June 6, 2022, Monday. Yellowstone NP, Day 2

Why is it a problem to find breakfast, if the hotel does not offer it? That is our experience again today. We finally locate a grill in a lodge in the park with food that can loosely be called a breakfast. Then it is off to begin the day’s adventures.

It is a rainy morning, and cool, temperatures in the 40’s, raising doubts about our activities for the day, since many of them are outside. But by mid-morning the rain lets up even though there are still dark clouds visible. By afternoon the sky is a beautiful blue with fluffy white clouds.

Our first stop is just inside the park at the Mammoth Hot Springs. The water and steam coming out of the ground contains minerals and the minerals eventually form large mounds of what looks like multi-colored rock.

We are told that much of Yellowstone National Park is a caldera, a former volcano that collapsed into itself after it erupted. The Yellowstone caldera is about 40 miles across, and within that area the molten lava is near the surface and heats ground water to boiling. When the pressure builds up, it sends up a geyser of water and steam, or in some cases emits steam steadily. There are bacteria and algae that live in the water and form the different colors.

From Mammoth we head to the Norris Geyser Basin, about 20 miles down the road. There again we see numerous steam vents and small geysers that “spout off” occasionally.

Finally we drive towards our destination for the evening, Grand Teton National Park. Along the way, we stop occasionally for pictures of the scenery, and encounter more geyser basins and steam vents. Bison are ever-present and we sighted our first wolves and a bald eagle. Our first views of  the Teton Range are stunningly beautiful against a deep blue sky with its white clouds.

We arrive at our hotel destination near Jackson Lake before normal check-in time, but the room is ready and we are given the key.

It is mid-afternoon, time for at least one activity in the area. We decide to drive up Signal Mountain, a nearly 8,000 foot “hill” that is believed to be volcanic material that was deposited by the eruption of the Yellowstone volcano. It is now a lookout point with amazing views of the surrounding area, including the snow-covered Tetons.

We return to our hotel, get dinner at the grill, and relax for the evening.