Yellowstone 6 - Mammoth Hot Spring Terraces

I thought the Old Faithful loop was a painful hike....but Mammoth Hot Spring terraces and all its many hundreds of stairs hurt even worse. I think the collective nature of being in the park driving and hiking day after day has taken a toll on us old farts. I think we have decided that this last week was the dividing timeline between middle aged and officially old. Or so say the legs anyhow. The altitude hasn't helped much I am sure, and maybe, just maybe, we'll be able to look back and blame our fatigue on that.

Mammoth Hot Springs are vertical, not horizontal like many of the springs in the park. Covering them from one end to the other hurts, but it sure is nifty to look at and produces such amazing sites as Canary Springs which is actually of waterfall of boiling water that has built up the hillside with its highly calcified water content. Add to that the thermophile bacteria and you have a recipe for rare intrigue and beauty- the likes of which IS here on earth but much more resembles what you might expect to find on some other distant planet. This is our final chapter from within the park. Don't know if time will allow more from West Yellowstone Village where we are camped or not. Still dealing with a slide issue on the coach- the part should have been here and done last week but that didn't work according to plans and so we won't know if the part will arrive before our scheduled departure and/or if it will solve the problem when it does. I do know for sure we are sick of dealing with it- so hopefully it all comes together at the last minute and we hit the road with renewed confidence. Hope so. Hope so. Hope so.