Gentle viewer -- As noted before, while in Yellowstone, I discovered that it didn't make sense to record things simply in static images because I often ran into situations where there were sounds and motion needed to make a scene whole. So, I took massive advantage of the video feature on my camera and made many short (and the occasional not too short) film clips. The film clips have thumbnails that are much smaller but should play as videos easily if your browser is properly configured.

Our third day in Yellowstone was to be our last. We had arranged to go on a ranger guided hike early in the morning which made sense given the heat and had a few geyser basins to see before we began the trek back to Jackson and civilization and eventually home. To make the hike, we got up early, perhaps a little too early because I forgot to reset the flash and so it wasn't until these pictures that you can see Suzanne's eggs Ben's pancakes and my vegetarian breakfast tacos. We were all too early in the day to have ourselves recorded while eating. We drove to the start of the hike which was in an area of lodgepole pine forest where there had been damage in the fires of 1988 but it was explained to us that this pine cone which hadn't been exposed to fire was too tightly wrapped to allow its seeds (potentially 50,000 of them) to escape and plant new trees (so fire can be a good thing). We made our way to Ojo Caliente Spring and watched it bubble ../../../Sabbat/2007/07.11-21.07Wyoming/07.20.07YellowstoneDay3--MudPotsGeysersAndFarewell// and then after a wildflower picture we saw the Firehole River and this buffalo poop before coming across the first mud pot of the hike. Because of the dry conditions, the mud pots we were to see were not as impressive as they might have been but we were still impressed. ../../../Sabbat/2007/07.11-21.07Wyoming/07.20.07YellowstoneDay3--MudPotsGeysersAndFarewell// As we learned about mud pots we also looked out at geysers in the distance and trees that had been destroyed by thermal patterns with a pause to record this pine cone that will (or has) released its seeds to make new trees. As on previous hikes, we saw a variety of thermal features but what made these different is that they were off the tourist trail and so were not labeled and were there just for us (we didn't see other tourists on our entire hike).

with the occasional movie of something bubbling ../../../Sabbat/2007/07.11-21.07Wyoming/07.20.07YellowstoneDay3--MudPotsGeysersAndFarewell// typically with geysers nearby and wildflowers somehow surviving as the geysers and springs were all over the landscape ../../../Sabbat/2007/07.11-21.07Wyoming/07.20.07YellowstoneDay3--MudPotsGeysersAndFarewell// and beyond the bubbling were the mudpots which were impressive on their own. ../../../Sabbat/2007/07.11-21.07Wyoming/07.20.07YellowstoneDay3--MudPotsGeysersAndFarewell// ../../../Sabbat/2007/07.11-21.07Wyoming/07.20.07YellowstoneDay3--MudPotsGeysersAndFarewell// and we were able to notice bacterial growth the edge of the region in the great distance and some more wildflowers along with this skull of a baby bison amid a group of wildflowers

We took a break and the ranger guide explained the eating habits of grizzly bears and showed the impact of the volcano under Yellowstone and its impact on the local ecology. There was also a discussion of people who bring lawn chairs and sit by a geyser all day to record precisely what happens. Such people are called geyser gazers. Of course, we were able to generalize this idea to the notion that when they get older they become geyser gazer geezers. And, of course, there are people who watch them and are geyser gazer geezer gazers. And when these people get old ... geyser gazer geezer gazer geezers, etc. After looking upon some dead and dying trees close by and living trees behind we began to focus on mud pots though these people in the distance were in our midst killing exotic (i.e. non native) plants before we settled in on a mud pot and its actions ../../../Sabbat/2007/07.11-21.07Wyoming/07.20.07YellowstoneDay3--MudPotsGeysersAndFarewell// and made our way through various mud pots recording their images, their actions and their sounds ../../../Sabbat/2007/07.11-21.07Wyoming/07.20.07YellowstoneDay3--MudPotsGeysersAndFarewell//

../../../Sabbat/2007/07.11-21.07Wyoming/07.20.07YellowstoneDay3--MudPotsGeysersAndFarewell// and then the collection of trees and tree remnants that had been done in by the thermal action of the mud pots

and back to mud pots and trees and then more mud pots and their actions ../../../Sabbat/2007/07.11-21.07Wyoming/07.20.07YellowstoneDay3--MudPotsGeysersAndFarewell// as we made our way to the so called mother of all mud points ../../../Sabbat/2007/07.11-21.07Wyoming/07.20.07YellowstoneDay3--MudPotsGeysersAndFarewell//

and these bones which were on the way to the spitting mud pot ../../../Sabbat/2007/07.11-21.07Wyoming/07.20.07YellowstoneDay3--MudPotsGeysersAndFarewell// followed by some more bones thermal features mixed with the damage they make more bones wildflowers and then a collection of bones that once were assembled to make a bison

including some skin and a final bone after which we viewed the expanse and thanked the ranger for a wonderful tour.

