On June 3, we decided it was time to see some of the volcanic features of Yellowstone National Park. I went into Gardiner to talk a bit more to the guys at Parks Fly shop and get a fishing license. We drove south through the construction zone for the 4th time and stopped at the Norris Geyser Basin.
This area is home to the tallest geyser in the Yellowstone area. Steamboat Geyser does not go off very often, but it is still pretty active with small eruptions on a regular basis.
The last eruption was in September of 2014. We decided to not wait for the next one.
We walked about 3 miles on the boardwalks at Norris Geyser Basin. It is a really beautiful area. There are a number of hot springs and other geysers. All are very impressive and each have their own unique features. I find it amazing when you think about the fact that there are more geysers in the Yellowstone Caldron than in the rest of the world combined. Yellowstone is truly special in so many ways.
I took this shot and video of a very active steam vent.
The pictures of the pools can not do justice to the amazing colors seen when looking down into the blue water.
This one looked and smelled like the mouth of a dragon.
Many are named, this one was Green Dragon Spring.
I always like to imagine what the first visitors thought when they get to a place like this. How would you describe it?
I took a bunch more pictures, but I won’t bore you with them. I actually enjoyed the walk and I think I can do more of this tourist stuff while we are here, but now some solitude was in order.
We drove down to the Gibbon River and I found a beautiful area to fish. There were a few Bison around, but they did not bother me. No fish pictures because I did not catch any again.
There were fish feeding on the top, but they did not want what I was throwing at them. A couple of other guys stopped and fished just below where I was fishing. I watched one guy catch an nice Brown Trout. I stopped and talked to him for a while and he gave me a few tips on places to go. I fished for a couple of hours and then we moved on down to the Firehole River.
I did not take any pictures, but the most amazing thing happened. I was fishing about 7PM and a large hatch happened of a black mayfly looking thing. The trout went nuts. They were jumping all around me. If I was quick, I could have netted one. I laid in some beautiful drifts. I tried 5 different flies and still got no interest. It was still a cool experience. I had enough and we headed back to Mammoth.
When we got to the Albright Visitor Center, there was a large herd of elk milling around. These three really liked this motorcycle.
It was another awesome day in Yellowstone National Park. We still have not even seen Old Faithful or some other top tourist stops. We will get to that tomorrow. It was a long day with over 6 miles of walking and then some slogging through swampy ground to fish. I was a bit tired. We looked at the map and still had much of the park to see. Hang in there we still have a few more days to go. You can have Tahiti or the Caribbean, this is paradise for me.
A wise man once told me the following: “Until you understand that fly fishing is not about catching fish, you do not understand fly fishing.” Well OK, but how about just one? My confidence in my ability is getting damaged. Bad Day? I think not.
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