Things To Do in Yellowstone National Park's Upper Geyser Basin: Trip, Day 2

     Yellowstone National Park, the first national park in the world, is located mostly in Wyoming, though parts extend into Idaho and Montana. It is famous for both its geothermal activity and its natural beauty and animals.  It is home to 2/3's of the worlds geysers and the worlds most famous geyser, Old Faithful. It is a staggering 2,219,791 acres and home to 2,430 bison.

One of the most famous parts of Yellowstone is the Upper Geyser Basin.Upper Geyser Basin is the world's largest and most concentrated geyser basin.

Among the notable geysers In the Upper Basin:

Old Faithful: Old Faithful is, undoubtedly, the most famous geyser in the entire world. Its moniker was coined in 1870 because of its regularly occurring eruptions, one every 91 minutes.

Castle Geyser: Castle geyser is thousands of years old and rest upon the remains of even older geysers. It is named for its distinctly castle shaped cone.

Grotto Geyser: Grotto geyser is famous more for its cone then its eruptions. Grotto geyser has an extremely spooky shape due to the cone having swallowed up various tress during its younger years.

Riverside Geyser: Riverside Geyser is one of the most picturesque geysers. During its 20 minute eruptions, a 75 foot column of water arches gracefully over the river.

My Experience

     After hitting the sack at old Faithful Inn, a very rustic, charming place, we fell asleep immediately. The next day, though, we were up bright and early to walk about 20 steps and see Old Faithful erupt.

      Since, however, the next eruption was not for another hour, we had some delicious breakfast at the restaurant inside the Inn. Since we still had some time before the eruption, we decided to explore the nearby Upper Geyser basin.   After peering at various geothermal features, we hurried back to the boardwalk near Beehive Geyser to watch a magnificent eruption of  Old Faithful. 

     We got a lucky break after watching Old Faithful. We had front row seats for a much rarer eruption of Beehive Geyser,  which launched water 200 feet into the air, almost twice that of  Old Faithful. Try not to get wet! And unlike Old Faithful, Beehive's boardwalk lets you get much closer to the action.

     After getting drenched to the bone, we forayed much deeper into the Upper Geyser Basin, looking at interesting geothermal features like Morning Glory Pool, which was colored much like a sunrise. We stared openly at the incredibly weird Grotto Geyser, which, as a young geyser swallowed a couple trees. I looked wishfully at Castle Geyser, which looked much like 15th century castle.

     Inside Upper Geyser Basin, we watched an eruption of Riverside, a geyser on the far side of a river. This eruption lasts for 20 minutes, but we did not watch the whole thing. Word of advice, if you have under 10's traveling in your entourage, this would be a good place to turn back. They get tired just around here. 

I sent matching covers to myself and another 2 of my philatelic friends. Let me know if you are one of them.!!

Grant Teton Best Scenic Drives and Roadside Views : Things To Do in Grand Teton National Park: Trip, Day 1 Continued

After spending almost 2 hours in Jackson hole we started driving towards Grand Teton National Park. We stop near the entrance to take some pictures at park entrance and also we saw Moose grazing near the river.  After that we stopped at Craig Thomas Discovery & Visitor Center (Moose Visitor Center). I think this center is a must -stop information hot-spot about the park. Everyone needs a  free map of park and some souvenirs such as a postcard!!

Mountains of the Imagination

Rising above a scene rich with extraordinary wildlife, pristine lakes, and alpine terrain, the Teton Range stands monument to the people who fought to protect it. These are mountains of the imagination. Mountains that led to the creation of Grand Teton National Park where you can explore over two hundred miles of trails, float the Snake River or enjoy the serenity of this remarkable place.

The Grand Teton is the highest peak at 13,770 feet.

Best Scenic Drives :

• Teton Park Road : The winding Teton Park Road highlights splendid mountain and valley scenery , allowing close-ups of the mountains.
• Jenny Lake Loop :  This narrow one-way roads winds at the base of mountains and along the shore of Jenny Lake. This scenic spur of the Teton Park Road offers access to hiking, bicyclying and provides  outsanding views.

Best Roadside Views :

• Cathedral Group Turnout : Just north of Jenny Lake, this turnout offers one of the most impressive panoramas of the Cathedral Group  : Grand Teton, Teewinot Mountain and Mt. Owen.
• Snake River Overlook : Enjoy an unforgettable view of the Snake River and Jackson Hole valley floor.
• Oxbow Bend Turnout : Early  morning and late afternoons are best for viewing osprey, American white pelicans, river otters, grizzly bears and beavers.
• Teton Glacier Turnout : This turnout offers a view of one of the last glaciers remaining in the Teton Range.

Signal Mountain Road :

No driving tour through Grand Teton National Park is complete without a drive to the summit of Signal Mountain for sweeping vistas of the Teton Range and surrounding valley. (it's like seeing like safari in Africa without animals.!!)

The scenic Signal Mountain Road is a five mile, 1,000 foot climb of switchbacks to an observation area at the top of Signal Mountain. Set far apart from the next highest mountain peak, Signal Mountain provides breathtaking views of the Tetons’ towering peaks, the flat glacial plains below, Jackson Lake and the Snake River beyond.

I send cover to myself  and my collection mentor ( polpostman and rainbowstampclub) with rubber stamp of Grand Teton NP.

This cover has 55 cents semi-postal stamp (charity stamp) - 11 cents more than First-Class Mail stamp for helping to save vanishing species  — specifically tigers, African and Asian elephants, rhinos, great apes and marine turtles.

Also there is a stamp of Grand Teton.!!

Things To Do In Jackson Hole, Wyoming : My Trip, Day 1

Arch of Elkhorns

 I Recently Made a "road" trip to various national parks and monuments. My first stop was old-town Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Jackson is a town located in the valley of Jackson Hole. It was named after  David Edward Jackson,  a fur trader. Due To its proximity to Grand Tetons National Park, Jackson Hole is a tourist haven. It is filled with quaint, olden styled  stores selling everything from curios to t-shirts to boots. Our original plan was to drive through Jackson Hole and head to Grand Tetons.


However, the lure of old town was too great and we decided to spend a little time to explore the meandering roads. A major attraction is the Series of Elkhorn Arches located in what could be considered The main square, seen on the postcard above.

I mailed myself a couple other postcards from Jackson Hole  which clearly show how much of Jackson Hole is affected by the nearby national parks and the wildlife they contain, although in a good way. Jackson Hole Just Likes to have a lot of  fun!

This postcard was mailed from Jackson Hole but it has automatic cancellation from Rock Springs, Wyoming which is 180 miles from Jackson Hole.!!

This postcard has 55 cents semi-postal stamp (charity stamp) - 11 cents more than First-Class Mail stamp for helping to save vanishing species  — specifically tigers, African and Asian elephants, rhinos, great apes and marine turtles. 

The net proceeds from the sales of the new Save Vanishing Species semipostal stamp will be transferred to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to support the Multinational Species Conservation Funds.