Another cold morning
How wonderful, how wise of us to bring warm sleeping bags, warm socks, and thermal underwear! I considered grabbing a knitted hat. I didn't, but I always used the warm hood of my sleeping bag for sleeping in the mountains. Despite it being the height of summer, the morning temperatures were close to freezing. Once again, I needed to summon the willpower to crawl out of my warm sleeping bag, sip some hot coffee, and continue onward in search of new experiences, because our motto is "the early you rise, the more you see.".
Lake Lewis is beautiful in the mornings, too. It's shrouded in mist, pink in the rays of the rising sun. A fisherman, a lone gray figure, flashed past the window and disappeared around the bend.
Old faithful and others
We arrive at the tourist village of "Old Faithful." There are several similar places in Yellowstone. It houses hotels and cottages, an information center with a museum and souvenir shops, shops, a gas station, an auto repair shop, and ample parking.
The façade of the largest hotel overlooks a field of geysers. One of them,“Old faithful”, has been gushing with enviable consistency for many years.
Hence the name, which can be translated as “old man”, “seasoned” or “old soldier”Its behavior is predictable, and a nearby sign displays the approximate time of the next eruption. A viewing platform with benches has been built for viewing the active geyser: come, sit, and watch an educational film about the wonders of nature on a large screen.
But we arrive quite early and have to wait. It's a good thing the sun has already warmed the air a bit, although we don't feel like taking off our jackets just yet. While we wait for the show, we walk along the wooden walkways and look at the smaller geysers.
You can even warm up a bit in their warm vapors. At some point, we decided to have breakfast. Cheese sandwiches and hot tea from a thermos should also help warm us up further. The action begins when we settle down on a bench with food. A fair number of people have already gathered, despite the early hour. Many people have come with large professional cameras. At first, the geyser spouts irregular little fountains, as if testing the water. The splashes of water become more intense. And then the "old one" gushes forth powerfully, at full force. Clouds of steam billow from the geyser, like from a steam locomotive.
The fountain's jet, by my estimate, reaches 12 meters in height. In the morning light, everything looks unreal, truly like something out of a movie. The spectacle is mesmerizing. The geyser gushes for about ten minutes, then its activity subsides, and only clouds of steam emerge from the mouth, like the sighs of a tired old man.
We continue our journey on foot along the bridges that run between geysers and hot springs. Most have resonant names: "Cyclops," "Artemis," "Castle," and the geysers "Diamond," "Emerald," "Turquoise," and others.
Prismatic
A trail called "Power Line" leads from the far end of the clearing. There's nothing particularly remarkable about it, except for a good view of the Valley of Geysers in some places. It was here that we saw bison for the first time. The trail leads us to the Prismatic hot spring, which we'd only seen the day before from the observation deck.
The valley where it's located is covered in places with a whitish crust, in others with yellow, sulfurous puddles, and in some places with rusty orange streams. It's around eleven in the morning, but the parking lots are already full and cars are lined up along the side of the road. It's a good thing that's not an issue for us today, because we've arrived on foot. A long line of tourists walks along a platform around the small lake. A young Korean blogger is reporting passionately, holding a selfie stick at arm's length. He gestures with his other hand, making it perfectly clear what he's saying. The people around him are understanding and carefully step around the blogger, creating a space around him.
“"Prismatic" is beautiful, but for some reason I prefer ebullient sources like Old Faithful, where the beauty is, I would say, dynamic rather than static.
On the way back it’s already quite hot, and besides, the trail goes through open space.
We're already feeling a bit tired from all the walking, but we haven't seen everything in the "Old Faithful" area yet. What a vast area it is! It would have been faster by car, but on foot you see more, noticing details you wouldn't notice while driving fast.
Firehole River
We continue along the same wooden paths around the part of the valley where we haven’t been yet and return to the car.
According to the plan, the return route runs through a picturesque canyon along the Firehole River (actually, "fire hole" is a very strange name for a river). There's no need to rush here, as the winding road is squeezed between the river and sheer cliffs. Small parking areas are frequent, literally every five hundred meters, because every bend in the river is incredibly picturesque.
You have to stop to take in all this wondrous beauty. We were hoping to find a spot to cook lunch with a nice view, but it was all cramped and uncomfortable, and we'd have liked a table.
