We have been in Yellowstone for a few days now. We have learned that it is just too hot to do very much in the park during the day, so we have been going in early in the morning and late in the afternoon. During the rest of the time we are hanging around the hotel, which we learned today, has a small casino with video poker. I don’t know if part of legalized gambling in Montana is that they have to act like it is some kind of secret, but if you look you find real video poker around.

Yesterday we made it out to the Old Faithful geyser twice. On the first trip we viewed it from the normal spot. Jane noticed a trail up on a nearby mountain, and we decided to come back in the evening to climb it.

We are so far north that the sun doesn’t set until 9:00pm. So, it is easy to have dinner here in town, and then go back into the park.

First we went into this area where a geyser blew itself apart, but still pumps thousands of gallons of boiling water into the nearby stream every day. The pool was very deep, and the water appeared boiling hot.

Then we went back to Old Faithful and started the climb up the hill. It wasn’t a bad climb, but I was still huffing and puffing, from the altitude. When we got to the top, there were two girls in their 20’s speaking something that sounded like Russian. We were joined by a handful of other adventurous types, but nothing like the hundreds crowded around the normal viewing area that we could see about a half mile away.

While we waited there, we watched a wild buffalo walk across the caldera.

At about 8:10pm Old Faithful erupted, right on schedule. It seemed to go higher, and definitely longer than it did earlier in the day. It was definitely worth the walk up the trail to see it from a different point of view.

On the way back we stopped at a smaller geyser that was the first one we saw here. I left my camera in the car because it already seemed that we had taken so many pictures of it. But, watching it erupt with the sunset in the background was something that really made me want a photo.