Grand Teton, Yellowstone & Glacier National Park Road Trip

Grand Prismatic Spring & Midway Geyser Basin

The KOA of West Yellowstone was a short 15min drive from the park entrance, which was convenient because one of the most popular areas of the park is the Grand Prismatic Spring. The earlier the better, as it gets quite crowded mid-morning. Going past this attraction mid-afternoon the day before, we quickly made the decision to hit this as our first stop this morning.

The temperature dropped off from the day before, and because of the cold temperatures and the boiling water of the geyser, it created this super eerie ambience. It made the experience more unique than usual and added to this astonishing surrounding.

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What Makes the Grand Prismatic so grand?

Deeper than a 10-Story Building
Extremely hot water travels 121 feet from a crack in the Earth to reach the surface of the spring.

Football Field on Steroids
The third largest spring in the world, the Grand Prismatic is bigger than a football field at 370 feet in diameter. A gridiron is 360 feet long and 160 feet wide.

Rainbow of Colors
The hot spring has bright bands of orange, yellow, and green ring the deep blue waters in the spring. The multicolored layers get their hues from different species of thermophile (heat-loving) bacteria living in the progressively cooler water around the spring. And the deep blue center? That’s because water scatters the blue wavelengths of light more than others, reflecting blues back to our eyes.

A Living Thermometer
What living thing in Yellowstone has helped investigators solve crimes and NASA search for extraterrestrial life on seemingly inhospitable planets? Heat-loving microbes living in the Yellowstone’s thermal pools. In 1968, researcher Thomas Brock discovered a microbe living in one of Yellowstone’s extremely hot springs. In the years since, research on Yellowstone’s microbes has led to major medical and scientific advances, including the sequencing of the entire human genome.

The Journey to Fairy Falls

A short ride down the road from the Grand Prismatic Spring, Fairy Falls is one of the tallest waterfalls in Yellowstone National Park. They say don’t go chasing waterfalls, be we couldn’t resist! Shortly after you pass over the bridge near the trail head, you will come across the sign pictured above. We proceeded to go straight to Fairy Falls. What we should’ve done was follow everybody else to go to the Outlook and then proceed to Fairy Falls. The more you know!

This hike was a moderate trail and we were more worried about running into a bear (we had no bear spray) or a moose than anything else. We were literally the only ones who chose to go against the crowd and we were hiking alone. Which in itself, is a blessing and a disguise.

After spending about an hour hiking and hoping we were going the right way, as we enjoyed the peace and quiet of the morning golden hour, we reached Fairy Falls.

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At over 200ft high, Fairy Falls was worth the effort and because we had skipped the Grand Prismatic Overlook, we had the falls practically to ourselves for more than a few minutes. The area wasn’t pristine and untouched and the trails leading to it were well worn, but nonetheless it was a great spot. We knew this was a popular hike in Yellowstone so, we grabbed some photos and video footage while nobody was around and continued onward. Another three-quarters of a mile down the trail and the next thing you know, we got lost. However, the good news is, we ended up running into the Imperial Geyser.

The Imperial Geyser became quite active in the 1920s and because of its size and importance, a contest was organized to give the geyser a new name. So, soon after the name “Imperial” was chosen, the geyser stopped erupting. Coincidence?

Today, Imperial Geyser erupts again (although infrequently), sometimes reaching a height of 35 feet. It wasn’t until after we stopped to admire this geyser that we met another couple and found out we were never going to loop back to our original trailhead. They told us that we were walking down a 14 mile hike loop. Yikes! You see, Fairy Falls was an out and back trail, but we must’ve missed the memo. After 5.5 miles, we made it back to the trailhead and parking lot. Achy feet, stomachs growling and headaches, we were delighted to be back.

We proceed south from Fairy falls to Old Faithful, Old Faithful!

Old Faithful Geyser

Old Faithful can vary in height from 100-180 feet with an average near 130-140 feet. This has been the historical range of its recorded height. Eruptions normally last between 1.5 to 5 minutes.

The famous geyser is located in Yellowstone’s Upper Geyser Basin in the southwest section of the park. The geyser-viewing area is the most accessible and visitor-friendly in the park with bench seating, a large parking lot, and a ranger station that tracks the time, height and length of an eruption to predict the next eruption. 

As we parked the car, we saw the large crowd gathered in front of Old Faithful. Old Faithful currently erupts around 20 times a day. These eruptions are predicted with a 90 percent confidence rate, within a 10 minute variation, based on the duration and height of the previous eruption. I could feel the excitement in the air and started to walk faster and faster. I told Amanda “It’s about to blow, let’s go!!”. Her response was, “my feet are killing me, go ahead.” So, I ran ahead just in time for the eruption. I fumbled to get my camera ready and focused on the blast. In the end, I caught a few good shots of the geyser and it was magnificent.

