Yellowstone! Beautiful Day at Fountain Paint Pots and Grand Prismatic Spring! May 20, 2021

 Previously in the Grand Tetons/Yellowstone series:

Grizzly and Wolf Center in West Yellowstone

Jackson Hole, Grand Tetons Day 1, Jenny Lake Campground, Elk Herd

Beautiful Jenny Lake, Foxes and Bears

Lovely Vistas full of Bison and Horses

Mormon Row, Pronghorn Antelope, and Ravens

Wildlife Art, Yellow-bellied Marmot, Colter Bay, and Ground Squirrels

Colter Bay to South Yellowstone

Black Sand Basin and Bison

More Bison, Old Faithful, Biscuit Basin, and Beginning of Artemisia Trail Hike

Hike to Morning Glory Pool! Plus Bison with Red Dogs, Elk, and Coyotes

Waking up to a gorgeous Thursday morning was a surprise - I was a bit worried (after the storms of the night) about what the next day might look like.  But just as fast as the storms had rolled in they were rolling out. It was lovely. 

I cleaned up my campsite and checked out.  I was ready for my next adventure. Fountain Paint Pots!

Arrived at the parking lot pretty early so there was plenty of parking and got a spot up right up front. I was immediately greeted by a group of cute corvids who flocked around my feet as I walked towards the trail.  One in particular seemed to match my steps! I snapped a pic as we walked along. 

I also had to take a picture of this swirly-rooted dead tree near the lot which was memorizing with its twists and colors. 

I love trees.  They're beautiful and fascinating in all stages of life.  Including the dead Lodgepole Pines that line the path.

There are lots of different thermal phenomena at Fountain Paint Pots.  Geysers, mud pots (which is where the name comes from due to the different colors in the mud and the bacterial mats), fumaroles, and hot springs.  

Paint Pot!

Okay.  This is weird.  But see that picture above?  I was captured by the romantic scene in one corner and had to make it it's own photo.  I feel like if I ever wrote a romance novel, this would be my cover. haha  It looks like a painting/illustration.  

I guess it would be a little more romantic if he wasn't on his phone.  But I'm sure they had an amazing time. 

Back to your regularly scheduled programming.  Mud bubbles and texture!

Speaking of mud...

A beautiful hot spring pool amongst the mud. 

I took this next photo from sooo far away.  I saw this very bright bit of blue from the boardwalk and realized that I was seeing my first Mountain Bluebird!  Too bad my camera focused on the trees and I didn't realize it.  😢 But I was so happy to see it so I had to include my bad photo. Memories. 

The geysers in Yellowstone are just magnificent.  Writing this post I just have an almost overwhelming want and need to go back again!  Everything is so magical.  Even the storm the night before seemed larger than life!

Speaking of magical.  On my way back to the car, I spied a gorgeous Tree Swallow sitting in one of the lodgepole pines so of course I snapped a couple pictures.  I love swallows.

And then it was time to get back in the car and head to Grand Prismatic Spring which I had driven by a couple of times at this point.  

I took this photo of people and steam on the Grand Prismatic boardwalk my first day in the park.  

But now it was time for me to walk the boardwalk myself.  One regret I have is that I did not go to the overlook on this trip.  I see others pictures from the overlook and it's a pretty amazing sight. On the boardwalk, the steam made it hard to get a picture of the beautiful colors of the waters.  But of course I do love the pictures I got and the memories I took away. 

Runoff waterfall with colorful bacteria mat beside Grand Prismatic.

Wider view with the steam, pines, and Firehole River. 

I love the next picture for several reasons, not the least of which is that I just saw an article about people losing their hats at Yellowstone.  lol  

Even with a 28 mm lens, there is no way to get the entire spring into one photo. 

The last photo is a kind of mini of Grand Prismatic - Opal Pool.   And check out the clouds that were still hanging around from the storm!

Another fabulous adventure in the books blessed with happiness and peace.  Moving on to my next home away from home - Mammoth Campground - I could only feel grateful for the experiences, for mother nature, and for opportunities like this.  

xoxo

Nikon D600 28-300 mm 

Beginning of the Strange - Mud Volcanoes @ Salton Sea

In my last post, which was all about adorable Owls, Bunnies, etc., I promised that there were a LOT of strange things to discover at the Salton Sea.

After I left the Sonny Bono National Wildlife Refuge, I headed down the rural roads to try to find the mudpots and volcanoes.  

The volcanoes are near what used to be Red Hill Marina.  There is no marina there now because the Salton Sea is slowly evaporating and shrinking.  As I drove, I saw these really cool trees in the middle of the "desert".

Funnily (or sadly) enough, just 10 years ago, this area was covered in water as evidenced by the photo below which I found on BirdGuy.Net.

You can see in my photo, not only is there no water, but one of the trees has fallen over due to death from the drought. 

I followed the roads in what turned out to be the correct direction until I came to an intersection thaat wasn't marked.  There was a motor home parked off to one side and a beautiful golden dog ran to greet me.  Soon the owner came over and he was so very nice and helpful.  Rick and Blondie soon pointed me in the correct direction and off I headed.

Just as I was going down the road, an SUV with a couple professors and a student pulled up.  I asked if they were going to the mud volcanoes and they offered for me to follow and hang out with them.  I did fall behind a bit because 1)  my car was not built for these bumpy dirt/mud roads, and 2) I had to stop for a couple photos!

I finally arrived and saw my first mud volcano!  It looked straight out of a science project that got out of hand.

There were about 15 volcanoes in the field and they were from 3 to 8 feet high.  the first grouping we came to were about 5 feet high and bubbling away.  

Some of the volcanoes has vents on the sides as well as the top.  This one was very wet and spitting muddy droplets!

It was a really beautiful day, but it was getting hot.  And not just due to the heat from the volcano!  It was the hottest week so far this year at the Salton Sea.  I came from temps in the 70's to a high of 93! 

I like this next photo, not only for the pretty sky, but also because you can really see the recent mud lava (mava?) flow on the side of the volcano. 

Inside some of the lower volcanoes were mud "caverns" which were really bubbling away.  

 I thought this looked cool; it's a previous mud pot, but in the process of drying out.  

 Along the same lines, this fully dried mud flow from a previous eruption looked quite artistic to me.

Bubbles and steam

But, truly, probably the only way to get the full experience across to visitors of this blog is through video.  So please enjoy my very amateurish attempt at an educational video!  

On that note, I hopped back into my car and drank an entire bottle of COLD water!  Then I proceeded down the bumpy road towards my next stop... Salvation Mountain and East Jesus. 

But on my way I found more wonderful burrowing owls and also more fields filled with Long-billed Curlews and Egrets!  Cattle egrets, this time. 

This one flew away to watch me from safe distance!  Sorry little guy!

This next photo is a nice illustration of their sharp talons!  

 Great Egrets, Cattle Egrets, and Long Billed Curlews

 And the occasional Gull as well. 

Then they, like me, flew away.

Off to look for salvation!

xoxo

Nikon D3300