The area was strewn with pungent rotten egg smell.
“It’s good for your health” – my friend remarked as we were getting out of the car.
Oh good. Inhale…exhale.
In 1870, Mud Volcano was named by the Washburn Expedition team for the cone-shaped mud deposit covering the area. By June 1872, a thermal explosion had blewn the mud out of the way to reveal what we see today.
Technically, Yellowstone’s mud volcano is not a real mud volcano. It is an area littered with Geysers
Hot springs
Mud pots
and Fumaroles.
And that foul odor we smelt is the hydrogen sulfide gas released into the air.
Despite the seething temperature and the high level of acidity on the ground, Bison and Grizzly Bears are known to frequent the area.
On June 28th, a Utah couple was injured by a bison who happened to be grazing next to a boardwalk in the area. The thousand pound animal butted the woman, who was apparently “in his way”, trudged across the boardwalk and continued his grazing on the other side – “It’s just a big solid, round skull that hit me and really a lot of force.”
National Park Service advises visitors to stay 25 yards (23 m) away from wild animals like bison, elk, bighorn sheep, deer, moose, and coyotes and at least 100 yards (91 m) away from bears and wolves.
After the Mud Volcano, we made a quick stop at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone – caught a glimpse of the Yellowstone Falls
and the brilliant colors of the Canyon walls
in the late afternoon sun.
This concludes out second day visit in the Yellowstone National Park. Click the link below to read previous posts of the day:
Yellowstone National Park – Fountain Paint Pots
Yellowstone National Park – Grand Prismatic Spring
Yellowstone National Park – West Thumb Geyser Basin
Note:
To cover all the sights in the lower half of Yellowstone National Park, we stationed ourselves in West Yellowstone for three nights. Although there were only a handful of restaurants to choose from, the quality and variety of food was surprisingly better than what I had expected.
First night, we had dinner at Cafe Madriz, a Spanish Tapas restaurant, owned and cooked by a true Spaniard.
The cured meat and cheese sampler was on point, the salad was delicious, so was the freshly cooked paella, albeit a little on the salty side.
Second night, we had beer and pizza at Wild West Pizzeria & Saloon. The pizza was meaty and cheesy.
And the restrooms are not without characters.
The last night we ate at the touristy Three Bear Restaurant. I can’t speak for anything else on the menu, but this rainbow trout is the best I’ve ever had.
Travel-Gourmand.com 
Stunning photos! And I have to say… if I see a bison, I’m outta there… no way am I stopping to take a selfie with it. Although the story was rather entertaining, ☺
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Haha Paula. It’s alright if it is far from you. But when it gets closer, better not turn your back at it 🙂
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I love the shot of the colors of the canyon. All sounds pretty good to me.
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Thank you!
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did any bison show up during your time there?
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Not in Mud Volcano 😦
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I recall we saw one, in the distance, during out tour of the main thermal sites. It was at home, grazing. Solo.
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Heheh… not sure if breathing in too much of the sulphur would be good!
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You are probably right. Should take it in moderation haha.
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Awesome! 🙂
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Thanks Tom!
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It can be a dangerous place, that Yellowstone! Your food looks delicious.
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This looks like an amaaaazing trip! 😀
Does anywhere in the area harness some of that geothermal power like they do in Iceland? It’s be nice if local people could have free electricity as well as such pretty views!
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Great series of shots! But a bit frightening with that bison…
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Such a fascinating area. We had a bison literally walk through the parking lot with car alarms going off and dogs barking. Fascinating experience at a marvelous location.
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I really enjoyed the photos and the video. Interesting story about the head butting buffalo. They have been there for along time before humans so maybe he does not feel the need to be polite!
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Wonderful photos here. And I actually ‘inhaled – exhaled’ 🙂
I look forward to exploring your blog.
– Amor
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