Exploring North of Violet Springs

We set out for the Cygnet Lakes Trail this morning to access a backcountry hot spring area mentioned on the http://www.us.national-parks.net/hidden.htm. The site lists quite a few 'secret' Yellowstone locations. I've used it as a starting point for a few of my expeditions. After a little hunting on Google Earth, I was able to get the GPS coordinates. Jeff programed them in to the GPS unit. He's getting pretty good at it, that's how we found Fairyland last year.
After a false start out past a bug-infested lilly pad pond, we found a little drainage and followed a nice game trail out to a finger meadow. The finger meadow delivered us into a large, beautiful meadow. We crossed through a grove of lodgepole pine at the edge of it and discovered a pile of old tin cans. I wonder if it was once an old poacher's camp.
A family of huge sandhill cranes surprised us as we walked out of the trees.
We followed a tiny creek into a small valley to the north and emerged at the edge of the thermal area.
To the left we found a wide, flat, white area, dotted with hot springs - some milky, some clear...
even a few mud volcanoes sprang from the ground.

I thought this spring looked like Swiss cheese.
In the center, almost like a trophy, lay a sun-bleached bison skull.
All in all, it was a pretty satisfying little adventure. There's nothing quite like stepping off the trail...

And the wildflowers were GORGEOUS!
On our way back we took Firehole Drive and stopped to see the cascades.

Hitchhikers and Hot Water

We reached Old Faithful Village in time to catch an eruption of Grand Geyser - something I've always wanted to see.

This clip is of the geyser's encore performance - it started up again during the applause after the 'feature presentation.' The 120 degree geyser erupts for 9 - 16 minutes every 6 - 15 hours, sending water up to 200 feet into the sky. Grand is especially spectacular as it erupts simultaneously with Vent and Turban geysers (also visible in the video). A rainbow often appears in the steam. Grand was named by members of the 1871 Hayden Expedition.
On our way into the park though West Yellowstone, we stopped to get ice cream and met some Taiwanese park employees. We ran into them again as we were entering the park - they were standing near the entrance station with a 'need a ride to Old Faithful' sign. Of course we had to give them a ride and Jeff talked their arms off trying to remember his Chinese. They mentioned that they hadn't seen much of the park because it was hard to get rides, so we stopped to show them Grand Prismatic - the world's largest hot spring - a big rainbow puddle. When we reached Old Faithful they presented us with 'the best instant noodles in the world' and invited us to their dorm room for a traditional Taiwanese hot pot dinner.
Maybe it's Jeff's growing up next to David and his family from Taiwan, maybe it's our having spent 6 months teaching English in Taiwan, but we feel a certain affection for the Taiwanese.

Home again, Home again

Our next stop en route to Yellowstone was Park City, Utah where we visited with my parents for a few days.
This is beautiful Summit Park, where I lived through middle school, high school and college summers. You can't see the houses through the trees, but ours is at the base of the mountain on the right.
We got to visit with Andrea, a best friend from way back and her awesome husband, Wyatt. Andrea is due in October!
Here are Olivia and Calvin, Andrea's munchkins, with their amigurumi creatures I crocheted for them. Aren't they adorable?

Waterskiing with Dan

On our way up to Yellowstone we spent two night with Dan (at right) in Pueblo, CO.
He took us our on his boat with his friends Matt and Kami and their dog, also named Kami.

Here is Dan wakeboarding.

Here is Jeff wakeboarding.

Ok, OK, here's a picture of him wakeboarding successfully!

Here's Dan with the nice set of hooters I crocheted for him.












Thanks Dan!!

About that camera...

I've been getting quite a few questions about what camera the underwater photos came from. I've been using an Olympus Stylus series digital camera on our snorkel trips for the last three years or so. It is shockproof, dust proof, freeze proof, waterproof to 33 ft and 7 megapixel. The models that are out now are up to 12 megapixel. It is perfect for snorkeling, fording rivers, snowboarding, sandstorms in the Kalahari, horse or mountain bike riding or just being clumsy...
They cost $375 and under depending on how much abuse you expect them to take!
Click here to go to the Olympus website and see their supper tough cameras.
So there's my plug for Olympus cameras.

I should also mention that I do color adjustments in PhotoShop to correct for the light and atmospheric differences underwater. These adjustments make a huge difference. Sometimes I'm not even sure what I've photographed until I run 'auto levels on the photo and, surprise, a turtle or a ray springs from the murky depths.

Cozumel, Mexico

After we checked out of the Sandos we hopped on the ferry and headed out to the island of Cozumel.

Cozumel means 'land of swallows' in Mayan. This gorgeous sculpture of swallows sits at the end of the ferry pier.

A flamingo tongue molusk - they like to hang out on sea fans.

We snorkeled twice on Cozumel. This site is at Punta Sur National Park on the southern tip of the island. The park also has crocodiles and tropical birds.

Undersea meadows of rippling purple sea fans.

An ocean trigger tries to keep her urchin snack away from hungry little fish.

French Grey Angelfish

French Grey Angelfish makes a visit to a cleaning wrasse's station.

This spotted moray eel came out of his den to see what we were up to.

A stoplight parrotfish poses next to a branched coral.

A tiny stand of christmas tree worms spring from a huge brain coral. The worms slurp back into their holes if you wave a fin at them.

An ornate cowfish.

Yippie! Snorkeling is like flying!

We found this huge tree next to the road on the south end of the island. I think it is a baobab.

We bought a coco frio at this roadside stand. A guy wacked the top off the coconut with a machete. After we finished drinking it we handed it back and he chopped it in half, scooped the meat out and mixed up lime and chilie to season it. It was delicious!

Unnamed sea arch next to the coco frio stand.

We rented a scooter for two days to get around Cozumel.

Don't miss the iguana on top of the wall.

This turtle is one of three living at La Casona Real- the hotel where we stayed. He is munching cantelope from our breakfast.