How to describe our experience today? Images will certainly help, but audio and video would be better. And even they would fall short, as the two sensations they don’t capture–smell and touch–were the definitive and often overwhelming ones. I don’t think there’s anything that can help convey how it feels when a hot, steamy cloud of rotten egg smell envelops you while you’re trying to take a peek at an unworldly blue pool (or worse: while you’re trying to take a family photo).
This is a story in five parts, one for each of our stops/hikes.
Part 1: Artists Paintpots
Having successfully parked the RV in an extremely crowded parking lot (car drivers do not understand the challenge — or they’d actually leave the RV spots to vehicles qualifying as such), we set off on our first stinky adventure. We received ample warning about the dangers of stepping off the trail and were ready to explore hot springs, mud pots, and fumaroles.
The “paintpots” come in different sizes and colors and give a great overview over all the different geothermal features of the park (missing only Geysers and the travertine terraces). Thanks to the topography of the park, many of the more stunning visual specimen can be observed from a higher vantage point – high above the smelly source 🙂
Part 2: Porcelain Basin
This area is part of the Norris Geyser Basin, which features some of the most active geysers in the park. Named for its creamy, bluish color (rather than that other kind of “porcelain basin” it appears to be related to in smell), the area is surprisingly flat and open, allowing for the occasional, much welcome breeze of fresh air… The colors are really neat – and so much nicer in photos than real life 😉
Part 3: Steamboat Geyser trail
After lunch we left our kids in the well-ventilated, cool RV and went on another hike to explore the park’s largest Geyser: Steamboat, which can reach a height of 300 feet (more than 3 Old Faithfuls). Spoiler-alert: it did not erupt in the super-show, but then again, that’s rare. Still, even the smaller hot water bursts were really impressive – as were all of the other named geysers on the trail.
Part 4: Swan Lake Flats
We left Norris for greener pastures at the North Entrance, though we didn’t really know it at the time. The drive to Mammoth Hot Springs (where we wanted to look at more hot water features), was full of expected and unexpected surprises. The expected ones included delays and a very rough road due to construction, the unexpected ones wowed us with a dramatically changed landscape (that inspired us to watch …. yes, that’s right, Sound of Music that night) and wildlife viewing (make that “wildlife” – see below).
Part 5: Mammoth Hot Springs
This place stands in stark contrast to much of the wild park we got to know on our first day. It is the site of the old Yellowstone Fort, complete with fancy buildings & parade grounds. The visitor center has stuffed examples of the wildlife and explanation of how the Travertine Terraces on the other side of town are formed. For us, however, the town was home to a delicious dinner at the very fancy Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel’s Dining Room, and to more Elk than we ever wanted to see up close.
The actual attraction – the Travertine Terraces, which continue to grow as the interaction of water & limestone keeps on adding layers – was our last adventure for the day. We were there right after the sun had gone down behind the mountains and caught most of the site in the last light of the day. This lend a wonderful glow to the white, marble-esque looking features and left us with a feeling of having witnessed something magical.
BaresNation 
Great pics and commentary, Eva!
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