Last day in Yellowstone

Our last day!  We took some "chill time," quite necessary after all the excitement from the previous days.  Still we managed to see a few things and of course I couldn't resist taking pictures.

Firehole Falls in an area of old lava flows:

We did a lovely hike from Kepler Cascades to the Lone Star Geyser - beautiful trail through the woods on a beautiful morning.

This "geyser predictor" is a bit lower-tech than the one for Old Faithful.  Each person can log whether they saw it erupt and what time it was.

We saw it steam and gurgle, but that was it.  John stuck around a while longer and witnessed a minor eruption, so that was something.  Hello Lone Star!

I did a nice run/hike up to Mallard Lake, another pretty spot in the woods:

Spring is kind of arriving, taking its time:

Off-trail travel would be almost as bad as at the Eco-Endurance Challenge:

Crazy jungle gym:

Another hot springs for good measure:

And one last fond look at the Grotto Geyser:

Chef John whipping up another excellent meal in Howie:

That evening we drove over to the Norris Geyser Basin - we weren't sure if there could possibly be anything different to see, but by gosh, that seems to be the Yellowstone Theme.  Just when you think you've seen it all, there's something else to gawk at.

A desolate, steamy landscape:

The Ledge Geyser is awesome!  It was the most powerful vented steam we have ever seen.  Photos cannot describe the sound and speed of this thing (and the amount of moisture it spews into the air, beware all glasses-wearers):

Not a lot of animal life here, just a bunch of fun little water spouts:

Evening vistas from the boardwalk:

Hey, there's some animal life!  Hello rabbit:

The other side of the basin, chasing daylight to see everything:

Our favorite was the Palpitation Spring, beating a slow rhythm of a large glug - glug - glug, just like a heartbeat.  Very cool.

One last look before we lose the light!

Thank you Mom for sharing an amazing and special trip to Yellowstone with us!