September 13, 2022

By Tim Briese

Our primary objective on this September trip was to visit Grand Teton National Park, but we were right on the southern doorstep of Yellowstone and thought it would be fun to run up there for a day to see a couple of its scenic highlights. If one goes to Yellowstone to see its most famous attraction where do you go? Why Old Faithful, of course, and that’s where we went. We hadn’t been to Yellowstone in thirty years or so and were blindsided by the traffic and congestion. There is a two lane, one-way loop through Yellowstone Village now, and stadium-sized parking lots. Undeterred, we joined the crowds and walked over to the geyser viewing area to await Old Faithful’s eruption, along with about 2000 other people, including a couple from the Netherlands who sat beside us. The geyser did not disappoint, it was as spectacular as ever as exclamations of delight emanated from the crowd.

a portion of the crowd of onlookers

We wanted to see the Morning Glory Pool too, so drove down the road a few miles and parked at the Biscuit Basin Trailhead and hiked to the famous colorful pool on a lesser-used trail from the northwest. There was an old buffalo lying a short distance off the trail as we strolled by. The Morning Glory was exquisitely magnificent. The vast variety of color and form in nature is astounding. I find the pools, steam, and geysers in the geyser basin fascinating.

morning glory pool

Next up, we drove a few miles further to a trailhead to hike up to an overlook of the Grand Prismatic Spring, a massive rainbow-colored pool said to be the world’s largest hot spring. Throngs of other people were doing this too.

the grand prismatic spring

Then on to another nearby trailhead to hike a short distance to the Grand Prismatic for a close-up look.

on the way to the grand prismatic spring

After this it was time to leave the crowds behind and return to our peaceful cabin at Signal Mountain Lodge in the Tetons.