It’s been debated for years on whether or not the world would end if the geyser ever erupted. Certainly, the world as we know it, would be destroyed.

We took a stroll into the gift shop and found some shirts on clearance, everything else was just too expensive. We left Old faithful with a grin from ear to ear and checked off another milestone on our bucket list.

Lunch in the Park

After our stop at Old Faithful, we found a great run off spot to eat overlooking Yellowstone Lake. We made lunch in the park a consistent theme throughout our trip. Packing sandwiches and small side dishes was economical and practical. With views all around us, there is no other spot I would rather be while enjoying a snack!

Mud Volcano

We continued to follow Grand Loop Rd North to Mud Volcano. Mud Volcano was a completely unplanned stop. However, it was pretty cool and I’d recommend stopping here if you’re in the area.

Most of the best attractions in Mud Volcano are located just outside the parking lot. You’ve got the titular feature (featured in the picture above), as well as Mud Cauldron and Mud Geyser. There is a short trail of boardwalks and pavement that begins and ends at the same parking lot, though at different trailheads. The southern part of the trail is paved, but it does have a steep grade to the top of the hill. The northern end of the loop has stairs going partway up the hillside. The smaller loop around Mud Volcano and Dragon’s Mouth Spring meets federal guidelines for wheelchair accessibility, though there are stairs leading up to a viewing platform at Dragon’s Mouth Spring.

The fascinating and mysterious mud features found here are some of the most acidic in the park. This acidity plays a part in making them different from most hot springs and geysers. Hydrogen sulfide gas is present deep in the earth at Mud Volcano. Some microorganisms use this gas as an energy source. They help convert the gas to sulfuric acid, which breaks down rock to clay. Hydrogen sulfide, steam, carbon dioxide, and other gases explode through the layers of mud in dramatic or delightful ways. I particularly liked Sour Lake for its barren looking landscape and colorful water.

It’s funny because the weather drastically started to change halfway through our time here. The temperature dropped and it began to rain and hail. Minutes later, the rain and hail turned into snow! We were witnessing the first snowfall of the year. And it wasn’t just snowing, it was coming down sideways. The wind was picking up intensity as we ran back to the SUV to take cover.

I live for moments like these. When you have to brave the elements and push forward into adventure.

We turned out of the Mud Volcano parking lot and continued North. Off in the far distance was a herd of Buffalo, I’d say about fifty or so.

Blizzard or not, I was going to get some photos of those Buffalo. Pulling over on the side of the road, I flipped on the hazard lights, reached into the backseat for my camera and jumped out of the car. I ran around the car and down into the nearby brush. Because I was shooting freehand, steady camera placement was key for sharp photos. The wind was blowing at a steadily pace of 20-30mph and it was hard to keep my balance. I did the best I could and froze my ears off for doing so.

I hopped back in the car and noticed more Buffalo, albeit much closer! I once again pulled off to the side of the road and rolled down my drivers window. There was a buffalo coming down the hillside not 20 yards from us. Trying not to panic, and getting a closer look through my lens, the buffalo approached the road. Eventually the traffic all around us was at a standstill.

By now, the buffalo was standing in the middle of the road and glaring into my eyes. I figured I ought to move, because I didn’t want him charging the car. I slowly lowered my camera and put the car in drive. As I drove away I made sure to keep my eye on the buffalo, should he have charged, I was ready. Luckily, no animals were harmed in the photography below.

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The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

If you couldn’t tell by now, the snow was really coming down and there was a blizzard like atmosphere through Yellowstone National Park. Instead of heading back for the evening, we made one more stop at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. With only a few cars in the parking lot, we were treated to a peaceful and delightful experience of Upper Falls.

The landscape was something out of a snowy fairytale and it was magnificent.

After venturing down a few paths surrounding the Upper Falls parking lot and finding a few closed for repairs,we decided to come back the next day.

Our escapades concluded for the day with a stop at the Slippery Otter Pub & Eatery in West Yellowstone. After an extremely long, all-to-familiar-covid, wait; we were finally seated at a booth. We both looked dreary and tired from our day and couldn’t wait to eat. The long wait was well worth it as this homecooked style restaurant delivered a 10 out of 10. The Oatmeal Stout from Madison River Brewing Company was superb. The tasty jalapeno cream cheese filled wontons were a favorite of ours and the locals. The chicken wings were some of the most heat inspired savory flavors I’ve ever tasted. And the special menu dinner of the night, meatloaf, was just like grandma’s.

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