Yellowstone - Last Hurrah!

 Perfect weather today ... Carsten must have said that 100 times! LOL

We decided not to be in a rush this morning, take time for breakfast and just a lazy morning before heading back into the park one last time.

The last thing on our list to see was Mammoth Hot Springs, specifically the Travertine Terraces.  A little science because it is interesting... the interaction of water and limestone create chalk-white travertine.  These terraces are among the fastest changing features in the park, emerging quickly and drying up just as fast.

Mound Terrace:

Mound Springs:
Minerva Terrace

This was very interesting and beautiful.

On the way there we saw many different geological formations...

Giant boulders:

Golden Gate - the road through here was originally built 1885 but it was a bit unsafe, it has been rebuilt in 1900, 1933 and finally in 1977 using better materials and engineering each time.  Some of the RVs are so large these days ... it might be time for a newer, wider bridge.
It's hard to see here but this entire side of the hill is Obsidian rock.  Twelve thousand years ago, ancient nomads made weapons and tools out of the hard Obsidian rock found in this region.
This Sheepeater (named for the Shoshone Indians who lived in this region) cliff is basalt lava that formed "columnar joints" when it cooled 500,000 years ago.


After all this it was time for lunch so we headed into the little town at Mammoth Hot Springs.  We were just looking for a picnic bench and (later) ice cream but we stumbled upon a Bull Elk herding his 15+ cows for his Autumn love-fest.  The Elk just wander around the town.  The rangers try to keep the silly tourists from getting too close.

part of his harem...
note the helpful sign...
just relaxing in the town square....

While we really did take it easy today (only 8091 steps) we really had some special things come our way!  I did not even add the pictures of the Bison along the road because... been there, done that.  

Our time in Yellowstone and Grand Teton was wonderful, these are truly magnificent Parks!  Tomorrow we have a long drive to Moab, UT where we will start on Utah's Big Five: Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon and Zion.  So much to see!

Take care,

Sheri & Carsten


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