Grand Prismatic Spring and Fairy Falls

9/2/2018 – Yellowstone

Today was another great day…….clear blue sky and temps in the 60’s……and we saw two of Yellowstone’s most spectacular sights. First we drove to Mid Geyser Basin……as we approached the area, we could see all of the steam rising from lots of individual hot springs. This is also the site of the largest hot spring in the US, the Grand Prismatic Spring. It’s approx. 370 ft in diameter and 160 ft deep, and it discharges about 560 gallons of steaming hot water per minute. Much of it flows into the Firehole River. It’s really a stunning sight. When we first saw it at ground level, we really couldn’t see much of the pool due to the heavy mist. But when we hiked up toward Fairy Falls, there was an overlook that provided an unbelievable view. Those that don’t make the hike really miss the best view of this natural wonder.

The hike to Fairy Falls is 2.5 miles each way. The trail was not very well marked and we soon questioned if we were on the right path. We asked a guy coming up behind us who, as it turned out, was also unsure of the path. His name was Scott and he was on vacation hiking around the Tetons and Yellowstone. He had just come from the Tetons and he told us some great hikes he did there. We were glad to get the info since that is where we are heading on Tuesday. Anyway, we pressed ahead together and soon saw a sign pointing the way. Scott ended up hiking with us all the way to falls. It wasn’t a very hard hike since there was not much elevation change other than a few small hills. The Falls were really nice…..very high with a nice steady stream of water falling cascading down the rocks. We stayed and got some great pictures and then headed back. We stopped about halfway back and ate our packed lunch while Scott pressed ahead to get to his next hike. We were pretty tired when we got back to the car so we headed home and were back by 3pm. After relaxing for an hour or so, we hoped on our bikes and headed to our favorite spot in West Yellowstone, the Buffalo Bar, to split a plate of buffalo lasagna and have a local craft beer.

I hiked a total of 6.5 miles today……Nancy walked the dog and ended up with 8.3 miles……geeezzz, she’s a beast!

BTW, the park was extremely crowded. The Labor Day weekend and the spectacular weather really brought everyone out. We expect it will much quieter by Tuesday.

It was another fantastic day at Yellowstone! I agree pictures are worth a thousand words….but I’m not sure if they’ll ever be able to capture the raw beauty of mother nature’s most stunning creations. You have to see it “in person”. As long as we are able, we plan to see as much as we can……