plaque honoring Stephen Mather, the man that did so much to make that idea a reality, should be placed here.
	We admired the daisies near the path on our walk back to the van.
	We headed out of the western entrance of the park, ...
	... along the Madison River, ...
	... to Montana.
	We headed north, ...
	... past cattle ranches, ...
	... and into Gallatin National Forest.
	The Gallatin River flowed alongside the road, ...
	... right at the foot of the accurately-named Red Cliffs.
	We turned in to the Red Cliff Campground, which was our destination this day.
	We got our tent set up, ...
	... made a couple of cocktails, ...
	... and walked down to the Gallatin River to get a closer look. There was a picnic area right across the river, ...
	... and we could see the bridge that we had crossed to get into the campground.
	We boiled water with our camp stove and rehydrated spicy sausage pasta for dinner. We were still in bear country, so we packed all of our food and anything that had a possibly delicious odor, like our toothpaste, and put everything back in the van.
	The forecast called for zero percent chance of rain tonight, so we slept with the rainfly off so that we could watch the stars as we fell asleep. Day 23 >