Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Black Sand and Ravin' about Ravens

After Fern Cascades, we entertained ourselves walking the boardwalk at Black Sand Basin. We watched Cliff Geyser fill its basin and erupt on the bank of Iron Creek.
I spotted the now unmarked Handkerchief Pool alongside Rainbow Pool. You can see it as a tiny eruption in the center of this photo. It is unmarked because back in the day ladies used to throw their hankies in where they would be sucked into the subterranean plumbing whirled around and returned to the surface, freshly laundered. Rangers at the time encouraged this! Take a look: http://mms.nps.gov/yell/ofvec/exhibits/treasures/thermals/hotspring/handkerchief.htm
We also saw Emerald Pool. Isn’t it beautiful?
We watched two ravens playing for a long time. One raven had a big orange cheesy puff and the other wanted it very badly. He tried to snatch it away at first and when that didn’t work, he tried begging and acting generally pathetic. When that didn’t work, he flew off and came back with a candy wrapper, which he attempted to trade for the cheese puff.
This whole time the other raven was strutting around displaying his prize cheese puff as if to taunt his little brother.
I love ravens. They are so clever and entertaining.
Here is a raven eating dog food from the bed of a pickup truck at Old Faithful.
The park is very crowded this summer. I’ve never seen it this packed before – the boardwalks were overflowing at this Old Faithful eruption.

No comments: