Tue, Jan 25
01.27.05
We had breakfast at the hotel restaurant, which had lousy oatmeal. Harlan had pancakes and eggs. It was -3F at the park entrance, and we saw 2 bald eagles in a tree. As it was a bit foggy at that place, we didnt get great pictures of them. On the way to our first thermal feature stop we approached 4 old herd bulls. They were going our way so we had to be Careful. Things got better and worse when the oldest bull decided he had run far enough and got off the road and started eating. The remaining 3 bulls decided to stop in the road, taking positions on the left side, center, and right side of the road, and just standing there daring us to do something. We waited, and then a couple of snow coaches came up behind us and also waited. A little while later, 3 other snowmobiles came toward the party from the other direction. After another 5 minutes or so, the 3 bulls decided that since we were not going to cause any trouble we must not be any fun, so they also headed toward the old bull to eat a little something. We proceeded to an area that has all 4 of the thermal features in the park geysers, fumaroles, (bubbly pool things), and hot springs. We wandered around there for a while and then got back on our snowmobiles and headed to Old Faithful. We got there about an hour before it was next predicted to go off, so we headed up the road to a waterfall for some pictures. We got back about 20 minutes later and watched a 10 minute (or so) movie about Yellowstone. Their projector was broken so the group in the theatre watched this on a small TV with fairly quiet audio. At least the closed-captions were on.
The parking lot filled considerably during this time, and at about 15 minutes before the next scheduled eruption we headed over to Old Faithful to wait it out (it usually goes of within 10 minutes time of the prediction). After a number of false starts, we saw a small spurt about 10 minutes time after the predicted eruption. For some reason, everybody stayed there a bit longer, and 5 minutes later we were rewarded with a decent blow. After 143 pictures over the 4 days, the batteries in Harlans digital camera ran out, and he was also down to about 6 more shots on his 35mm camera. We left, crossed the continental divide for the first of three times that day, then crossed the divide again and headed to West Thumb for lunch. We saw a ranger there who said Old Lonesome (an old herd bull) was down the path if we wanted to see him, and suggested that as he was both mostly deaf and mostly blind that we not surprise him, especially from the front. We wandered around the paths looking at thermal features and the nice view, and then came across Old Lonesome. He pretty much stood there grazing. We got some pictures, then headed up to lunch.
After lunch we headed south, crossing the divide for the third time. We stopped for some pictures a few more times (including another waterfall, where the 35mm camera started to act up) and then dropped off the snowmobiles and got in the van for the drive back to Jackson.
The drive was pretty, and we stopped to look at a mama moose and her little one. The weather was pretty clear, and we had some very nice views of the Tetons on the way. As the sun was already well in the west the lighting was all wrong for pictures, but Brenda and I decided wed wake up early in the morning and head over to shoot some photos and video of the Tetons.
The parking lot filled considerably during this time, and at about 15 minutes before the next scheduled eruption we headed over to Old Faithful to wait it out (it usually goes of within 10 minutes time of the prediction). After a number of false starts, we saw a small spurt about 10 minutes time after the predicted eruption. For some reason, everybody stayed there a bit longer, and 5 minutes later we were rewarded with a decent blow. After 143 pictures over the 4 days, the batteries in Harlans digital camera ran out, and he was also down to about 6 more shots on his 35mm camera. We left, crossed the continental divide for the first of three times that day, then crossed the divide again and headed to West Thumb for lunch. We saw a ranger there who said Old Lonesome (an old herd bull) was down the path if we wanted to see him, and suggested that as he was both mostly deaf and mostly blind that we not surprise him, especially from the front. We wandered around the paths looking at thermal features and the nice view, and then came across Old Lonesome. He pretty much stood there grazing. We got some pictures, then headed up to lunch.
After lunch we headed south, crossing the divide for the third time. We stopped for some pictures a few more times (including another waterfall, where the 35mm camera started to act up) and then dropped off the snowmobiles and got in the van for the drive back to Jackson.
The drive was pretty, and we stopped to look at a mama moose and her little one. The weather was pretty clear, and we had some very nice views of the Tetons on the way. As the sun was already well in the west the lighting was all wrong for pictures, but Brenda and I decided wed wake up early in the morning and head over to shoot some photos and video of the Tetons.
We got into town and dropped off 5 rolls of print film at the camera store for developing. It looks like the slide film will have to wait to get developed, as the only place in town that develops slide film has a reputation for scratching the film. We stayed at the same hotel (the 49er Inn) but got downgraded from a suite that had a king bed and a fireplace to a room with a king bed and a whirlpool tub. We like the new room better.
We finally had cell service and returned some phone calls.
For dinner we had really salty food from the Original Philly Steak place in town, because Bubbas BBQ was closed. Harlan picked up some fresh batteries for the 35mm along with an eyeglasses repair kit.
The new batteries didnt help the camera, so we decided there was no point in waking up early to shoot photos.