Pick a peck

These photos were taken last weekend. Sorry it took so long to upload them.

I had an above average year for bell peppers. I picked all of these last Saturday. I managed to pick several green peppers earlier in the season, too.

My front yard is a carpet of orange leaves. This photo doesn't do the color justice. It catches my eye every time I walk past a front window. And I love rounding the corner in my car and spotting my yard down the block. Spectacular!

These leaves typically drop just before Halloween. (My other huge locust is hanging on to its leaves for now.) Could an earlier leaf-drop be a sign that the front tree is distressed? I worry that the multiple excavations in my front yard have destroyed too many of its roots. I sure hope not! I love my huge locust tree. Actually, I love all four of my huge trees.

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My garden is pretty much done for the year. I had an average year for cucumbers, a good year for lettuce, and a lousy year for snap peas. The wildflowers took a long time to develop, but they turned out okay. I'll use a different seed mix and start earlier next year.

Day 15: A very long drive

I was up before dawn. I couldn't sleep anyway. It was time to hit the road. We had over 900 miles to cover today.

We left the campground around 6:30 a.m. I'd driven the entire trip so far, but around midday, I needed a break. Ma drove for a couple hours while I took a nap.

The return trip was pretty uneventful. We saw lots and lots of motorcycles heading to or from Sturgis, South Dakota. We enjoyed the second Harry Potter book on CD. We lost an hour when we entered the Central Time Zone. We stopped at a few rest areas and got gas when we needed it. We didn't even bother to stop for lunch. We just ate whatever snacks were in the car. We did stop for fast food for dinner.

At about 9:45 p.m., we pulled into the driveway at my parents' house. Ahh, home at last.

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We had such a great trip. No major problems. No significant experiences missed. I got to crawl through the center of the earth and hike to the top of a mountain. I do regret not being able to see a bighorn sheep. But we saw so many other magnificent animals, it's hard to grumble about just that one. I hadn't expected to see a moose, a bald eagle, a wolf, and a grizzly bear. We saw countless deer, pronghorns, elk, and buffalo, too. We fed burros and got drenched by a geyser. The wildflowers were amazing. Even the weather cooperated (for the most part).

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Whenever Ma and I return from our trips, we're inevitably asked where we'll go next. Oh, so many choices! We've talked about Croatia. Or Canada. Or the American Southwest, perhaps joined by Maureen? I've never been to Ireland, England, Spain, or Portugal either. There are several trips that I expect I'll have to do solo, like India, Thailand, China, and Morocco. Would you like to join me?

Day 14: Devils Tower

We got an early start and said a poignant goodbye to Yellowstone National Park. We had had an amazing time!

Google Maps estimates the travel time between Old Faithful and Devils Tower at seven hours and twenty-four minutes. For some reason, it took us nine hours.

The Plains Indians hold Devils Tower and the surrounding area sacred. Each Nation had its own story about how it was created, but the Kiowa legend is the most famous. The People believe that seven little girls were out playing and were attacked by a bear. The girls' prayer for help was answered in the form of a rock. The Great Spirit told them to stand on top of it. The rock rose out of the ground and transported them up away from the bear. The bear raked the sides of the rock with its claws, leaving deep furrows. The seven girls still remain in the sky as the stars in the constellation known to us as the Pleiades.

A mistranslation of an Indian name led the early explorers to call it the "Bad God Tower". This was later changed to "Devils Tower".

In 1906, President Teddy Roosevelt made history by establishing Devils Tower as America's first National Monument. He went on to declare 17 more. He also signed legislation that created five National Parks and 150 National Forests.

You can see Devils Tower several miles before you actually get there. There's not a lot out here to block your view.

Note the striations. Steven Spielberg's 1977 move "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" made them famous. Richard Dreyfus's character, obsessed with the Devils Tower formation, uses his fork to imprint them into a mound of mashed potatoes. From this distance, they really do look like fork marks!

We'd seen many desperate signs throughout the west, but this one we found particularly clever. It says, "For heaven's sake! Please stop and eat before we both starve!" Nice try, but we just ate.

In a strange way it reminded me of the simple but witty signs we saw throughout New Zealand.

Wildlife isn't a major draw at Devils Tower, but prairie dogs were ubiquitous. There's a huge "town" of them along the road up to the site.

We'll walk the 1.3 mile Tower Trail which encircles the formation. Like Uluru, in the Australian Outback, each side was slightly different. And its appearance changed even more with the angle of the sun.

From this vantage point, the top appears flat. It is actually mounded and about the size of a football field. You'd find grass, trees, and even squirrels up there. The guidebooks say that it isn't much different than the landscape around us.

Up close, you can see that the striations are actually giant columns of rock. A boulder field surrounds its base. These boulders are actually collapsed columns that have tumbled down from above.

Some of the boulders are quite large and have probably been here thousands of years.

Rock-climbing is a very popular activity at Devils Tower. An estimated 4,000 climbers reach the summit every year. You need a permit to go any higher than I am here. The Native Americans consider Devils Tower to be sacred, and climbing it is a sacrilege. Tribal leaders feel that climbing should be prohibited altogether, but the government cannot outlaw climbing for purely religious reasons. The rangers have compromised, asking rock climbers to stay off the Tower during the holy month of June. The climbing ban is voluntarily. Still, requests for permits drop by 85%.

