After a night at the Flagg Ranch we returned to Yellowstone. By the way - get an annual pass if you plan on visiting National Parks, National Monuments, National Forests. Eighty bucks and it covers all the fees; a great deal. Our goal for the day was to see the West Bluff Basin, Yellowstone Lake and Old Faithful.
We stopped at Lewis Falls which was a beautiful spot. The Lewis River at this point meanders through some great meadows, and the falls is quite nice. There were quite a few Violet Green Swallows cruising around and nesting under the bridge. Then it was on to West Bluff. We hadn't planned to spend a lot of time there, but the place is fascinating. Colleen said it was her favorite place so far. There were two Elk does wandering around right next to the boardwalk; seemed a bit risky to me because the crust can break plummeting whatever broke it into boiling water. But the elk seemed to know what they were doing (browsing!) and pretty much ignored the people.
I took lots of photos of the pools because I wanted to document the thermophiles growing there. These are Archaebacteria ("Archaes" for short) that have the ability to survive - and thrive - in extreme conditions. They're a separate domain of life, named Archae- because they seemed to be much like the most ancestral forms of life (3.5 billion years old). Turns out they're actually more closely related to Eukaryotes (which includes us) than they are to the Eubacteria. Anyway, they make some spectacular colors in and around the hot water pools. I also managed to film an Edith's Copper - a specialty of this part of the country.
Oops - just remembered I have to take the trash out! I'll be back...
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