Day 77 - Yellowstone Mammoth Hot Springs and Norris Geysers

The famous Travertine Terraces of Mammoth Hot Springs riminded me of Rome since Rome built so many structures with marble travertine stone; but this travertine was brought alive literally by thermophiles- heat loving bacteria.

These bacteria give the terraces and hot springs and water runoff kaleidoscopes of color ranging from brown to red to orange to yellow to blue depending on the water temperature. We took a ranger guided walk at the upper terraces and were given the full explanation of the geology and biology of this area of Yellowstone. The natural wonders of Yellowstone are powered by underground heat built up due to the colliding tectonic plates underfoot and due to Rhyolite heated rock and underground water reservoirs and volcanoes!! In fact, the center of Yellowstone is a massive caldera forming supervolcano which last erupted 640,000 years ago. Yellowstone is truly one of a kind-- a remnant of a volcanic age, with a feel of another planet mixed with beautiful natural landscapes and wildlife, and the first of a great movement-- natural parks reserved from commercial exploit and set aside for the enjoyment and inspiration of the people of the world. I love Yellowstone.

But Mammoth Hot Springs is only one part of a massive park. After the hour and a half tour we drove south toward Old Faithful but first we stopped at Norris Geyser Basin. The third largest Geyser Basin at Yellowstone, Norris is most famous for Steamboat Geyser, the highest active geyser in the world at up to 385 feet. Except it erupts every 5 hours to 50 years, with the last known eruption happening in 2010. Not having 5 years to sit and watch, we lingered for ten minutes watching minor twenty foot eruptions. We did walk through the Porcelain Basin, named for dozens of beautifully vibrant hot springs nestled closely together.

Our final destination for the day was the Old Faithful Inn, a historical log-built hotel directly next to Old Faithful geyser. The lobby was a 100 feet tall V-shaped room built entirely by gorgeous deep brown logs. We enjoyed some drinks, a great dinner and a wonderful Old Faithful geyser show to top off a fun night, the highlight of which was my hitting Steve on the top of the head with a snowball-- thus winning my first Wyoming snowball fight.

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Day 171 - JMT Guitar Lake

Wow, was it cold this morning. After waking up and eating breakfast, we packed up quickly and found this scenic sunspot to warm our bones. We had a short eight mile hike to Guitar Lake today, the last viable campsite before the five mile hike to the 14,505 foot-high Mount Whitney summit. We stopped at this lovely meadow and looked for bears. We only saw deer but were able to enjoy the incredible peace of the far mountain range. Steady hiker traffic, the most of the entire trip, including one group of twelve elder hikers, passed us as we rested, and jumped! Views of Mount Whitney finally came into view at Timberline Lake, a quaint lake where camping was unfortunately forbidden. We passed a group of twenty Taiwanese hikers. The summit of Mount Whitney looked heavily defended when viewed from below. We were going to wake up tomorrow at 230am and hike up to the summit for sunrise-on-the-top-of-the-world*. The thought of this dark task was a bit foreboding. We made it to Guitar Lake by

Day 172 - JMT Mount Whitney

Our day began in silence, at 315am in pursuit of the summit. We walked carefully, looking for slick, sandy rocks and icy sections--not wanting to fall. Hiking along a cliff edge in total darkness was thrilling, vividly black and white. By 5am, we had reached the three mile marker and the turnoff up to Whitney summit. We removed the heavy items from our bags and set off towards the summit sunrise. The trail was spectacular, a special creation of this nation, winding from one side of the mountain to the other, going down and around one side before coming up to another, creating anticipation with each turn. Looking back, the sloping ridges caught the early sunset delicately. As we hiked along the two mile upper trail, the views east would open up for the narrowest of moments. This opening was my favorite. 14,000 foot cathedrals of nature thrusted towards the heavens at each turn. The summit was almost in sight, the highest peak in the lower 48 states nearly attained, the end of our 2

Day 170 - JMT Forrester Pass

The mountains had a surreal glow this morning as we climbed up towards the 13,200 foot high Forrester Pass. One of the wonderful things about the mountains is that they change appearance as the sun changes height, creating a movie-like experience as you walk. I felt so free and happy this morning--just in love with this light. After sixty minutes of walking, we stopped in the first sunny spot we could find to thaw out and rest. Another hiker came bustling up the trail behind us and stopped at the sunspot to shed a layer of clothing. Sly was a Canadian hiker, just turned 40, who seemed happy to see us. We struck up a conversation about travels and when we pushed off Sly asked if he could join us. We said yes of course. We hiked quickly up the trail, reaching a high plateau with epic alpine views. Selfie time! We skirted around a high alpine lake and then went up a ridge line ever further higher. We were at 12,000+ feet now and the world began to look small yet vast.

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