Geyser Day 2018, Montana Take 2.
Paid registration for Sunday’s marathon once before. 2016 was a marathon no-show. Whole lotta puking that summer/didn’t stop a family vacation with Ash & Tom though. Rode horses in the Tetons, bear watched in West Yellowstone, geyser-gazed for 2 days in USA’s first National Park. Ever dependable Old Faithful: filmed its eruption, ate lunch in the Lodge. AWESOME LIFE memories.
Fast forward two years. No cancer, no 10-hour monster ride to Wyoming. Hour-15 direct flight to Bozeman. Marathon Eve plans? Yellowstone NEW. Whole section of geysers never seen on the Montana border. Same GREAT Park, NEW life adventure 😊
7am wakeup, FREE hotel breakfast, MT Highway 89 South to Gardiner. Crossed under Roosevelt Arch, Yellowstone’s North Entrance. Dedicated in 1903, this was the Park’s origin – directly across from Fort Yellowstone, established to protect the Park. Quick stop at Albright Visitor Center (ya’ll know I dig museums), then moved the rental forward another half-mile to Mammoth Hot Springs.
How have I NEVER visited Mammoth Hot Springs before? WOW, WOW, WOW! 2 mile hike-about. Naturally-formed terraces of crystallized calcium carbonate. Reminiscent of Death Valley’s salt flats. Walked the perimeter to Canary Springs before looping back.
Time check: 3 hours. Old Faithful & Grand Prismatic Spring, tops on my list.
Walked right up & watched Old Faithful spew. Not the front row seat I secured 2 years ago – but the timing, mighty perfect. Ya can’t visit Yellowstone & skip the Main Event, duh. Gotta/hafta/must experience EVERY time. Remarkable force of nature.
‘BEST of’ finale: Grand Prismatic Spring, an eye candy WOWser & my Park personal fave. “Named for its striking coloration, the Spring’s colors match the rainbow dispersion of white light: red, orange, yellow, green, and blue.” It’s a CAN’T miss.
Yellowstone 2018. No regrets; saw something old, saw something new. LOVE LOVE our National Parks ❤️
Drive to Ennis — spotted a BRAND NEW Visitors’ Center (Gallatin County MT). Earthquake Lake. Unplanned stop/didn’t know its story. Trees & rock from the seismic mountain collapse (blocking the Madison River/forming Earthquake Lake), creepily still crest water’s edge, stand trapped/barren/dead today. Well done retelling of events (actual pics & video).
Lodge check-in, early sleeps. Marathon eve. School bus road-trippin’ in the morning 🚌
Story of Earthquake Lake
It was near midnight on August 17th, 1959 when an earthquake near the Madison River triggered a massive landslide. The slide moved at 100 mph and in less than 1 minute, over 80 million tons of rock crashed into the narrow canyon, blocking the Madison River and forming Earthquake Lake. This earth- changing event, known as the Hebgen Lake Earthquake, measured 7.5 on the Richter scale. At the time it was the second largest earthquake to occur in the lower 48 states in the 20th century. Twenty-eight people lost their lives in the event.
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- Roosevelt Arch (1903)
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- Fort Yellowstone (1891)
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- Mammoth Hot Springs
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- dormant Liberty Cap
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- Minerva Terrace
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- crystallized calcium carbonate
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- Canary Spring
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- Old Faithful
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- every 90 minutes
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- discovered during the Washburn Expedition of 1870
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- Midway Geyser Basin
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- Excelsior Geyser Crater
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- Grand Prismatic Spring
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- US’ largest hot spring
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- ‘brilliantly colored’
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- created by tragic West Yellowstone earthquake (1959)
Geyser Day 2018
Morning ‘geyser’ run, quick shower, hotel check out, short walk downtown. Last day on North Island (for a week).
Add bicycle to my expanding list of NZ transportation. Happy Ewe Cycle Tours. Hadn’t been on a bike since I crashed out of Ironman Boulder, August 3rd 2014. Mangled bike still in the garage…completely serious.
Half day tour. 27 stops around geyser-rich Rotorua, one of NZ’s flattest stretches of territory.
