Click here to see - Yellowstone Park - upper half of the Mammoth Hot Springs - Part 8
It was already around 2PM and we were tired. We had some lunch and
refueled ourselves. But it didn't help much. We were full of
impressions, overwhelmed by the places we saw and could hardly take more
of it. So the rest of that day was kind of fuzzy and foggy.
We drove slowly along the road, stopping here and there. Like at
this lookout where we could see the steep cliffs on one side of the
creek and tough rock right across the road.
I guess that these stone columns were formed as a result of
extrusion of hot lava. And wind, water, ice and sun worked on them for
millions of years to separate them from each other.
The next time we stopped our car and got out, a slow stream was
running down one side of the road. The lush green meadow, sandwiched
between two hills and the meandering creek looked simply amazing.
But most of all, it was interesting for us to look at the numerous obsidian stones scattered around.
Millions of years ago, lava poured out here through cracks in the
earth's core. Some of this lave formed granits, and some simply cooled
down and remained in the form of obsidian.
For most of us, it was the first time we saw this volcanic glass in
person. We've all heard about obsidian but had no idea how beautiful it
looks. Black and glassy (no surprise here, it is a glass after all),
brittle and incredibly sharp when broken. Before seeing this, I was
always skeptical when I read about obsidian knives in books. But seeing
it in person confirmed that these blades were the best cutting tool
people could use for any need. Too fragile though but easily
replaceable ;)
The weather had changed dramatically by this time. That day it was
not warm, but it was nice in the morning. Not anymore... We were
freezing, and the sky was gloomy and gray. Another reason why this next
valley looked like a real death valley. The combination of gray sky,
gray ground and gray dead tree trunks made it surreal and frightening.
Even the spruces scattered along the foothills looked unnatural
there. Dead trees would have made more sense and we were surprised to
see something alive there.
And the smoking pits on the slopes only completed this picture... The gates to hell, probably...
Because of the low clouds, everything looked faded and colorless.
Even the turquoise water and bacteria matts looked muted compared to the
sunny morning. And the temperature was dropping faster than we could
have imagined.
Sometimes we couldn't see the car we left in the parking lot, even
if it was just a couple hundred yards away from us. And at this point,
the weather really started to bother us, and we drove faster trying to
reach safe harbor before the hell got loose.
When we approached the Old Faithful Geyser, it began to snow. We
couldn't believe we were wearing shorts and t-shirts the day before.
We stopped and glanced at the Old Faithful eruption (yep, we arrived just in time for it).
Actually mostly we stopped not to look at the eruption (because of
the snow, we hardly saw it), but to get some hot drinks in the hotel.
The hot chocolate was a cure and we had two cups each before it warmed
us up.
The snowfall was getting stronger and we couldn't believe it was
happening to us. It was actually the first measurable snow in
Yellowstone in 2010, so you can count us lucky ;)
The road was slippery and unpleasant to drive, but we were close to the hotel, so we
soon
unloaded, turned on the heater in the room and started working on our dinner.
To be continued...
Pictures were taken on September 05, 2010.
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