Mammoth Hot Springs

The weather didn't want to cooperate for our time at Mammoth Hot Springs.  Rain.  Overcast skies.  But did that stop us from exploring?  Of course not!  Unfortunately, the lighting did not allow the travertine terraces to show their delicate colors but they were beautiful still.  Travertine is a form of limestone deposited by hot springs.  You can see it at your local home improvement store in the tile section. :)

The storms would regularly roll in and roll out.  Hiking in rain gear.  Five minutes later, pulling the rain gear off.  Off and on.  Off and on.  But when that sun came out, Wow!

Thank you, nice man from France, for taking our photo!

This area was called Orange Spring Mound.  Pretty imaginative name, right?  The storm that had just finished dropping buckets of rain on us was pretty dramatic in the background.

Then it was time to find some lunch and that was when we encountered the star of Mammoth Hot Springs.  He is the main sight to see and he knew it!

There is usually a herd of elk that hangs around the Mammoth area.  Plentiful grass.  The presence of people means no predators.  Perfect.

Since it was fall, the elk were in rut.  Elk in rut are very aggressive so the rangers had their hands full keeping the people herded away from danger.  This particular bull had rammed a car the day before for getting what he thought was too close to his ladies.

Clearly, this area belonged to him and he was not sharing it with anyone.  This is the last photo I got as the ranger herded us inside the store to safety.  :)

Whew!  A lot of excitement before lunch!