LAST DAY AT YELLOWSTONE

First things first, some of my blog readers are having a challenge leaving a comment, so here's a simple answer.  At the bottom of the daily post, click comment and type your comment.  If you hit publish at this point a drop down menu will appear and you need to make a choice.  The easiest one is clicking on Name/URL where all you need to do is type you first name then click publish and voila you've posted your comment.  Hope this helps because I do love hearing from you "undercover" blog readers.

Mama Elk and her calf strolled through the park last night

The calf had very wobbly legs - maybe only a few days old?

We're staying in the Mammoth Hot Springs area of Yellowstone which is different from the Old Faithful area which is the world's largest concentration of active geysers.  Mammoth Hot Springs is the historic site of Fort Yellowstone.  If you get a chance to visit any of the National Parks, be sure to take advantage of any of the free ranger-led programs, walks or talks.  We've found these programs to be fun, informative and down-right entertaining (like the walk through the Everglades).  At Fort Yellowstone, the ranger talked about the fort's history from 1886-1918 when the U.S. Army was assigned to the fort to protect the land from poachers, destruction of it's natural beauty and help build the area to make it more attractive for tourists.  At one time there were only 24 bison left in the park and the soldiers heard six rifle shots.  They found the poacher with six buffalo heads and so did a journalist with a camera crew and the news created a chain reaction of events.  A law was passed in only six weeks that poachers on park lands could be arrested, fined and punished.  Prior to that law, all the soldiers could do was take away the poacher's possessions, detain him and warn him to stay out of the park.  The new law played a pivotal role in protecting the park's wildlife.

We took a scenic drive through the Upper Terraces of the ever-changing travertine limestone terraces.  They are unique to the area and if you want to learn more, just click the link: http://www.nps.gov/yell/naturescience/mamterr.htm

Today was warm, cold, sunny, rainy, windy and calm - we've learned to dress in layers

No it's not snow but calcium carbonate

Upper Terraces

The colors are caused by bacteria

Look closely at the top and you'll see a trickle of water still flowing

Waterfall along one of the many overlooks

Both Denis and I were low on energy today.  So we got back early to relax, turn on the generator and make some bread and brownies (the basic food groups for us).

I finally learned how to post a video.  Hope it works for you.
That's all folks - thanks for stopping in.