Yellowstone was pretty much the number one reason for me to come back to the USA. I set out with a 4 am alarm hoping that the shuttle would make it to my lodge in time for me to join the snowmobiling tour to old faithful. I was lucky enough to make it with no time to spare, they grabbed my luggage from me got me to sign the necessary paperwork and shoved me into the room to be fitted in my snow clothes. Within 30 mins of arriving my tour guide Josh was showing me the basics of my machine for the next 2 days and off we went.
At first I was really apprehensive trying not to go to fast and making sure I could stop with plenty of room. After about 45 mins I had relaxed into it was going faster and loving the experience. Josh was a great guide he stopped often to point out wildlife the first thing i got to see was the bald eagle. We kept going along at a decent pace taking in the beautiful scenery. The further I got into Yellowstone the more beautiful it became.
We made our first real stop at the Madison stop here there were restrooms and a little hut to warm up in. Hot drinks were available for purchase but I was doing. The warmers on the handles were keeping my hands warm enough and the other 5 layers i had on were doing there job.
We made way around Firehole falls which was more spectacular scenery, though the stream from the geothermal activities was quite thick. As we made or way back to our snowmobiles we saw a coyote moving through the snow. I was apprehensive not sure how dangerous these animals were so I took some photos and started to back away, turns out they aren't to dangerous as Josh started running towards it to get a closer look.
After our stop we continued on our way towards old faithful. Josh had a plan which was for us to arrive beat the lunch rush, eat whilst most groups were watching old faithful in action and then to catch the less popular display of old faithful. By this point in the day I was now use to responding to the name Australia and getting know more of the people who were the tour.
I was shocked to find out that they only allow 318 snowmobiles in the park each day. It seems like a fairly large number but when you take into consideration how big the park is that really isn't a lot. Old faithful is of course the most popular place thus the most crowded.
I had lunch with a lovely family who enjoyed quizzing me on all the different parts of Australia. I in turn quizzed them on lots of us questions until stumbled onto the topic of ice hockey and the conversation flowed quiet freely. After a quick bite to eat it was out to old faithful the next viewing was set for within next 5 to 10 minutes. Josh plan had worked well it was ready to get a great spot.
Watching old faithful splutter to life was pretty impressive, it felt surreal standing there watching something i had seen tv and read about happen front of me. Old faithful puts on quite a show that lasts a couple of minutes. With the cold weather there is a lot of stream surrounding the water spurt but it still made a great height.
It was time to head back to west Yellowstone and wrap up or day but not before a stop on our back via paint pot fountains, there is some more geothermal pools which have some beautiful colouring. There is also mud pots these were fascinating watching the mud plop away listening to the sounds of the activity that shows how alive Yellowstone is.
Once we got back was straight to a warm shower for me, tomorrow was to bring another adventure of exploring west Yellowstone via snowmobile.
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