The first climbers used wooden stakes that acted like a sort of ladder. You can see a remnant of one of the stakes in the middle of this photo. Holes left from other stakes can be seen along the seam up to the left.

There are two climbers in this picture (just left of center). One is wearing an orange shirt, and one is wearing no shirt. It gives you some perspective on how large the tower really is.

The top of Devils Tower is 1,280 feet above the surrounding landscape (roughly a quarter mile). Scientists disagree about the origin of the tower (where did the magma come from? and why does it protrude above its surroundings?). But most agree about how the columns were formed. When molten rock cools, it produces crystals. If it cools slowly, the rock has time to shrink and crack into perfect 120 degree angles. This produces hexagonal columns, just like Sheepeaters Cliff in Yellowstone. Different rates of cooling also formed a few 4-, 5-, and 7-sided columns.

We were the only people to go to Joyner Ridge to view the sunset.

How perfect is this picture? It's a quintessential photo of the American West. All it lacks is a howling coyote.

The full moon was actually unwanted on this night. It prevented Ma from seeing the Perseid meteor shower.

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We spent the night at the KOA Campground just outside the park's gate. (Literally; their driveway is just a few feet from the entrance.) Unlike all of the other cabins we stayed in on this trip, this one did not have the a sink, or bed linens, or even heat. You get a bare, tarp-covered mattress on a double bed and bunk beds, a central light fixture, and little else. On the plus side, it was clean and in good shape. And it had a porch swing and a fire pit out in front. I was not expecting the no heat-no linens situation. The reviews had said that the provided linens were gross, so you should bring your own. I was prepared to be disgusted, but not cold. Ma had brought a blanket. I hadn't. Instead, I slept in several layers of clothes. For me, it was a long miserable night. Looking back, I should have known better.
Oh, and I should have joined Ma on the big bed. Yes, Ma, you told me so.

Upper Geyser Basin: Black Sand

The sunlight was fading fast. We had just enough time to jump in the car and zoom over to the Black Sand Basin. Fortunately, there wasn't a soul around, so parking was no trouble at all. Unfortunately, the reason for the desertion is obvious: many of the pools rely on direct sunlight to reveal their stunning colors.

Ma opted to stay in the car. The Morning Glory hike was enough to tire anyone out.

This pool is called Sunset Lake. Regrettably, it doesn't look best at sunset. It's called Sunset Lake because of its brilliant yellows and oranges, but the low angle of the sun revealed only a tiny sample at its edge.

Cliff Geyser sits on the very edge of Iron Creek. An eruption is imminent when the crater is full to the brim and boiling. It is unpredictable, but it sometimes erupts twice a day.

Black Sand Basin gets its name from the black volcanic glass sand (obsidian granules) that is found in the area. Thermophiles contribute the reddish color in this photo.

Our sightseeing done for the day, we returned to our cabin at Old Faithful. What a great spot we got! This is a photo taken from our front door. We can see the geyser from here.

We weren't quite ready for our stay in Yellowstone to end. Restless, we grabbed ice cream cones and wandered out to the lodge's back porch to eat them. We completed the day by watching Old Faithful's last eruption in sunlight (just barely).

Upper Geyser Basin: to Morning Glory

Checking the boards at the Visitor Center, we discovered we had just enough time to check into our cabin, eat dinner, and then hustle over to Castle Geyser to watch it erupt.

Castle Geyser erupted a little earlier than anticipated. We were walking up the trail and saw its initial burst over the treetops. It's a good thing eruptions last for 20 minutes. We still got a good show out of it.

Even after the peak of its eruption was done, it still splashed water out occasionally, and the steam made for some excellent rainbows.

Now was a good time to complete the Geyser Hill walk we had begun this morning with the ranger. I also wanted to see the famous Morning Glory Pool, but it was a 2.8 mile round trip hike into the woods. Ma was game, so we set off to see some more fantastic pools and geysers.

This cluster of geysers is called the "Grand Group".

Vent Geyser (far left), Turban Geyser (center), and Grand Geyser (right) all share a water supply. They erupt in a series. Turban erupts most frequently. A typical sequence will have Turban erupting several times, followed by Grand, followed by Vent. So, in this photo, we probably just missed Grand because Vent is erupting.

Grand is the tallest predictable geyser. A full Grand eruption can reach 180 feet and last for 9 to 12 minutes. It happens once every 7 to 15 hours.

Beauty Pool

Chromatic Pool

Beauty and Chromatic Pools are like beautiful twin sisters. They're connected deep underground. Like most of the hot springs in Yellowstone (and for that matter, around the world), these pools are slightly alkaline. That means the color is a product of the microorganisms that thrive at its specific temperature.

The size of its sinter cone... The height of its eruption... The sheer volume of water expelled... There's nothing that's not gigantic about Giant Geyser. When Giant erupts, it can shake the ground. Unfortunately, it's unpredictable. Giant can lay dormant for years between eruptions.

