Fri Sep 9 Trip to Mammoth Hot Springs

Fri Sep 9 Day 12 A nice clear sunny warm to hot day
We drove up to Mammoth Hot Springs for the Ranger talk on the geology of the area. North Yellowstone was outside the 40 mile wide Caldera from the giant volcano 600 thousand years ago so it has different rock etc. It has no volcanic rock and is Ryolite and limestone. It also has no geysers. The water in the hot pools & springs brings up dissolved limestone which the water deposits as it flows & cools to form terraces & steps down the hill side. The extreamophille organisms thrive and give colour to the formations. After the talk we went to the Mammoth Springs Hotel Dinning Room for a very nice lunch. Then we drove up to the upper terrace drive and parked. Because the springs are on a hill there are many steps to go up & down to see the formations. I did 134 steps up, ( I also went down 134 but down is easy). After exploring Mammoth we drove east to Tower-Roosevelt junction, then south to Tower Falls. It was interesting in that the rock at the top was in spires. Moving on we drove to North Canyon Rim Drive to see Upper & Lower Yellowstone Falls, lower is 308 feet, (94metres), & upper is 109 feet, (33 metres). We then headed for home having been out for about 8 hours by now. We had been wondering if there were deer in the park and just as we turned a corner there was a doe in the grass beside the road. On the road back we hit 2 traffic jambs, one a bison jamb as he wandered across the road. Sheila got a good picture out the car window. Then cars were stopped & backed up for a bunch of Elk. Finally home about 6 having driven 215 kms today.