Hemmed in on both sides by rocks, the river was at first wild, beating furiously against rocks and boulders.
Then the banks widened. Here the river became more spacious and calm. A hot spring must have flowed into the river upstream, because the water at our next stop was much warmer than in other Yellowstone lakes and rivers. Denis went for a swim, while I made sandwiches that kept us going until evening.
Modern technologies in camping
That evening, we lit a fire and finally cooked a hot dinner, having lived on dry rations all day. It was buckwheat with meat, prepared in the freezer especially for this trip. Very convenient: just add boiling water, and in five minutes the food is ready.
We were once again delighted to have purchased this unit, which allows us to eat home-cooked food in almost any conditions.
After dinner, Denis set up Starlink, which allowed us to chat with the kids and check email. In Yellowstone, it's likely only the hotels have a connection, so the aforementioned device has become widespread among car tourists. We've seen Starlink devices on more than one occasion while traveling. Thanks to Elon Musk for internet access in the wildest places!
We've earned this rest: sitting in a camp chair, I'm reading a strange Kurt Vonnegut book, and Denis is studying Spanish. A thought crosses my tired mind: "Don't forget to put all the food in the special metal box, because the ranger warned me that a bear has taken a liking to the campsite." Before bed, we brush our teeth with some trepidation, away from the tent, because the smell of toothpaste also seems to attract bears. It's only nine o'clock, and the blue twilight is slowly deepening. Our campsite neighbors are chatting and singing songs, and we're already changing into thermal pajamas. They're thin, but so warm! The new generation of synthetic fibers will keep you warm in any weather! Well, almost any. That's it, we climb into our sleeping bags and—good night!
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Another thing is that the climb takes much longer on foot. Most people travel lightly, with small backpacks for day trips. There were runners, like Kevin and Kasha. And then there were those heading to the high-altitude campsite with heavy backpacks and special canisters for storing food from bears. Denis even regretted not planning a hike into the wilderness. But it was still good, especially once we got higher. 
The high-mountain meadows are ablaze with flowers. Every bend in the trail opens up to a stunning panorama. Everything is in full view. And somewhere higher up, there are more lakes, and that's where we're heading. First, a small lake called Surprise appeared, then another, larger one. It's surrounded by mountains on all sides, like an amphitheater. That's what they called it.
We're sitting on the rocks, taking in all this beauty. There are about seven other people here. We weren't even that tired, and when a turnoff to another trail appeared, we decided to go and see what was there, just a short distance away, about 600 meters up. We weren't even stopped by the warning sign saying, "Are you ready for what comes next?" We thought, what could possibly be there? Well, a ravine. No big deal. It turned out to be not just a ravine, but also loose scree, which requires a fairly steep climb, and then the trail, which is even steeper. Moreover, there were no visible markings or signs to indicate the direction, which was confusing. And, surprisingly, there were quite a few people on such a difficult section. Mostly young people. There was even a reckless mother with a baby in a backpack, who was jumping defiantly over the boulders. 
Some people wash off the road dust in a civilized shower, while others "take" a dip in the lake. A spicy Japanese soup helps us replenish our strength. This is enough for me to sit with a book and write travel notes, and for Denis to take a Spanish lesson and answer client emails. It's still light, but I'm already very sleepy. Tomorrow we'll continue on to Yellowstone.
It's a good thing we photographed it from afar. But the trail is also beautiful—it smells of sun-warmed pine resin and wet pine needles. About twenty minutes later, we unexpectedly found ourselves near the tourist center. Elderly Japanese people fluttered effortlessly from a tour bus in the parking lot and, chattering excitedly, set off along the trail to photograph Devil's Tower. They're the kind of people who take pictures and marvel at everything, like children. But we were heading in the other direction. In one place, a storm had knocked down several trees. Perhaps the devil, the tower's owner, was angry and uprooted everything in his path. Then we encountered some Martian landscapes with red soil. The trail beneath our feet also turned red. 
From the other side of the cliff, a beautiful view of the distant distances suddenly opened up: green hills and blue forests, the blue ribbon of the river and the yellow ribbon of the road. They encountered climbers, young men with backpacks, ropes, and carabiners. 
