Blasphemy in Wyoming - Jackson Hole WY - 8573 miles

I don't know how many people say this, but I wasn't overly impressed with Yellowstone. Unlike Yosemite or the Grand Canyon where every turn in the road yields a new vista of unimagined beauty, most of Yellowstone is much like the country you pass through on the interstate. It's beautiful country, but not spectacular. The exceptions, of course, are the geothermal aspects of the park and the massive canyon cut through the yellow stone. (Hey, I bet that's how it got it's name.)















We made the obligatory pilgrimage to Old Faithful and had our picture taken in front of what seemed to be an appropriate sign, although they seemed to use an alternate spelling of geezer. It's hard to wander the park and not see many of the hundreds of geysers erupt, but only one is faithful. Another in the same basin as Old Faithful erupted while we were there and shot much higher, I just guess it's not quite as faithful. The average height of an Old Faithful eruption is 130', but others periodically reach 400'-500'.















The pools formed by the bubbling water and the residue left behind form eerie landscapes probably unseen elsewhere.















Seeing the canyon cut by the river was worth the drive to a more remote part of the park. We drove out the south end of Yellowstone and into the Grand Tetons. The Tetons afforded much more impressive views overall than Yellowstone and had smaller crowds.















We spent last night in Jackson, WY - a nice town with about six times the people it should. Walking around town was like trying to walk around Disneyworld. Today will be a ride up a ski lift to the top of a mountain, which is about as close to skiing as I care to get. This afternoon we head to Idaho Falls, ID.