Summer Vacation - Part 4 of 6
Day 6 was another early start. Jay and Cindy had a full schedule for us that would end back at Old Faithful Inn. We headed north for the Roosevelt Lodge and the entrance to the Lamar Valley, but first we had to get through the Bison traffic jams in the Hayden Valley.
From the Hayden Valley, the road climbs towards Mount Washburn and the Dunraven Pass. The sky kept us guessing when the rain might come, but it held off. At the top of the pass, we stopped to stretch our legs after the long ride up from Lake Village. From an elevation of 8859 feet, the views were remarkable.
Hollywood at the top of Dunraven Pass.
Mount Washburn on the left and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone stretches across the center.
From the Dunraven Pass, Hollywood made a winding descent along Tower Creek. Along the way we took in fantastic views and caught a glimpse of the fire tower on top of Mount Washburn. At the bottom of the mountain, we stopped again to take in Tower Falls and the canyon where the Yellowstone joins the Lamar River.
Tower Creek makes the plunge to join Yellowstone River.
The Yellowstone River’s last stretch before joining the Lamar.
After the final descent into the Lamar Valley, Jay parked Hollywood at Roosevelt Lodge and we transferred to a nameless van that was rated for the tight turns on the Lamar Valley road. Closed in the spring by the well publicized floods, the road was again open to limited traffic. Smaller tour vehicles and pedestrians were able to access about six miles of the valley. A washed out bridge prevented any further travel.
One of the two herds of Bison in the Park resides in the wide open grasslands of the Lamar Valley.
Pronghorn also occupy the Park and the Lamar Valley.
Our route back out of the valley was blocked by nursing cows who thought the roadway look like a great place to hang out.
Once clear of the Lamar Valley, we split our party. The ladies elected to lead the way in the modern air-conditioned van and the gentlemen re-boarded Hollywood. We drove across the top of the north loop road to Mammoth Hot Springs. In a moment of keen observation, the gentlemen in the rag-top bus noticed that rain was imminent and stopped to button-up the vehicle before getting deluged by rain. At Mammoth, we made a stop to visit modern restrooms and watch the elk meander among the headquarters buildings.
Elk love a well maintained lawn.
Cumulous clouds built quickly over the Gallatin Range and made the rest of the drive back to Old Faithful very wet.
Our tour ended back at Old Faithful, where our party re-connected, cleaned up, and met for dinner in the Snow Lodge’s Obsidian Dinning Room. Incase you were wondering, in classic vehicle style, Hollywood’s defroster and heater are mostly ineffective, and the DOT required roof escape dripped on the second and third row passengers. After dinner, The Captain and I took a walk around the Upper Geyser Basin and observed the clean, cool conditions that made the geysers’ steam plumes stand out against the mountains. Fantastic.
During warm and dry conditions, many thermal features are invisible, but add cool and saturated air, and all the hot vents become visible.