The
grave at Lake. This is just off the path that leads from the hotel to the
Hamilton Store, sort of up the hill from the old gas station. When I asked
around about it, the usual explanation was that it was a dog's grave, but
no one seemed to really know for sure. The book Death In Yellowstone
(one of my favorites) mentions graves with humans in them in the vicinity
of the old gas station, with this as a monument. A winterkeeper who died of a heart attack in 1906 is buried under the asphalt of the nearby abandoned gas station, along with a skull thought to be of a drowning victim found in 1907.
A
foggy, wet, spring morning in Hayden Valley. Spring seemed especially wet
and green that year ('97). Usually Hayden Valley looks a bit drier, with
lots of sagebrush and wide open spaces.
Mystic
Falls on a summer day. I like Mystic because the hike isn't too long, but
long enough to keep 99% of the tourists away, and you get to hike through
the geyser basins to get there (I am a geyser person). The ski in winter
from the Old Faithful Snowlodge is a good half days exercise for me, and
an excuse to check out the whole length of the Upper Basin. Also, the several
small hot springs on the canyon walls around the falls give the place an
otherworldly feel, especially when the weather is cold and there is lots
of steam.
The
Upper portion of Mystic Falls. This is what you see if you continue along
the trail that loops around to the observation point above the Biscuit
Basin.
Dead
trees and blue sky along the Mystic Falls overlook trail. There are a lot
of fire killed trees in the area. The charred black stuff has mostly weathered
away leaving an almost silver wood. It looked really pretty against the
blue sky. Yes, the sky was at least this blue. 
Start
of a spring run type stream at Lake. This is near the start of the Elephant
Back trail, not more than 100 feet from the trail. There is a big concrete
box around the spring with some broken pipes leading out of it and this
stream of water pouring out of it. It looks like this was (or is??) the
water supply for the Lake area. The area looked very lush, more like the
Smokies than Yellowstone. Found two kinds of orchids
blooming here on this day. Elephant Back is a nice trail with a spectacular
view of the Lake from the top. I knew one employee at Lake who hiked the
trail every day.
A
close-up of the edge of Doublet Pool in the Upper Geyser Basin. Besides
being a very pretty hot spring with the fancy scalloped edges, Doublet
has the peculiar habit of thumping. Sometimes, not always, if there is
no one walking the boardwalk nearby you can hear and feel a thumping noise
coming from Doublet. You can also see the water surface bounce up and down.
This is from steam bubbles expanding and then collapsing below the surface.
I
am not exactly sure what this old building is. It looks like maybe an old
ice house. It sits beside the Lake Hotel, near the kitchens and dining
room, toward the hospital.
A
view across Jenny Lake in Grand Tetons National Park. Grand Tetons Park
is certainly worth a visit while you are in the Yellowstone neighborhood,
even if it is only a quick part of a day driving visit. The Teton range
has some of the most dramatic jagged mountain scenery in the country.
Crystal
clear water along the shore of Jenny Lake.
Marmots
in Grand Teton Park, off a lookout along Signal Mountain Road. Also known
as whistle pigs. They look a lot like giant rats, but cute and cuddly.
Or maybe dry land beavers. We have them in Yellowstone too. Note: the linked
image isn't that much bigger in size than this, so don't be disappointed.
See my sister's version of a marmot.
Some
mountain in the Teton Range, Grand Teton National Park. I don't know which
one it is. I am a Yellowstone person, not a Teton Person.
A
sandbar along the shore of Yellowstone Lake, between Lake Village and West
Thumb. There are several areas along the lake shore like this where a sand
bar forms sort of a dam. They usually seem to be near where a creek empties
into the lake, so maybe that has something to do with their formation.
I read somewhere that in the old days the park road ran along the top of
one of them. On this one there are several large lodgepole pine trees that
had fallen over because of unusually high lake levels earlier in the year.
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