Day 13 – No one fell into a boiling mud pit!

Yellowstone Lower Loop

Here’s something we failed to fully appreciate about Yellowstone – it is COLD here at night.  Our campground is at around 8200 feet elevation – something I didn’t quite pick up on when making reservations.  Between the altitude and the lack of humidity, once the sun goes down the temperature plummets like a stone.  We discovered this last night as we shivered in our tent in 40 degree temperatures, and attempted to get ready in the morning with our inadequate jackets and our fingers numb with cold.  (Everyone was very happy that we had brought tea!)  We further discovered today that 40 degrees is actually considered balmy by Yellowstone standards, and we can expect low thirties – probably below freezing – in the next couple of nights. 

We were debating what to do about Lanie, since her sleeping bag is really not designed for this kind of weather, when the older girls came up with the brainstorm of zipping both of their sleeping bags together to make a big sleeping bag for all three of them.  (It is a testament to how cold they were that they were at all open to this idea.) 

Once we got ourselves moving, we set off on our day’s adventures.  The roads in the main part of Yellowstone are laid out in a figure eight, and today we’d decided to drive around the lower loop, stopping to see the various sights.  The lower loop contains much of Yellowstone’s geothermal activity, and there are signs everywhere about how critical it is to stay on the boardwalks and paths.  A wrong step could cause you to fall through the thin crust of earth and into a boiling pool below.  This is nerve-wracking news when you’re traveling with three children, including a four-year-old – but Lanie really took the warnings to heart and in general was quite anxious about going anywhere near the edge of the paths.

Don't go near the edge!

West Thumb Geyser Basin

A helpful ranger had told me exactly where we should stop, and she did not lead us wrong.  We saw boiling mud pits, boiling pools of water in almost every color, and steaming holes in the ground making ominous gurgling noises.  The smell of sulphur was everywhere, which Lanie in particular found very unpleasant.  (Luckily she has now developed a cold and her stuffy nose is cutting down on the odors.)  It was amazing to look out over a lunar-looking landscape of bubbling, steaming pools of water and mud, and almost more amazing to see

steam hissing from a hole within what appeared to be a normal forested area.  I loved the West Thumb Geyser Basin, where the geothermal area with all of its emerald pools was right up against the dark blue waters of Yellowstone Lake, with the ever-present mountains towering in the distance.  Also beautiful was the Grand Prismatic Spring, a large bubbling pool that was streaked with every color of the rainbow.

Grand Prismatic Spring

Front row seat for Old Faithful

We had our obligatory stop at Old Faithful, which faithfully spouted about 2 minutes after the predicted time.  I actually preferred the walk we did from the same area, around “Geyser Hill”.  The geysers were smaller and less predictable, but we could see them up close and not surrounded by hundreds of other people.

Our final stop of the day was at the Firehole Canyon swimming hole.  The girls were very interested in swimming, and the ranger told me there were only two places to swim in the park.  It was a beautiful setting – the steep walls of the canyon rose up on either side of the river, which ran very rapidly.  The older girls were able to fight their way upstream past the bend in the river and into another whole section, hidden away and even more beautiful, then allow the current to bring them back downstream.  Unfortunately, since the day was coming to an end and weather here being what it is, we were all freezing when we got out.

Firehole Canyon swimming hole

So finally to bed, this time with a better idea of what we’re facing.  The girls are snuggled into their triple bed, wearing several layers of clothing and snapping at each other about how little room they have.  But at least they’re warm.  (When I took Lanie to the bathroom late at night I discovered that she had put on pretty much every item of clothing that she had with her in the tent, including pants, pajama shorts, regular shorts, and pajama pants.  The latter were on the outside, so I didn’t figure out what was going on until she started staggering around the bathroom mumbling, “Uncomfortable.  Uncomfortable.”)

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From Bob:

Yes, when the guidebook suggests you pack a hat and gloves for Yellowstone, you should listen.  We did not listen.  I was in favor of keeping as low of a profile as possible.  I wanted to ditch one of our sleeping bags and just have a sheet over Jen and me.  We would be in a lot of trouble now if I had my way. 

                As it stands, we have found out that Jen and my sleeping bags are not compatible.  Their zippers will not line up, thus we have to sleep in separate cocoons.  Last night was too drafty, with the cold air coming in from all sides of our unattached sleeping bags. The girls have altered their sleeping arrangement tonight, too, in deference to the cold.  Zoe’s and Nadia’s sleeping bags are compatible , and so all three girls are speeping in those two bags zipped together.   We’ve also added our tarps to the floor of their side of the tend to get them off the ground a little more.  They were very excited about this solution when they came up with it this afternoon.  I’m not entirely sure the excitement will last.

                The guidebook says it may snow at any time here.  There have been snowfalls in July and August, I guess.  What’s the forecast for tonight?  I’m not sure.  Jen glanced at the posting in the campground office today, but I don’t remember it very clearly.  Truth is, we’re pretty out of touch here – no cell phone reception, no wireless, not even any electrical outlets.  There is an outlet in the bathroom a few steps from our site, but that one is clearly marked  “for personal care items only – don’t leave items unattended.”  Great.  And I was successful in my lobby to get Nadia to leave her curling iron at home.  She could have used it here after all.

                So we don’t know what’s going on in the world, and it hasn’t really bothered me very much.  The head rodeo clown made a joke about Hillary Clinton the other night, and when the announcer groaned, the clown said, “Too soon?”  Did something happen with Hillary Clinton?  I’ll find out sometime if I need to know.  It would be nice to find out more about the Olympics.  I bet the girls would appreciate the swimming events especially, but for now we’re in blackout mode.  I tried to watch a few minutes of water polo in the bar of the Irma Hotel in Cody a few days ago, but my watching session was interrupted by a gunfight (they conduct one every evening at 6 on the street alongside the hotel.

                Thus, we have a slight guess at what the weather is going to be like tonight and tomorrow, but really it’s pretty clear that it will be cold every night we’re going to be here.  Thankfully, the campfire ban is not in effect here.  Usually when you go camping you have your fire in the evening, but I think we’ll have one in the morning, too.