Follow this link to see a full album of our photos from the fourth day of our travels.
We had trouble setting up the fold-out bed in our campervan the night before, so everyone was tired and cranky on our first full day in Yellowstone. Nevertheless, we headed out to attempt to visit the geysers and geothermal features along the Grand Loop Road, leading up to Old Faithful. We stopped first at Fountain Flat Drive where I got out to attempt some artsy photos of a hot pool draining into the Firehole River.
Turning around and returning to the van I spotted a bison walking right across the flat on the opposite side of the street. We saw him poop and then approach a small pine tree which he used as a backscratcher. We named him Itchy. Heading back to the main road we saw another bison sleeping by the side of the road. We named him Sleepy. Driving off, Susan was shocked to see in her rear view mirror that people were getting out of their cars to walk right up to Sleepy!
The next stop was the Lower Geyser Basin where Peter and I got out and saw the many geothermal features including the Fountain Paint Pots and the always-erupting Clepsydra Geyser. Then we drove down Firehole Lake Drive and saw many more pools and geysers. The White Cone Geyser is supposed to erupt every 20 to 40 minutes, so Susan got out to wait while the rest of us kept cool in the van. We waited and waited, but it never erupted.
We stopped next at Whisky Flats Picnic Area for a late lunch. By this time it was clear that everyone was too tired to go on. So we made the plan to go back to our campground for a nap and/or quiet time. By the time we were rested it was too late to head out again.
