Day 24

Our third day at Yellowstone NP was spent at Old Faithful.  We correctly (within 6 minutes) predicted the 2:19p eruption based on the elapsed time of the 12:43 eruption.  We walked the Upper Geyser Basin trail and caught a third eruption of Old Faithful. 

The children were startled by the audio CD tour commentary on the Upper Geyser Basin when the story of a 9yo boy dying in one of the thermal features was told.  Abby noticed that some of the warning signs posted at the trailheads were paid for by the boy's family and the NPSimproved the   boardwalks and increased the warnings about staying on the trails after his 1970 death.  Yellowstone does, afterall, sit on top of an active supervolcano, so caution is necessary.

Up next was the Fountain Paint Pot (mud pots are a favorite of the children's) and the thermal features on that trail.  We drove both the Firehole Lake Drive and the Firehole Canyon Drive.  Upstream from the Firehole Falls is a swimming hole which is heated by the geysers upstream!  Aliza, Isaac, and Zeke enjoyed swimming in the Firehole River.

Photos later when Ken has time and wifi.  No wifi here.  We have cell signal at the campground and up until we enter the NP, then we only have signal at some of the bigger visitor centers.

So far, a quick poll has shown that the favorite NPs among the Brothers children are: Carlsbad Cavern, Yellowstone, Hot Springs, and Petroglyphs.