NW Trip '12 - Day 4

6/5/12 - Day 4 - Sick day!!! Well, only for me. I guess it was bound to happen given our road-diet and my sensitive stomach. However, over the past couple days, I would question whether or not I was bitten by something semi-poisonous due to our stay in a rustic cabin (complete with spider webs), intense nauseousness on 6/5, and my continued bodily soreness for the next 2-3 days. Regardless, I tried to make the most of this day, and Jon, Megan, and Cari all did great in putting up with me and my frequent need to "please pull over!"

We woke up relatively early and drove to Oxbow Bend in Grand Teton Park hoping to see some morning wildlife. We didn't catch any wildlife, but we did see a great view of the Tetons in the morning sun. After Oxbow, we drove to Jenny Lake (which is when my stomach started its turn for the worst). I sat in the car while my three travel companions got out and took a few pictures. After a quick stop at the visitor center close by (yes, I'll spare the details of all the "stops" we had to take throughout the day), we headed north to Yellowstone!

Yellowstone actually wasn't very far from Grand Teton National Park. In fact, they basically back up to each other, which was convenient, especially given my illness today. Once we entered the park, we drove about 15-20 minutes to the Old Faithful site and had a light lunch (crackers for me!) at the cafe outside. We continued to the visitor center and walked around a little before figuring out when the geyser was going to erupt. About 15 minutes before the "projected time," we walked out and got a standing spot to watch Old Faithful! Luckily, there wasn't a bad "seat" since Old Faithful was a little elevated. You could still stand in the back and see the eruption. Right on cue, the geyser built up and up before fully erupting -- what an incredible sight!! It spewed about 50-70 feet in the air for a minute or so before going back down. Overall, it was a great experience! 

Afterwards, we drove clockwise along the lower loop to Biscuit Basin where we got to see some very interesting geothermal pools and other features, including Sapphire Pool. It was interesting going from the wildlife-heavy Grand Tetons to the very different, geographical feature-heavy area of Yellowstone! After walking along the boardwalk at Biscuit Basin, we drove to the Grand Prismatic Springs. It started to rain (see picture above), and given the colder weather mixed with the hot pools, there was a LOT of steam. Unfortunately, we couldn't see much, but the thermal formation were crazy, and many of the colors looked like lava! We were glad that we went, regardless of the limited visibility.

We hopped back in the car and drove almost 2 hours to our hotel, which was halfway between Yellowstone's east entrance and Cody, WY (Pahaska Teepee Lodge). It was a very small, rustic A-frame cabin community, but it did the trick for the price! I passed out for the afternoon since I wasn't feeling well and Cari, Jon, and Megan went to the lodge restaurant to eat. Apparently, they had a very entertaining discussion with the staff about a recent buffalo attack, which didn't make Cari feel very comfortable. No buffalo/bison to speak of though, and whenever they got back to the hotel room, I woke up for a few, ate some crackers, and then passed out again for the night. It was a rough day health-wise, but we still got to see some great stuff!