YELLOWSTONE JUNE 2011 WHERE ELSE IN THE WORLD CAN YOU SEE SPECTACULAR WATERFALLS, SNOWCAPPED MOUTAINS, BISON, GRIZZLY BEARS, WOLVES, AND GEYSERS.

Castle geyser, shown at the top of the blog, and most of the other famous geysers in Yellowstone are located in an area of the park refered to as the Upper Geyser Basin. All of the geyser basins in Yellowstone are sitting on top of an old, but not extinct, volcano. This volcanic heat provides the energy that heats the groundwater for all geyser and hot spring activity. It also provides all of us with a unique and spectacular place to visit.

Old Faithful is still faithful, going off about every hour or so. It is a great sight. But, the crowds are huge and you can not get close enough to feel, smell, and shower in the the spray. Just take the time and effort to walk another mile or less and you will really experience the world of the geyser. See the photos that follow.

Some of the Bison were still hanging around the Upper Geyser Basin area to enjoy the steam bath.

Grand Geyser(rt) and Vent Geyser(Lt) rising well over 100 ft. in the air. These geysers are located on the boardwalk trail about 2/3 of a mile beyond Old Faithful. Grand is larger than O.F., It is only 70 ft. from you, and the average crowd is about 200 instead of 2000.

It is much more impressive than O.F., but it is less predicatable and takes more patience. WORTH THE WAIT!!

Geyser eruption along the Firehole River 1/4 mile beyond Old Faithful.

Geyser cloudman??

In very early morning all the geysers and hot springs are steaming. We met only 5 people during a 4 mile hike at this time of day.

Lion geyser shoots water 25+ feet in the air. It is on the boardwalk trail about 1/4 mile beyond Old Faithful. You can get within about 30 ft. of this geyser.

Ravens are common in much of the park. This one actually responded to calls from our granddaughter.

Colored bacteria mats can survive at high temps at the edges of hot pools. These bacteria are related to some of the most ancient life forms on earth.

Sapphire Pool is so hot no colored bacteria mats can grow on the edges of this pool.

The highest waterfall(308 ft.) in Yellowstone (the so called "Lower Falls"). The river has cut a 1200 ft. deep canyon thru the old lava flows from the great Yellowstone volcano. This is the rock layer that gives the park its name. Note the minature deck just to the upper right hand top of the falls. Later photos on the blog will show that spot.

This is the view from the top of the 308 ft high Lower Falls of the Yellowstone. It is a 600 ft down vertical hike to get to this point, and a lot farther up to get to the car. Note the snow still in the background.

It was cloudy and dreary most of the time but the 1200 ft deep grand canyon of the Yellowstone river was still a sight to see.

The moutains of Yellowstone had more snow than we have ever seen in the 2nd week of June. It was spectacular.

This is the Roosevelt/Tower area in the N.E. part of the park. We love to call this the "Big Country" part of Yellowstone.

The Magpies were common in the North end of the park. We aslo see these in N.W. Minnesota when we go up north fishing.

Our party saw 5 grizzly and 1 blk bear this trip. Had never seen a single griz on 10 previous trips.

The elk were abundant in the park. These were at the Mammoth vistor area.

The hot spring deposited terraces at Mammoth are at the North end of the park. They are not quite as active today as other times we have seen them.

Western Meadowlark photo courtesy of Bruce Lees

Page 1 of Meadowlark article for the Spring Valley Tribune.

Page 2 of article for Spring Valley Tribune. The Tribune did not publish the correct ending to this article-the correct end is here.

This tree frog spent the night under an overturned cooler on our deck. They are now singing from the woodlands of the area. They can also change their color to almost gray.

The Deer Flies are now out. Their wings have impressive designs and they have a bite to match. They tend to go for the back of the neck and the back of the arms.