Day 35. Thursday 22 September.

Toured the southern section of Yellowstone today with Justin. He (and the park) were fantastic. After a night of constant rain, we wondered about our tour chances….no need to worry, there was more sunshine than rain, excellent informative commentary, views and steam and critters, trout trying to jump up impossibly high waterfalls,  and 2 grand old hotels (Old Faithful and Yellowstone) to marvel at. The most amazing thing was learning that we are actually sitting inside a giant crater, with thermal activity all around and just below the ground; this is the only place on earth with this activity happening so close to the earth’s surface. We did hope that it was not time for another Yellowstone eruption! A place where geology and biology and chemistry display their symbiotic wonder.