Tuesday, July 29
We left the cabin early (about 6:45 AM) on Tuesday morning to get to Old Faithful before the crowds and saw this coyote a few minutes later. It was right next to our car (on Cerwin’s side), we were moving in opposite directions, and it was still a bit dark ~ my list of excuses for a blurry shot. 🙂
A few minutes later we saw these elk who were enjoying an early breakfast.
We arrived at Old Faithful Lodge about 7:30 AM, and were one of the first people to park in the large parking lot.
I want to thank a very negative woman we met in Cody who told me that she did not enjoy Yellowstone because of the crowds and that she didn’t see any animals. It was because of the “crowd comment” (and our experience the day before) that I suggested we go to see Old Faithful in the early morning, and Cerwin heartily agreed.
It is the best hint I can give you from our trip. Go to big tourist sights in Yellowstone in the early morning. Early morning is also a great time to see wildlife.
Look at the crowd in front of Old Faithful Lodge? The only person you see is Cerwin. 🙂
It was a cool rainy morning, so we went inside the lodge for coffee – which was occupied by only a few people, also enjoying coffee and waiting for Old Faithful to “do her thing.” We sat inside the large window on the left.
We enjoyed visiting with this woman who was crocheting and drinking coffee while she waited.
She asked me to take a picture with her camera, so she could show her crocheting friends. They like to take pictures of themselves crocheting in unusual places.
People arrived as time went on, and as the geyser gave signs of erupting, they began moving toward it.
While we waited, I noticed that Old Faithful Inn (across the parking lot from Old Faithful Lodge) was looking pretty in some morning mist.
There is no timeline for it to erupt into a plume of water and steam, but I read that it usually happens between 40 minutes and 140 minutes – and there were several false starts before it headed toward the sky.
I liked this picture because of the upside down umbrella. It was still cold and rainy.
It is amazing to see!
Then ~ one minute later ~ it is over for another hour or so.
By this time the rain had stopped, so we walked the designated trail surrounding Old Faithful.
Cerwin talking to a friendly ranger.
From a distance I thought all the dark spots were nuts, but as we go closer I heard birds.
We laughed as this little chipmunk twisted and turned like she was posing for my camera.
Old Faithful always has a small amount of steam coming from it until she builds up pressure for another eruption.
We were tempted to stay for another show, but decided there were still many other things to see in the park ~ like water falls and The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.