On our way to the next geyser basin, we stopped to learn about the Nez Perce campaign with Ben taking these pictures at the road side pull out

and these pictures of his parents in the car before we reached Biscuit Basin and promised to obey the rules as we came to Black Opal Spring and Avoca Spring ../../../Sabbat/2007/07.11-21.07Wyoming/07.20.07YellowstoneDay3--MudPotsGeysersAndFarewell// ../../../Sabbat/2007/07.11-21.07Wyoming/07.20.07YellowstoneDay3--MudPotsGeysersAndFarewell// Mustard Spring or Must Ring according to Ben as it bubbled ../../../Sabbat/2007/07.11-21.07Wyoming/07.20.07YellowstoneDay3--MudPotsGeysersAndFarewell// as Ben Suzanne and I watched these eruptions of Jewel Geyser ../../../Sabbat/2007/07.11-21.07Wyoming/07.20.07YellowstoneDay3--MudPotsGeysersAndFarewell// ../../../Sabbat/2007/07.11-21.07Wyoming/07.20.07YellowstoneDay3--MudPotsGeysersAndFarewell// which goes off frequently After a visit to the Sapphire Pool we headed back to the car for the journey to our next stop.

This crow greeted us in the parking lot at Black Sand Geyser where we began with Emerald Pool and its description of life on the edge before we recorded life on the edge and moved on to Sunset Lake and Cliff Geyser ../../../Sabbat/2007/07.11-21.07Wyoming/07.20.07YellowstoneDay3--MudPotsGeysersAndFarewell// and Sprouter Geyser ../../../Sabbat/2007/07.11-21.07Wyoming/07.20.07YellowstoneDay3--MudPotsGeysersAndFarewell// ../../../Sabbat/2007/07.11-21.07Wyoming/07.20.07YellowstoneDay3--MudPotsGeysersAndFarewell// and on to Opalescent Pool which was the last of the features.

We drove back to the Lodge at Old Faithful where these were our lunch choices and this salad was Suzanne's choice as this personal cheese pizza was for me and Ben had chicken tenders with macaroni and cheese and potato salad. As I took this self portrait we watched Old Faithful get ready through the window by our table and then went out after lunch to watch the geyser develop

and captured this picture of Ben with Old Faithful as the geyser kept going so that David could be photographed in front of the geyser and then as the eruption waned

Suzanne and David posed in front of Old Faithful

Next we did the Geyser Loop around Old Faithful starting with Pump Geyser ../../../Sabbat/2007/07.11-21.07Wyoming/07.20.07YellowstoneDay3--MudPotsGeysersAndFarewell// and then moving on to Sponge Geyser ../../../Sabbat/2007/07.11-21.07Wyoming/07.20.07YellowstoneDay3--MudPotsGeysersAndFarewell// where we found this bison poop even though conditions would suggest it wasn't a good place for the buffalo to roam. Together Ben and Suzanne changed this sign but not the thermal feature and we made our way to Doublet Pool and Aurum Geyser ../../../Sabbat/2007/07.11-21.07Wyoming/07.20.07YellowstoneDay3--MudPotsGeysersAndFarewell// followed by the Lion Geyser Group pausing to look back at the Inn before Beehive Geyser and Anemone Geyser which was supposed to be getting ready to explode ../../../Sabbat/2007/07.11-21.07Wyoming/07.20.07YellowstoneDay3--MudPotsGeysersAndFarewell// so we waited and surveyed the scenery

taking pictures of Suzanne and Ben and Old Faithful and the background and even my shoes before Suzanne and Ben began totem pool pictures

before the geyser behind us magically had a series of 4 eruptions, the first 3 of which I caught in pictures

and the fourth, equally spectacular became a movie ../../../Sabbat/2007/07.11-21.07Wyoming/07.20.07YellowstoneDay3--MudPotsGeysersAndFarewell// while Ben came back to Anemone which did its thing ../../../Sabbat/2007/07.11-21.07Wyoming/07.20.07YellowstoneDay3--MudPotsGeysersAndFarewell// as my battery died but we were able to complete the picture (so to speak). ../../../Sabbat/2007/07.11-21.07Wyoming/07.20.07YellowstoneDay3--MudPotsGeysersAndFarewell// After some final wildflower pictures we began the trip south stopping in Colter Bay to put gas into the car at the store as Ben watched and then went to the Cafe where Ben had an ice cream sandwich Suzanne had diet coke and I took this self portrait before Ben properly posed his lemonade with his ice cream sandwich and Suzanne's drink accompanied Suzanne. Ben and Suzanne posed outside the cafe and after some wildflower pictures we found our way to room 26 at the Parkway Inn in Jackson where this was our room and later we made our way to the Blue Lion Inn where Ben Suzanne and I were having a dinner that started with a martini and a cosmo before the bread came and then Ben had vegetable soup as Suzanne and I had salads and wine with dinner (white for me, red for her) and our main courses of chicken tuna and risotto before Ben took these artistic pictures we decided to forgo the dessert tray (but not pictures of the dessert tray and we went for a short walk where Ben met a bear as our vacation drew near its end.