Government Gardens. Specifically, Prince’s Arch and Gateway (built for the country’s first royal visit in 1901). Met our happy guide, Roger – then received safety info which stayed [with] us, our entire NZ journey. Hand up, formed an L. Left means Life. Driving British this holiday…yep, on the Left. Phrase stuck for 2 weeks. Few times my travel bestie drove ‘American’, I’d calmly chirp – “Left means life, left means life” – & she’d promptly adjust lanes. No worries. LOL>
Bike, check. Helmet, check. First stop: Ohinemutu, a living Māori village and the original settlement of Rotorua. Ready to roll. Hadn’t cycled in 2 ½ years, started out a bit spooked. I’ve got this! Thanks Dawn, for reintroducing me back to the pedal 🙂
Fave stop: Kuirau Park, in the heart of Rotorua is New Zealand’s only geothermal public park.
Churches, historical buildings, public gardens – but it’s Kuirau Park I’ll remember. Plumes of foggy sulfur obscured our ride over the swallow lake center. Bridge-biking over barren wasteland. Warm, humid steam billowed from the ground. WOW, just WOW!
Legend of Kuiarau: In the early 1800s, the small lake in the centre of the park was much cooler and was known as Taokahu. Legend tells us that a beautiful young woman named Kuiarau was bathing in the waters when a taniwha (dragon) dragged her to his lair below the lake. The gods above were infuriated and made the lake boil so that the Taniwha would be destroyed forever. From that time on, the bubbling lake and the steaming land around it have been known by the name of the lost woman, although the spelling has changed a little from Kuiarau to ‘Kuirau.’
Ended today’s ride in Government Gardens. Specifically, Rotorua Museum – former Bath House, now the town’s museum. Photo opp, goodbyes to our guide, then ride-shared to the airport.
Small puddle jumper to Christchurch. Tomorrow’s adventures start on South Island!
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- morning ‘geyser’ run — every day’s a run day (even in New Zealand)
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- Prince’s Arch and Gateway
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- back on a bike
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- Ohinemutu
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- Lake Rotorua overlook
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- bridge-biking over barren wasteland
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- plumes of foggy sulfur
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- “Left means Life”
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- Government Gardens
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- AWESOME ride – thanks Roger!
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- next stop: Christchurch
Kuirau Park (Rotorua NZ)
The haka is a traditional war cry, dance, or challenge from the Māori people of New Zealand. It is a posture dance performed by a group, with vigorous movements and stamping of the feet with rhythmically shouted accompaniment.
Ended day 2, bit rushed thru Te Puia & neighboring Whakarewarewa Thermal Valley.
Māori welcome, followed by a traditional Haka [cultural performance] in Te Puia’s marae [meeting house]. While native Hawaiians & Māori share Polynesian roots, their dance traditions are super diverse. The Haka is not your Momma’s Hula – comprised of warrior chants & postures…was never invited from the audience to join in. LOL>
The first Māori settled New Zealand 800 years ago, leaving their native Hawaiki on 7 long boats, Waka. The seven major tribes of New Zealand are identified by their Waka name.
Toured Te Puia’s woodcarving & weaving schools, then quietly stalked New Zealand’s iconic (& endangered) Kiwi bird. Nocturnal by nature, a tiny female inside Te Puia’s Kiwi House would be my only Kiwi claim this trip. Unfortunately, no pics allowed.
Remainder of the tour would be spent geyser-gazing…my third continent of geysers. Iceland, USA’s Yellowstone & today, New Zealand’s Pōhutu geyser – biggest geyser in the southern hemisphere. Mud pools, vapour jets soaring 30 meters high – AND of course, that distinct sulfur scent. FAAANNNTASTIC!
Māori culture & geysers – coupled with tomorrow’s bike tour, a top 5 MUST DO New Zealand experience.
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- traditional Māori welcome
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- not your Momma’s hula
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- traditional woodcarving school
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- tiny female inside Te Puia’s Kiwi House would be my only Kiwi claim this trip
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- first Māori settled 800 years ago, leaving their native Hawaiki on 7 long boats, Waka
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- gurgling mud pools
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- Pōhutu geyser
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- biggest in the southern hemisphere
Māori Haka
Pōhutu geyser
