Mammoth Hot Springs In Yellowstone National Park

This is part seven of a travel series to Yellowstone and the Grand Teton National Parks.  If you'd like to start at the beginning, go HERE!

Mammoth Hot Springs

On Day Two, after having Linner in Gardiner, we drove back into the park to check out the next spot on our figure 8 loop:  Mammoth Hot Springs.  If you're following along on our trusty little Yellowstone map I've been using in every post, we are now at the very top of the park.  We saw that a storm was moving in so we decided to go to the Visitor Center first.  It was tough finding parking, as there is just a tiny parking lot for the center, but we lucked out as someone was leaving.  I don't have any photos of the interior of the Visitor Center, but there is an exterior photo at the end of this post.  It was a simple two floor Visitor Center with exhibits and a gift shop.  We stayed inside till the storm passed, which wasn't long.  Fast moving mountain storms that seem to spring up out of nowhere are common in Yellowstone, so always be sure to have rain gear on hand.

Photo Credit

Even though there is a lot of parking in the Mammoth Springs area, it was still tough finding a spot as it was very busy.  We ended up parking in a lot directly across from the "Liberty Cap".  It is an extinct hot spring cone named after the conical hats given to Emancipated Roman slaves.  It is quite the interesting formation standing all by its lonesome, I know. 😁

Mammoth Hot Springs is absolutely fascinating.  Out of all the hot springs in Yellowstone, this and West Thumb (to be featured another day) I think I enjoyed the most...even more than the Old Faithful area.  

The highlight of the area for me are the "Travertine Terraces" where the interactions of water and limestone create chalk-white travertine.  These terraces are among the fastest changing features of the park, emerging quickly and drying up just as fast.  

The photo below talks about how the landscaping in this area is always changing.  Click on the photo to enlarge it and read more. 

Another reason I loved Mammoth Hot Springs was the breath-taking panoramic views.  The boardwalks seem to go for miles and take you high above the valley where you can get such scenic views.  Pictured below is the Mammoth Hot Springs restaurant, hotel, and cabins.

The Travertine Terraces are absolutely gorgeous up close.  It's hard to believe these are habitats for microscopic organisms that survive and thrive here.  They are too small to see with the naked eye, but trillions are grouped together and appear as masses of color.

The color in this area is breath-taking.  When we first arrived, it was cloudy due to the storm that passed through.  But later the sun came out, and wow! What a difference the sun made.  Try to see Mammoth Hot Springs on a sunny day if you can.

I also loved the shape of these beautiful terraces.

When the terrace "dies" it looks like a pile of grey ash as pictured in the background.

This photo reminded me of stalagmites one often sees in caves.

The photos above and below show the absolute beauty of this area!  These boardwalks seem to go on forever.  We didn't even walk the entire boardwalk because it just seemed endless.  

The surrounding landscape was a beautiful as the travertine terraces. 

The area is divided into two areas : Upper Terraces Area (which also has a one way auto drive) and a Lower Terrace Area.  Although we walked up to the top, when we saw how much more walking was involved, we decided to just turn around and head back as it was a long way back to the parking lot.

Palette Spring seemed to be very popular when we there.  I do think it had the most variety of colors, especially when the sun came out.

Here are a couple of short videos so you can see these terraces in action:

Fort Yellowstone

Another interesting fact about this area, is that this is the site of the old Fort Yellowstone.  The buildings are still there, and although you can't go inside any of them (other than the Visitor Center) you can walk the neighborhood.  It killed me that we didn't have time to do that, as I love old buildings.  Today, these buildings are still used to house park employees.

The history of Fort Yellowstone is amazing.  Yellowstone had a huge problem with poachers, railroad, and miners when it was first established in 1872, so the Army was brought in to protect it.

In the photo below the building on the far left is the Visitor Center (originally the Bachelor Officers Quarters), and the rest of the buildings were also part of the fort.  The legend in the first photo gives a detail description of what each building was used for.  You can't drive through this area, but you can take a walking tour which takes about 45 minutes to complete.

And this is the Post Office. Isn't it just the coolest?

If you ever get to Yellowstone, be sure to not miss the Mammoth Hot Springs.  I know it's at the top of the loop, but it is so worth it!