It's estimated that Giant is over 10,000 years old. The cone is 12 feet high and blown in half. When it erupts, a column of water as much as 250 feet high and 6 feet in diameter ejects one million gallons of water in the course of an hour. I'm sure it's an awe-inspiring sight to behold.

Giant shares its platform with Bijou, Catfish, and Mastiff Geysers. They're all interconnected and can "steal" and "lend" energy between one another.

This amorphous shape is Grotto Geyser. Scientists theorize that the geyser emerged in a stand of trees, and the remains became covered with a thick coating of sinter. Thus the cone developed into this unusual form.

Here's a closer view of Grotto. I think that's a "stump" in the middle, and a fallen limb on the left forms the nifty arch.

When Grotto erupts, it can reach up to 40 feet, and can last as long as 24 hours. But even when it isn't erupting you can hear a constant gurgling sound.

Riverside Geyser is among the most dependable geysers in the park. It erupts every 5.5 to 7.5 hours for about 22 minutes. And it has done so for as long as records have been kept.

Unlike most cone geysers, this one doesn't erupt straight up. Instead, it directs its stream at a 70 degree angle out into the Firehole River. Sadly, we weren't lucky enough to see it erupt.

At last we have reached our destination: the Morning Glory Pool.

The colorful pool became a favorite among early tourists. Stagecoach routes went right past it. But over the years, it lost its beautiful blue center. Vandals had thrown things into the pool, constricting the vent and reducing the flow of hot water. Drawn by the lower temperature, brown and orange algae began overtaking the pool.

In 1950, the park rangers decided to act. They opted to drain the pool to clean it. The water in the pool had always acted like a cork, keeping the water beneath from reaching the boiling point. Once the water had been siphoned out, the pool erupted, spewing its collected trash and treasures into the air. The rangers collected and cataloged it all: pennies, bath towels, socks, handkerchiefs, the list goes on; 112 different items were retrieved in all. They counted $94.37 in U.S. coins.

The Morning Glory Pool is now cleaned annually.

Beehive

We'd only been inside the Old Faithful Visitor Center for a few moments when a ranger announced over the loud speaker, "Beehive's indicator has just started to erupt." Beehive Geyser was soon to follow!

Some people gathered at the windows of the Visitor Center, or at the bank of the Firehole River. But Ma and I wanted a closer look. We hustled over to the boardwalk on Geyser Hill.

Beehive's shape operates like the nozzle of a firehose. The superheated water comes roaring out, straight up in the air for 130 to 180 feet. We'd positioned ourselves well, or so we thought. Ranger Erin had warned us that the boardwalk right in front of the geyser was a "splash zone". Observers in that area were sure to get wet. So, we stood upwind a hundred yards or so and snickered at the fools who were standing so close.

The joke was on us. Beehive's spray had just reached full strength. It was an awesome sight. ...And then the wind shifted. We were hit full-on with a wall of cold, mineral-laden water. Ma happened to be sitting on a bench and had the presence of mind to turn her back and hunch her shoulders. I was standing in a crowd on an overlook on the boardwalk. I turned my back but soon realized that in order to escape, I had to face the geyser and walk straight through the deluge. I was lucky my coat was waterproof. But my shorts and shoes were not. Ma's jacket was just a light cotton knit, so she was soaked, too. What a sight we made! A clear sky, and we were thoroughly drenched!

Recalling Ranger Erin's advice, we cleaned off our glasses and camera lenses before the water could dry. The minerals in geyser spray can leave spots that you can't get off. The rest of our soggy clothing would just have to remain wet. Thus, we squished our way back to the Visitor Center to dry off and change clothes. We couldn't check into our cabin until later.

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Freshly attired at the Visitor Center, I stopped by the ranger desk. I asked if bald eagle sightings were rare enough to be reported. The ranger said they weren't entirely rare but asked where we'd seen them anyway. I told her about the red-tailed hawk with them and began scrolling through the photos on my camera. The ranger gave me a quizzical look. "Are you sure it wasn't an eaglet?" she asked, pulling out a bird book. As it turns out, a juvenile bald eagle looks just like a red-tailed hawk! She mentioned it would be unusual for a red-tailed hawk to share the air with a bald eagle, but it would be completely logical for a pair to train their young together. They're "family" birds. And they mate for life.

The ranger thanked me for showing her my photos and reporting the new family of eagles flying near Midway Geyser Basin.

Upper Geyser Basin: Biscuit Basin

Parking will be a constant battle today, just like it was yesterday.

We were lucky to find a place to park at Biscuit Basin.

The area is called Biscuit Basin because once upon a time the Sapphire Pool was surrounded by biscuit-like sinter formations. The 1959 earthquake that struck the area caused Sapphire Pool to start erupting like a geyser, and the phenomenon lasted for nine years. The eruptions blew the hot spring apart. Unfortunately, the distinctive sinter formations were destroyed. The pool is now double its original size, and hotter than ever.

I thought this was a pretty awesome bacteria mat.

Sapphire Pool pretty much dominates Biscuit Basin. There wasn't much else of note to see there. We tried to visit Black Sand Basin but parking was impossible. We'll try again later. For now, we're headed back to Old Faithful to see the new Visitor Center.