A couple of times we had gotten a hint of fall color, so today one of our missions was to get a good picture of it. This one was nice because the mountains were in the background:
It was an extremely windy day, as evidenced on Jackson Lake. Note the swirling ripples on the water:
We drove out of Grand Teton National Park, and in 7.5 miles were in the Yellowstone National Park. One of the first sites to greet us was another herd of buffalo:
This big fellow was on duty as "buffalo of the day" for the tourists with cameras:
Yellowstone is noted for its geothermal activity. Boiling pots dot the landscape and are impressive. Be thankful you can't smell this sampling of three of them:
One of the most impressive sights in Yellowstone is "Lower Falls." A short walk from the car, and one is greeted with this view:
And, not to be outdone, here is "Upper Falls:"
A fun thing that always amazes us Southerners is the presence of snow plow guidepoles. They are put up in the fall, hopefully before the first snow of the season, to guide the snow plows. In some places, they look 15 feet tall:
In certain areas of the park, we were impressed with the pattern of erosion and the deep canyons formed by various rivers and streams. Here is an example:
One of the largest of the caldera in the park is "The Terraces." Here is a view from the main road. It looks like an overflowing pot of cream soup:
And at the nearby Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel, the elk come down every afternoon like clockwork and graze on the hotel lawn. They get a modest paycheck for entertaining the tourists this way:
We left the park reluctantly, but had to make it to Bozeman, MT, to visit the son of some very good friends. The "North Entrance" stood vigil over the southern Montana hills:
Just after leaving the park, we drove by this small mountain. We could not figure out what the reddish scar was from. Just strange geology, we decided:
As we neared Bozeman, the clouds and the mountains became close friends. This is the kind of dramatic view that is so impressive to us:
We made it to Bozeman a little late, but enjoyed a steak at Outback and a nice visit with Quay Butler our host for the night.