Have A Great Day! Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

For more information on Yellowstone, please check out these posts:

Old Faithful

The Grand Prismatic Spring

Firehole Canyon Drive

Fountain Paint Pot, Lake Hotel and Cabins, and Hayden Valley

The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

The Yellowstone Caldera, Tower Fall, Calcite Springs, & the Roosevelt Arch

"Summer Jobs" Dirty Dozen Card-Making Challenge

Nine months ago I wrote in THIS POST that I was given the great honor in the paper-crafting world to join the "Dirty Dozen" on Splitcoaststampers.   Splitcoaststampers is an on-line paper crafting community where crafters can learn new techniques, chit chat with each other, share their art work, and so much more.  One part of this community is "The Dirty Dozen".  This is an invitation only group of crafters whose work is seen as exemplary so they are asked to be part of the Dirty Dozen.  The requirements of the Dirty Dozen is to create six cards for six months centered around a different theme each month.  The cards then are uploaded into the "Dirty Dozen Gallery" and only fan club members are allowed to see them.  After six months, Dirty Dozen members are allowed to post them elsewhere on social media or their blogs.  Well, it has been six months since I completed my first challenge, so I can finally show me my first set of cards!

The third Dirty Dozen theme was "Summer Jobs" and these are my submissions:

Farm Card

The first photo shows the outside of the farm card.  Once opened (the second photo) is another farm scene.

I live in a rural area and summer time provides a lot of summer jobs on farms.  

I created a Gatefold design card following a tutorial on Splitcoaststampers .  I used a combination of stamps and my Cricket machine to make all the farm images.  The barn, Sio, fence, tractor, and tree were all made with the "Country Life" Cricut cartridge.  The pig, farmer, horse, and chickens are from MFT "Punny Farm".  The sentiment is from Crafty Secrets "Down on the Farm".  I used stencils from Taylor Expressions to create the clouds and the grass.

Canning Card

My next card shows my summer job:  canning. I spend a good part of my summer canning vegetables from my garden.

To make this card I used a free canning jar image off the internet and printed it out in two different sizes.  The strawberries are stamps.  I put Glossy accents on the large strawberry and the strawberry tag.  I cut some red gingham designer paper by hand and glued it to the top of the larger jar, adding a twine bow and a tag.  The sentiment is from a stamp in my stash, and is cut with an MFT banner die.  I created the jam in the smaller jar just by coloring it in with a Copic marker.  The strawberry designer paper is from Jellibean Soup "Coconut Lime Soup".

Beach Scene Card

Lots of people work as lifeguards in the summer, so I created a beach scene card.

To make this card I used retired Stampin' Up! "Sparkling Summer".  The sentiment is from Flourishes "Kid's Play".  I used Taylored Expressions cloud stencil for the background and then colored my own sea and sand with Copic Markers.  I added some Dew Drops to the sand to make it more sparkly.  The beach images were all stamped on to separate card stock and cut out by hand.  The sentiment is from Flourish's "Kids at Play" and cut with a MFT banner die.  I added a ribbon and a sea shell stick pin for embellishment.

Ice Cream Cone Card

Another summer job is an ice cream worker.  We have neighborhood ice cream trucks in the summer plus all our ice cream shops usualy re-open for the summer.  In Wisconsin, many ice cream stores are only open in the summer months.

To make this card I used my Circuit machine once again and cut out a large cupcake using the cartridge "Sweet Treats".  I dry embossed the cone and the background paper using Cuttlebug embossing Folders.  I colored the sprinkles various pastel colors and then put glitter glue on them.  The sentiment is from Hero Arts "Cupcakes".  I cut the tag and the white scalloped background with Spellbinder's Nestabilies.  Ribbon, twin, and a button are the embellishments.  The ice cream cone is popped up on dimensionals. 

Camping Card

In the summer, camps open up again and many people are hired to work as camp counselors, camp employees, etc. 

To make this card, I followed a Diorama Tutorial on Splitcoaststampers.  I used images from retired Stampin' Up! sets "Happy Camper" and "Travel Time".  I stamped all the images onto separate card stock, colored them in, and fussy cut them out then glued them to my diorama.  The starry background is designer paper.  

Gardening Card

Another one of my summer jobs is gardening so I created a gardening card.

To make this card, I used the MFT stamp set "Can Ya Dig It?"  I stamped all the images separately, cut them out, and glued them onto the card or used dimensionals.  The sentiment and seedling were stamped directly onto the card stock.  I created a trellis background using a die.  The clouds and sun were also cut from dies.  The flower background is designer paper. 

I hope you enjoyed looking at my Dirty Dozen Design Team cards.  I have shown you about half of them now.  There is more to come next month!

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

See More Dirty Dozen Cards in These Posts:

"Let's Go Fly A Kite"

"Butterflies Are Free"

 

The Yellowstone Caldera, Tower Falls, Calcite Springs, and the Roosevelt Arch

This is part six of a travel series to Yellowstone and the Grand Teton National Parks.  If you'd like to start at the beginning, go HERE!

The Heart of the Yellowstone Caldera

After spending the morning of Day Two exploring The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, we got back in the car and continued upwards towards the North Entrance.  We weren't in the car long when we spotted a number of cars pulled over at a scenic overlook.  We thought "It must be good, or there wouldn't be so many cars here" so we stopped.

