Mammoth Hot Springs - Yellowstone NP

Early in the morning, just as the sun was climbing to the tops of the surrounding mountains, we entered Yellowstone through the famous arch and made our way back towards Mammoth Hot Springs...

It was cold, but we had our windows open anyway...hoping to hear the elk singing their haunting song again.  And hear them we did...we just didn't see them.  We stopped on a ridge and looked, but the Wapiti, or "ghosts of the forest", were not letting themselves be seen this time.

We continued our drive to the hot springs themselves and started what was to be a (very) long day of hiking.  The first formation we saw was a dormant one and not the prettiest thing around...

...but just behind it, in the active Lower Terrace area, there was such incredible beauty...

Things normally found way beneath the earth's surface in caves and passages hidden from the light of day.  In Yellowstone, they rise to the top for all the world to see...

We walked the trails around the Lower Terraces for a while, then we decided to go up to the Upper Terraces.  Looking on our map, we noticed a small dirt road loop that winds around up there.  We hopped back in the car and headed up...

the sun trying to break through...

...early morning and late afternoon light are the best :)

The things we saw, I don't have words to adequately describe...

Bubbling crystalline mounds...

Frozen rock waterfalls...

The very breath of the earth itself seems to curl forth and join the wind in this special place.