If you've been following along on our journey, we have now completed more than half of the lower figure eight loop and we were continuing upward (north) to the upper half of the figure eight loop.  The overlook we stopped at is called the "Washburn Hot Springs Overlook" which is not on the map below but is on a more detailed map of Yellowstone which you receive at the park entrance.  On the map below, we were about half way in-between Canyon Jct. and Mt. Washburn.

Photo Credit

The scenic view is explained in the photo below.  If you click on the photo you can enlarge it and read more about it.  From this spot you have views of the Washburn Hot Springs, the Caldera Rim (which resulted from the third cycle of volcanic events) and even the Grand Tetons in the distance.

The steam you see is the Washburn Hot Springs.

The views from this overlook are incredible and definitely worth the stop!

Here's a short video of the area.

I love the wildflowers in the foreground.

Tower Fall

After briefly stopping at the overlook, we then headed to our next destination:  Tower Fall.  This place was pretty busy and filled with tourists, but the parking lot was huge so we had no problem finding parking.

The Tower Fall overlook is just a short walk from the parking lot.  It was kinda disappointing because the overlook was packed with people and I had to wait awhile before I could squeeze in by the railing and get an unobstructed view.  We also felt the falls were so far away from the overlook, it wasn't a big wow for us.  Visitors used to be able to hike to the bottom of the falls, but that trail was closed due to severe erosion.  

This next photo is taken without the telephoto lens, so you get a better idea of what I'm talking about.  However, what makes this waterfall impressive is not only its 132 foot drop, but the pinnacles that surround it.  The unusual lava columns surrounding the fall were created by lava flow that cracked as it cooled.

Calcite Springs

Back on Grand Loop Road again, still heading north, about 1.5 miles in we spotted another little pull off.  There weren't many cars in this area, and I have no idea why people skipped this, because we thought the views were incredible!

If you look in the picture above, you can see a whiteish section above the Yellowstone River.  The photo below is a close up of that section and it explains how it is created.

Also at this overlook are more of those pinnacles seen at Tower Fall.

It's so impressive seeing these pinnacles rise above the Yellowstone River.

The photo below explains how these pinnacles were formed from erupted volcanoes.  

This area has a short easy loop trail with views of the Yellowstone River, the basalt columns, and thermal springs.  You can see the basalt columns in the lower left of the photo below.

Undine Falls

There are two more waterfalls in this area:  Wraith Falls and Undine Falls.  We didn't stop at Wraith Falls because that involved a hike and we were trying to avoid hiking in desolate areas because of grizzlies. Undine Falls also has a hike where you can view the waterfall unclose, but we just stopped at the overlook.

Undine Falls is a 60 foot waterfall into Lava Creek and has three plunges. 

Here is a short video of Undine Falls.

Roosevelt Arch

Well now it was late afternoon and it was time for hubby and I to get some Linner.  We headed out the North Entrance.  This was the entrance that was destroyed by flooding in 2022.  I am happy to report it is open again, but boy, of the three Yellowstone entrances this one was the most scary.  It is a long, winding, uphill/downhill climb.  I can see why a flood destroyed it;  I could just picture water racing down that hill.  I was also surprised that this of all the entrances, is the only one open in winter.  You would think it would be difficult getting up and down that hill in the winter.  But apparently, park employees live in the town of Gardiner and also in the Park Headquarters, which is very near this entrance, so that is why it is the only one open in winter.

The North Entrance has the famous Roosevelt Arch.  It is worth going to this entrance just to see this arch.  It is so beautiful and it has so much history.  They have plenty of place to pull over and park so you can take photos of the arch.

I thought this little door and tunnel in the arch was just the cutest!

The arch was built in 1903 and was named after the president because he happened to be vacationing in the area at the time and was asked to speak at the dedication ceremony.  

The town of Gardiner is a cute, western town, but unfortunately I did not take photos.  This was the second town outside Yellowstone I didn't take photos of, even though I thought the town was adorable.  I think every time we left the park, I would have anxiety because I was worried about getting back to the cabin before dark.  Hubby always wanted to leave the park for Linner everyday, whereas I would have preferred to just eat at one of the restaurants inside the park.  However, looking back, he made the right choice because the towns were SO STINKING CUTE!  Maybe someday we can go back and I can plan a better vacation where we spend the night in the towns instead of in the park, and then we can explore the towns more.

Next week I will continue on with  Day Two of our Yellowstone adventure with a stop at Mammoth Hot Springs;  now that was incredible!

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

For more information on Yellowstone, please check out these posts:

Old Faithful

The Grand Prismatic Spring

Firehole Canyon Drive

Fountain Paint Pot, Lake Hotel and Cabins, and Hayden Valley

The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone